Racial Equity in Community Engagement Training Series

Registration is for four dates. Each session is 1.5 hours long. If you register, please plan to attend all four sessions (September 23, 30, October 7, 14)

The pandemic and civil protests reveal what happens when White Americans do not commit themselves wholeheartedly to the work of racial equity. Centuries of systematic oppression and marginalization continue to threaten the lives of black, brown, and indigenous people of color (BIPOC).

No amount of unity messaging -- We're All in this Together -- can hide this country's racial wounds. But these messages do speak to the truth of the matter, that realizing a world free of oppression and marginalization requires all of us to do our part.

After months of living in crisis, it is clear we cannot return to "business as usual" where historically marginalized and oppressed communities were left out of conversations that affect them. People of color must be centered in decision making about how to safely live with the virus in our midst, and heal the wounds of systemic racism.

Many institutions are turning to community engagement right now. Leaders are saying they are committed to listening and learning. The question is: will they do so equitably?

Virginia Community Voice is offering a four-part training series for institutional leaders in September & October on how to center racial equity in community engagement right now.

Over the course of six hours of training, participants will:

• Understand how a history of oppression and resistance of Black, Indigenous, People of Color has led us to this moment and how progress forward will depend on white Americans dismantling white supremacy culture.
• Learn about the norms of white dominant culture which impede effective community engagement in communities of color
• Reflect on their personal relationship with those norms and identify where they have seen them play out within their organization’s community engagement efforts as well as plan for how to challenge these norms using VACV’s model
• Learn ways of equitably engaging marginalized / communities of color starting with how to listen effectively

The Racial Equity in Community Engagement training series is facilitated by Virginia Community Voice staff. Content is based on our guide to equitable community engagement, Community Voice Blueprint, viewed through the lens of antiracism principles. We encourage anyone who has not attended our introductory training on our model to read the Community Voice Blueprint before attending the Racial Equity training.