11 minute read
Race and Equity Survey Results
Learn. Grow. EVOLVE.
Compiled by Annie Olson, Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board and MRPA Race and Equity Advisory Committee
Earlier this year, the MRPA Race and Equity Advisory Committee (REAC) released a survey to determine baseline information on race and equity work within member agencies. The survey was well received, as 38 MRPA members responded on behalf of their agencies. As promised the REAC is pleased to share the results which help to guide the efforts of the committee and the association as we continue to address race and equity in parks and recreation.
Does your agency have a position specifically dedicated to Race & Equity work?
Yes
No
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Total Responses: 38
Yes - 13 (34.21%) No - 25 (65.79%)
If yes, what is the title of the position?
City of Bloomington: Racial Equity Coordinator
Dakota County: Equity Coordinator
City of Duluth: City of Duluth Human Rights Officer
City of Eagan: We currently have a committee devoted to Race, Equity and Inclusion
Minneapolis Park Board: Outreach, Equity, and Inclusion Manager
City of New Brighton: We will have a Race and Equity Coordinator by August of this year. City of Richfield: Race and Equity Coordinator
City of Robbinsdale: Community Engagement Coordinator City of Rochester: City-wide position. Diversity Equity and Inclusion Director
City of Roseville: The City has a new position titled Equity Manager
City of Shakopee: Community Engagement Coordinator, is the Parks and Recreation Liaison
City of St. Louis Park: Race & Equity
Manager
Washington County: Equity and Training Manager
City of Woodbury: We have an established Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee
Does your agency have a Racial Equity Action Plan (or something similar)?
Yes
No
In Progress
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Total Responses: 38
Yes - 8 (21.05%) No - 14 (44.74%) In Progress - 13 (34.21%)
70% 80% 90% 100% Has your staff participated in training on Race & Equity?
Yes
No
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Total Responses: 38
Yes - 24 (63.16%) No - 14 (36.84%)
Does your agency could need help getting started on Race & Equity work?
Yes
No
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Total Responses: 37
Yes - 26 (70.27%) No - 11 (29.73%)
Has your agency participated in the Government Alliance on Race & Equity (GARE) program?
Yes
No
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Total Responses: 35
Yes - 9 (25.71%) No - 26 (74.29%)
70% 80% 90% 100%
Please share your agency’s special efforts related to Race & Equity
City of Brooklyn Center: I would say that in our community the idea is it’s embedded into everything we do however, there is no measurement of success. Our community is majority minority and has large immigrant populations. For a few in our department, we are attempting to build relationships and eliminate barriers to participation daily but the training, tracking, and targeting efforts department wide are less cohesive. Carver County: We have recently started a scholarship program called our Equity Fund which offers 50% reduced price programming to various under-served populations. Dakota County: County-wide racial equity training; some departments are taking the Intercultural Development Index, individual and group debriefs and group trainings as well as personal development plans to help us increase our cultural awareness, parks has done this and is one of the first departments in the county to do so. City of Duluth: Through City-led efforts, our Parks leadership participated in a multi-day workshop. Our Division also built Equity and Inclusion into our Division-wide goals and included them in all staffs’ annual performance reviews. Parks leadership is working on incorporating regular training, dialog, and opportunities to help us better serve our entire community. City of Eagan: Year One: participated in GARE; Year Two: Developed an REI committee, Conducted an Internal Assessment, Developed a foundational REI training, Delivered REI training to all staff; Year Three: Developed Strategic Plan Developed a REI analysis Tool and are putting into practice. Working on other components for the strategic plan such as communication. Committee also completed the Intercultural Developmental Inventory and that information is being embedded into the strategic plan. City of Eden Prairie: Overall, we have mostly had the typical Equity and Inclusion workshops, which don’t make much of a difference in the long run. True change will need to be much harder, and most people are not ready for that. Full time staff are going through an equity and diverse training, but part time staff are again getting ignored. City of Edina: We have a monthly meeting committed to race and equity topics that is voluntary. We also have three subgroups working different items including: 1. Renouncing racial covenants on public land 2. Staff training for seasonal and part-time staff 3. Policy and procedure review.
City of Fairbault: We have regular discussion on Race and Equity in Staff meetings but have no formal training.
City of New Brighton: Staff in Parks and Recreation have attended some training through MRPA. However, City-wide there have been not been any Race and Equity training. We are hiring someone this summer. We have a staff with nothing but good intentions, but we are lacking in resources and a deeper understanding of how to encourage diversity and racial equity. We offer a playground program at a very low cost and it is geared towards low-income families, however, our registrations don’t always reflect that. We also have the Fun Fund Scholarship fund in an effort to take money out of the access equation.
City of Owatonna: Looking to start the discussion.
City of Richfield: This is life-long work that we are committed to and are looking at what we do through many lens’ including equity and inclusion.
Fairly new and unsure of current efforts related to this however we recently hired a FT Equity Coordinator and know that city leadership is active in GARE.
City of Robbinsdale: With the new position (CEC) we are focusing on serving under-represented communities and providing the space for these voices to be heard. I wanted to fill out this form so we can get more resources on how to provide programs that are equitable to our residents.
City of Rochester: Working on expanding efforts to develop a more diverse applicant pool in hiring full time, part time and seasonal employees. Working on several citywide initiatives.
City of Rosemount: Community Conversations
City of Roseville: New City position of Equity Manager will create a more indepth plan and efforts over the next year. We are well into the “normalization” and “operationalize” phase where DEI is a part of many decisions that are made, though not always in a formal way. Some tangibles include: • beginning to track racial demographics in recreational program participation. • using the racial equity toolkit for
Capital Improvement Project analysis. • utilizing to the Racial Equity Toolkit in consideration of renaming Pocahontas
Park. • Informally used DEI considerations and non-traditional engagement methods to develop Unity Park in a part of the city that has a high concentration of people of color and in multi-family dwellings. • all staff has received baseline racial equity training based upon GARE.
• two staff members serve on the city’s Racial Equity Strategy Team.
City of St. Louis Park: The City of St. Louis Park has been very active with its race and equity efforts. SLP has been involved several years in the GARE program, has an REI plan, hired a Race and Equity Manager, has multiple trainings per year on many different REI topics, has created an employee committee to help find educational topics and talk about race, etc. Minneapolis – MPRB incorporates racial and economic equity measures into ordinances that guide its entire capital improvement program. Approved in 2016 and 2017, the ordinances specify the use of relevant, data-driven criteria to address racial and economic equity in allocating capital funds for more than 160 neighborhood parks and nearly 20
regional parks and trails. Using these equity criteria, metrics and rankings for parks and trails are produced annually as part of the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) and published in the annual budget under “Capital Project Funds” section. Organization-wide use of a racial equity tool in MPRB’s policy, planning, program and budget decisions: Racial Equity 101 training for all full-time, certified and appointed employees; Ongoing work to ensure that MPRB’s workforce and hiring practices reflect the diversity of the community across the breadth and depth of the organization; Implicit bias training for all staff involved in the hiring process; Bias training for all Minneapolis Park Police officers, offered by the League of MN Cities; Racial Equity Internal Influencers: Cohorts were formed in 2017 and 2019, each bringing together about 70 employees from across the organization. Internal Influencers explore racism and develop mutual support networks to help advance racial equity within MPRB and the communities it serves. City of Shakopee: The City of Shakopee was part of a GARE cohort in 2019. Since then, the city has established an Equity Team, a coalition of employees from across the organization focused on improving outcomes for residents of color. The team has implemented a training schedule, and completed two city wide training session, as well as a day-long Equity Training Seminar for Department Heads within the city. We’re working with local governmental and non-governmental organizations to build our capacity to work with people of color within Shakopee.
City of Spring Lake Park: I’ve only been with this city for a little over a year, but as far as I know, we don’t have any plans or programs that address race and equity.
Washington County: We have just developed a Public Works Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion team that is in the process of developing an Action Plan for Washington County. Equity plan is being developed and implemented. County trainings and sessions on equity have already begun. Most recently was a panel of county staff discussing racial equity and their experiences within the county. City of Woodbury: The City of Woodbury strives to deliver on its mission with a diverse and inclusive workforce. Our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion is fundamental to providing a welcoming environment and excellent service to our community. In 2019, the city began evaluating all employees on their efforts to advance organizational goals related to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Closing
The MRPA Race & Equity Advisory Committee (REAC) is committed to assist the MRPA, its members, and its member agencies to deliver services through the lens of race and equity. These responses help establish a foundation of understanding the REAC on member agency efforts to advance Race Equity in their park systems. The REAC intends to respond to member agency needs based on this information. Thank you for participating!
Additional Comments:
I would love to see parks departments HIRE more people of color. We need help. There is so much work to be done in equity and inclusion work in the outdoors. I would love to help in any way I can, please reach-out if you need further help with this important work. Parks is lightyears ahead of any other work in the city. Great effort for MRPA! Thanks for coordinating this effort. Please share results and next steps. In our city, the outdoor rec community is very homogenous and lacking diversity of all types. Parks leadership is working on ideas for how we can ‘grow our own’ diversity through youth and teen training programs and collaboration with our Workforce Development department for paid work experiences because we know that youth, especially youth of color in poverty, cannot volunteer their time in unpaid internships and “fun recreation” when they have to help support their family by earning a wage working elsewhere. We want to show that recreation can be a profession, and we need to create a pathway to it that accounts for the extra supports they’ll need to get into it. Thanks for starting this effort and I look forward to learning more so I can better serve my community and the field of parks and recreation.
Very happy our profession in taking equity seriously and looking forward to further conversations Thank you for taking action on this topic. It is needed. I would love to help with the REAC if needed. Options for parttime staff. We are interested in anything REAC puts out! Although the list above shows progress, like many organizations, we have found it challenging to move from the theoretical to the tangible implementation. Additionally, we have had a difficult time creating diversity in our staff, which is a very important step - and could use guidance tools that may help us in that endeavor. Thank you to MRPA and those on the Committee for prioritizing this important issue. If I can be of assistance in any way, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Thank you to REAC for keeping this very important initiative moving forward!
