Equity

Four people with different skin colors touch hands for a four-way high five, grinning. A wall of floor-to-ceiling glass panes behind them illuminates the group in a white glow.

Advancing Equity in Racine County

After two years of Community Conversations devoted to the subject of race, equity and inclusion, we have developed a better understanding of the challenges our community faces when it comes to racial inequities. These inequities contribute to the disparities we see in the areas of health, education and financial stability and will continue to hold us back until we address them. Below, you’ll learn about the tactics United Way of Racine County has developed to progress towards equity and how you can get involved.

Declaration of Inclusion 

Make your commitment to inclusion—the active, intentional and ongoing engagement with diversity—official by signing our Declaration of Inclusion Pledge. This pledge is to respect and appreciate all aspects of any person, including race, religion, skin color, nationality, sexual orientation, gender, physical abilities, age, parental status, work and behavioral styles, and the perspectives of each individual as shaped by their nation, culture and experiences. You will also receive our quarterly diversity newsletter to build your "equity muscle."

Take the pledge.

Taking the pledge late? You can catch up on previous newsletters here:

Diversity Committee

The diversity committee serves a peer group to help United Way's staff learn, grow, and continue the conversation around equity. It identifies local diversity experts to train staff, facilitates discussions and exercises in building staff's equity muscles, and acts as inclusive leaders to share resources and keep staff moving together towards a stronger culture of equity.

 

Photo of Maham Ali, a Pakistani woman with long, black hair.

Maham Ali
she/her

Photo of Tracie Feest, a white woman with long, straight blonde hair.

Tracie Feest
she/her

 

Photo of Alberto Huerta, a Latino man with round glasses and a short beard.

Alberto Huerta
he/him

 

Photo of MaryBeth Kallio, a white woman with a wavy, brown bob to her shoulders.

MaryBeth Kallio
she/her

Photo of Shay King, a white-ish nonbinary person with extra long, black hair (except where the right side is shaved) and dark, pointed glasses that say "hello, I'm a feminist."

Shay King
they/them

Photo of Jessica Safransky Schacht, a white woman with wavy, long brown hair.

Jessica Safransky Schacht
she/her

A photo of Mitchell School behind an American flag and sign with its name, illuminated by sunshine.Link and Inspire For Tomorrow (LIFT) Strategy

Community schools are an integral component of an equity strategy. They create the infrastructure necessary to student success by focusing time, attention, and resources towards eliminating systemic barriers that limit opportunities for students and families. United Way of Racine County's community schools work employs a place-based approach, LIFT (Link and Inspire for Tomorrow). The LIFT model creates partnerships between schools, neighborhoods and resources by using the community school as the hub. Foundational to the LIFT model are four key pillars that ensure community schools reflect neighborhoods' needs and priorities:

  1. Integrated student supports
  2. Expanded and enriched learning time and opportunities
  3. Active family and community engagement
  4. Collaborative leadership and practices

These four pillars comprise a strategy that enables educators, community members and partners to forge strong relationships. Together, we can LIFT the community.

Resources

  • "How I Became Comfortable Talking about Race" by United Way President and CEO Ali Haigh
  • LGBTQ+ Terms and Definitions
  • Our Diversity Statement
  • Payne and Frasier
    Kimberly Payne and Dr. Arletta Frazier use their combined decades of experience to offer customized, interactive diversity trainings in the Racine area. 
  • Race, Equity and Inclusion Community Conversations Report (2018)
    After two years of conversations with people throughout the county, we compiled a report of our findings. Learn our community's challenges and aspirations on the state of race, equity and inclusion and see United Way's beginning steps to build equity.
  • Racial Equity Institute Trainings
    United Way has partnered with Higher Expectations on multiple occasions to offer Racial Equity Institute trainings at no cost to Racine County residents. In these lively presentations, REI organizers use stories and data to present an argument that racism is fundamentally structural in nature.
  • Safezone Training
    The LGBT Center of SE Wisconsin educates individuals and organizations on the LGBTQ+ community—what it is, what it needs, and how to be a good ally. Both community-wide and organization-specific trainings are available. 
  • YWCA Trainings
    The YWCA of SE Wisconsin offers a variety of trainings about different facets of equity, such as structural racism, cultural differences, social transformation and more.

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