WRPA 2018 Annual Conference and Tradeshow

"Equity Isn't Equality"

 

 

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Date/Time: Thursday, May 3 | 10:15 - 11:30AM

Speakers: Elaine Acacio, City of Bellevue & Angela Ferguson, City of Bellevue

Category: Leadership/Personnel

Description: Is your organization beginning to have conversations around equity and inclusion? Are you identifying aspects of your work or service that can be more inclusive? How are you engaging diverse residents in your outreach or programming? Ironically, as more organizations begin to think and do work around equity and inclusion, arguments that attempt to counter such efforts revolve around issues of responsibility (“I had nothing to do with what happened in US history, why is this my responsibility?”; relevance, (“that was a long time ago, why can’t we move on?”), and merit (“I worked hard to get to where I am, why can’t everyone do the same?”). If this sounds familiar, this session will provide you a deeper understanding of what equity is and the importance of historical context, specifically within our role as public servants. Attendees will go through case scenarios specific to Parks and Recreation and learn strategies of how to frame equity and inclusion so that it may bring about a collective commitment and buy-in rather than a pitting against one another.

Learning Objective:

  • Understand equity and inclusion - around race, gender, gender identity, disabilities, age, among other things - as it relates to our role as public servants.

  • Awareness on historical and institutional discrimination.

  • Understanding our collective why and how to leverage that across the organization.

Speakers: As the Diversity and Inclusion Administrator, Elaine's purview includes supporting and implementing city-wide initiatives related to organizational development within the scope of diversity, equity and inclusion. Some of these areas include training, hiring, contracting, language access, and capacity building toward being a more culturally competent city government.
Prior to joining the City’s Diversity Advantage Team, Elaine worked in higher education and international development for over decade, which included a 13-year tenure in Latin America. Elaine has led organizational initiatives and program development to enhance policies and practices related to equity. She is also a facilitator in intercultural communication where she has trained groups in increasing individual and organizational cultural awareness and competencies.

 Session Approved for .1 CEU Credits

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