SCRC launches initiative to help communities create racial equity

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May 22, 2007 | | Pomfret, Connecticut

The Study Circles Resource Center (SCRC), a project of The Paul J. Aicher Foundation, is launching a three-year initiative to help communities achieve racial equity by engaging the full diversity of their residents in addressing racism and related issues.

In the project, SCRC will create a national network of diverse community coalitions that are linking dialogue to change on issues of racism and racial inequities. The communities will use SCRC’s recently published guide, Facing Racism in a Diverse Nation, in the public engagement stages of their efforts. As SCRC assists and learns from the network throughout the subsequent action stage, it will develop further how-to and evaluation tools, as well as stories and best practices, and share these with community leaders across the United States.  

In addition, the initiative will spur leaders working on democracy, community building and racial justice to new forms of collaboration as they learn how various approaches to social change can inform and complement each other.

“As communities become more racially and ethnically diverse, issues of equity are becoming even more pressing. They touch every public issue. We hear from nonprofit leaders, community activists, and public officials who are searching for more effective ways to include residents of all backgrounds in addressing the everyday effects of racism,” said Martha L. McCoy, SCRC executive director.

“Through this project, communities that are tackling this important work will have the chance to learn from each other. The project will enable us not only to assist and learn from them, but also to share their lessons and the resulting tools with many others. The ultimate aim is to provide practical help for communities, so that they can make real headway on closing the gaps between racial and ethnic groups – whether it’s in jobs, education, criminal justice, health care, or social services.” 

For the project, SCRC will select seven communities from different parts of the country, and will provide them with in-depth assistance in every phase of their program. Coalitions from the communities will come together in two national gatherings, to share with each other what they are learning. As the communities implement action plans generated from their organizing and large-scale dialogue, SCRC will work closely to provide assistance, to learn and document what’s working, and to tell their stories.

The activities of the initiative will unfold over three years:

• In year one (2007), SCRC is offering orientations in Atlanta, Ga., Los Angeles, Calif., Little Rock, Ark., and Austin, Texas,  to build awareness about the initiative.
• In the fall of 2007, communities that meet specific criteria will be invited to submit proposals to participate in the national learning network. The criteria will include: a strong, diverse organizing coalition, with clear goals for engaging the whole community in dialogue and action on the issue of racism & racial equity, or on another issue (such as education, poverty, or jobs) through the lens of racial equity; clear racial equity goals, developed by the whole coalition; clear plan in place for supporting the action planning that comes from the community engagement process; ability to participate as a “learning partner” in learning exchanges and with SCRC, in years 2 and 3.    
• In year two (2008), the selected communities will organize dialogue-to-change programs and receive support to implement action and connect to other community change processes. SCRC will provide in-depth technical assistance on organizing dialogue, on evaluation and communication planning, and on action planning. SCRC will develop how-to and evaluation tools for moving from dialogue to action, building on lessons learned from working with the communities.
• In year three (2009), as SCRC continues to provide in-depth assistance to the communities, it will publish stories and lessons learned from the initiative. SCRC will also make available on its website newly developed dialogue-to-action tools.

This initiative is supported by generous contributions to The Paul J. Aicher Foundation, of  $275,000 from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and $75,000 from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.

• The W.K. Kellogg Foundation was established in 1930 “to help people help themselves through the practical application of knowledge and resources to improve their quality of life and that of future generations." To achieve the greatest impact, the Foundation targets its grants toward specific areas. These include: health; food systems and rural development; youth and education; and philanthropy and volunteerism. Within these areas, attention is given to exploring learning opportunities in leadership; information and communication technology; capitalizing on diversity; and social and economic community development. Grants are concentrated in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the southern African    countries of Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe.

For further information, please visit the Foundation's Web site at www.wkkf.org. The site offers: in-depth information about the Foundation's programming interests; information on the Foundation's grant application process; a database of current grant recipients; and access to publications which report on Foundation-funded projects.
• The C.S. Mott Foundation, established in 1926 in Flint, Mich., is a private philanthropy committed to supporting projects that promote a just, equitable and sustainable society. It supports nonprofit programs throughout the United States and, on a limited geographic basis, internationally. Besides Flint, offices are located in suburban Detroit, Johannesburg (South Africa) and London. Grantmaking is focused in four programs: Civil Society, Environment, Flint Area and Pathways Out of Poverty. The Foundation, with year-end total assets of approximately $2.6 billion, made 545 grants totaling $107.3 million in 2006.  For more information, visit Mott.org.

The Study Circles Resource Center helps local communities build their own capacity to organize large-scale, multi-ethnic dialogue that supports and strengthens community change. Created in 1989 by The Paul J. Aicher Foundation, SCRC has worked with more than 400 communities nationwide on many different public issues. The mission of The Paul J. Aicher Foundation is to advance deliberative democracy and improve the quality of public life in the United States. Founded in 1982 as a national, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, it is chartered as an operating foundation. This means that instead of making grants, the Foundation achieves its mission by developing ideas and programs and making them available to the widest possible audience. For further information on SCRC and The Paul J. Aicher Foundation, please visit the SCRC web site at www.studycircles.org.

Learn more: Racial Equity