FACILITATORS TRAINING & COMMUNITY WORKSHOPS:
RACE: ARE WE SO DIFFERENT? EXHIBITION AT PACIFIC SCIENCE CENTER
Pacific Science Center and the City of Seattle Race and Social Justice Initiative are looking for 60-100 volunteers to facilitate community workshops about the nationally-touring exhibit RACE: Are We So Different? Running September 28, 2013 - January 5, 2014 at Pacific Science Center, this exhibit raises profound questions about the American concept of race. Workshops are tailored for community groups who plan to use the exhibit to expand and apply their understanding of racial equity in their own communities.
We need you! Can you help? Learn more about the facilitators training and the community workshops and call 206-684-4500 to register. Facilitator trainings will be held in August, September and October, and conducted by the City of Seattle Office for Civil Rights / Race and Social Justice Initiative in partnership with Pacific Science Center.
RSJI 2012 Survey of Seattle City Employees
Every two years the Seattle Office for Civil Rights conducts a survey of Seattle City employees. The RSJI 2012 Employee Survey has three primary goals:
- Assess employee understanding and skill of institutional and structural racism.
- Gain understanding of how departments are building racial equity into programs, policies, initiatives and budget decisions.
- Track progress over time.
RSJI 2012 Employee Survey: Summary Report
RSJI 2012 Employee Survey: Full Report
RSJI 2012 Employee Survey: PowerPoint presentation
Thank you to everyone who participated in the Governing for Racial Equity Conference in December 2012. Our conference report is available here. To view conference materials please click here.
RSJI's Three-Year Plan!
2012-14 plan focuses on community partnerships
The City of Seattle's 2012-14 RSJI Three-Year Plan expands the Race and Social Justice Initiative (RSJI) to focus on ending racial inequity in the community. The plan was the result of an extensive assessment in 2011 involving City employees and people from the community. The City's 2009-2011 RSJI Accomplishments Report, details some of the many ways that RSJI is making a real difference in the lives of Seattle residents, businesses and City government.
The 2012-2014 RSJI Three-Year Plan asks all City departments to:
- Continue working internally by applying racial equity to departmental programs and projects.
- Build racial equity into policies and citywide initiatives.
- Partner with other institutions and the community.
Across City government, departments are adopting the same set of strategies:
- Use community-level racial inequity data to drive our strategies and track our progress over time to measure our success.
- Measure progress with the same dedication as we measure problems.
- Strengthen partnerships across institutions and the community.
For more information about the plan, contact sonia.palma@seattle.gov or call 206-233-5199.
Imagine a city where…
- Every schoolchild, regardless of language and cultural differences, receives a quality education and feels safe and included.
- Race does not predict how much you earn or your chance of being homeless or going to prison.
- African American, Latinos and Native Americans can expect to live as long as white people.
The Race and Social Justice Initiative (RSJI) is an effort of Seattle City government to realize the vision of racial equity.
The Initiative works within City government and with community leaders to get to the root cause of racial inequity: institutional racism. RSJI is led by the Seattle Office of Civil Rights and an interdepartmental team of City staff. All elected officials in the City of Seattle have endorsed and are promoting RSJI.
Contact us!
RSJI is coordinated by the Seattle Office for Civil Rights (SOCR).
For more information contact:
- Glenn Harris at 206-255-7556, glenn.harris@seattle.gov
- Sonia Palma at 206-233-5199, sonia.palma@seattle.gov.
Key RSJI Docs in PDF
Upcoming Events
A workshop on achieving racial equity in school discipline.Saturday, June 1
9:00 AM -12:00 PM
more
Join Us!
Video
RSJI: Working for Racial Equity
in City Government
A video highlighting the work of the Race and Social Justice Initiative (RSJI) featuring the voices of RSJ Community Roundtable members, Mayor Mike McGinn, City employees and RSJI staff on why the work to eliminate racial disparities is critical and how we are working together as government and community to achieve racial equity.
RSJI Information in Translation/English:
| Amharic | Cambodian |
| Chinese | Korean |
| Oromo | Somali |
| Spanish | Tagalog |
| Tigrigna | Vietnamese |
Other RSJI Documents
- Mayor's Executive Order 4/23/10: Outreach to Women and Minority Owned Businesses Mayor McGinn issued Executive Order 2010-5 on April 23, 2010 concerning outreach to women and minority businesses. The Order strengthens the City's commitment utilize women and minority owned businesses, and outlines steps for departments to ensure Citywide accountability.
- City Council Resolution Directing Race and Social Justice Work to Continue
- Full text of the Council's Resolution #31164
- Report 2008: Looking Back, Moving Forward [long report]
- 2008 RSJI Overview (executive summary)
In order to get beyond racism, we must first take account of race. There is no other way. 