Ask an Expert: Charting a Course Toward Becoming an Anti-Racist Organization: Case Studies

Many organizations have found themselves challenged to explore if “business as usual” is a neutral position in the face of glaring racial inequities across the country. Yet, even when organizations recognize the need to commit to equity work, these questions may remain: where do we start? What steps can we expect to take?

In this presentation, we will use real-life scenarios from our community to discuss what works and what does not.

How do you learn about equity–from an individual and an organizational standpoint? What is an equity assessment? What is an equity lens and how is it deployed? What investments can an org make for fastest and most impactful equity returns? What are the most common roadblocks when it comes to increasing equity? Find out!

 

About the Presenters:

Anton Russel was born and raised in Chukson (Tucson), so named by the indigenous peoples of this occupied land. By age 12, he began his artist practice as an emcee & performance artist. This early community engagement naturally bloomed into mediating community circles of healing, often where physical violence had been present. He has impacted community wellness since 1992.

He is a READI (Race, Equity, Access, Diversity & Inclusion) facilitator with decades of experience making connections and building bridges in Arizona & beyond. His experiences include arenas such as the City of Tucson Transit Task Force; the informal “Looking in the Mirror” collaborative, which explored race and inclusion in Tucson communities; the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) & numerous other collectives.

Anton is Black, queer & a single father of 2 children born free-thinkers. He received a public school education from Santa Rita high school & received an Associate Mechanics Certificate from Pima College. He credits the public library, dozens of BIPOC/womxn/LGBTQ/men & white folks & all youth as his master teachers.

His guilty pleasures are: CPT, Madonna, cookies, snooze buttons that are 10-30 minutes but on like 3 different devices & watching dogs poop.

 

As a mixed race person growing up splitting her time between South America and the United States, Eva Karene Romero’s lived experience, education and life’s work has always involved translation, communication, and bridge building. She sees her role as Co-Founder and Lead Consultant at Sol Grant Partners as a continuation of bridge-building–between funders and grant-seekers–doing what no-one else can on the ground in their communities.

Her experience with grants began 20 years ago with international grant management at The Rotary Foundation in Chicago, IL. She also used grants to fund her own research activities as a graduate student at The University of Arizona, where she earned a PhD in Spanish/Hispanic Cultural Studies, a certificate in Gender and Women’s Studies and a certificate in Nonprofit Leadership & Management. She has published a number of scholarly articles and a book; Film and Democracy in Paraguay (Palgrave, 2016) and truly enjoys fundraising for worthy film projects.

A storyteller at heart, Eva dabbles in film, photography and podcasting. She serves the arts as Board President of the Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona, where she also chairs the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee. Additionally, she is a member of the Diversity and Inclusion Council of the University of Arizona Division of Agriculture, Life and Veterinary Sciences and Cooperative Extension.

Besides being the mother of a capricious seven-year-old and a string of foster animals through Arms of Angels All Breed Animal Rescue, she also loves hiking, zumba, yoga and even painting a little.