Beginning in June 2019, Cuyahoga Arts & Culture offered a series of four workshops called Moving Toward Equity. Each session was led by local facilitators Erica Merritt of Equius Group and Jessica Colombi. These sessions offered tips, tools and practice addressing racial equity challenges within organizations.
The first session was How Equitable and Inclusive is your Organization. During the workshop we used the Continuum Becoming Multicultural Organization to assess the current state of our organizations and learn strategies to move to the next stage of development by capitalizing on strengths and addressing barriers to growth.
During the second workshop we learned about Equity Competent Leadership. This boils down to understanding the dynamics of power and privilege and proactively embodying attitudes and actions that produce equity, while reinforcing and creating practices and policies that support those efforts. Attendees reflected on their skills and learned strategies for becoming more equity competent leaders.
The third workshop focused on the Problem of Practice. In small groups, one organization shared an equity challenge they were facing. The others at the table would work through the problem off practice handout to evaluate problem and find a solution based on facts and analysis.
During the final session, we learned how White Dominant Culture can create an inhospitable environment for people of color. Erica was sure to note that white culture is not bad, but becomes problematic when there is no room for an alternative.
If you have any questions regarding the workshops or racial equity resources that may be available to you as a CAC grant recipient, please contact your program manager or visit cacgrants.org/equity.
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