When the Metro Council unanimously adopted the Strategy to Advance Racial Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in June 2016, it recognized that a strategy is just a start.
As Metro staff work to implement the strategy's goals and actions, the council created a central role for community: A focused committee, connected to the strategy's goals, to hold Metro accountable and help improve racial equity across greater Portland.
On July 27, a panel of 15 community members reflecting greater Portland’s diverse communities met for the first time as the Committee on Racial Equity, or CORE.
“You’re our partners, you’re our advisers, you’re going to be helping guide us through this,” Metro Councilor Shirley Craddick told the committee.
Sharon Gary-Smith, who co-chairs CORE with María Caballero-Rubio, presented a charge “to embrace, to guide, to support, to encourage, and certainly to push – to be about eyes and ears and information exchange, to keep this going in a way that serves as a model in the region.”
A focus on racial equity
“In Metro’s view, every person in the region should have the same opportunity to thrive, regardless of their race or ethnicity,” Metro chief operating officer Martha Bennett told the committee.
But persistent, ongoing racial inequality – going deep into Oregon’s history – has barred communities of color from the opportunities that many white residents have had. As a result, the region struggles with racial disparities across nearly every measure of well-being and prosperity.
Reducing those disparities will help communities of color – and research shows it will help the whole region be more prosperous as well, Bennett said.
This recognition is at the heart of the Metro Council's adopted equity strategy. CORE is a successor to the Equity Strategy Advisory Committee, which helped create the strategy over several years, honing its focus on racial equity and the tools Metro will use moving forward.
Bennett asked the committee to help Metro “do better” implementing the equity strategy: to hold the agency accountable, to develop evaluation measures that will track progress, and to help communicate with communities.
The committee’s plate is already full. In the coming months, it plans to begin developing evaluation measures critical to making sure the Strategy to Advance Racial Equity, Diversity and Inclusion can fulfill its potential.
Voices from CORE
We spoke with a few committee members about why they’re serving and what they hope the committee can achieve. Excerpts are below; these have been edited for clarity and length.
Meet all of CORE's members
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Donna Maxey
Why do you think it's important to focus on racial equity?
Because this country was built on race. It was built on genocide of Native Americans. It was built on genocide and enslavement of African Americans and the denial of opportunity for many people.
I guess I’m just a dreamer. I don’t think I can change the world. But I can change my little corner. And if everyone works to change their little corner of the world, then the world will change.
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Oliviah Walker
Why did you want to serve on this committee?
I’m really interested in racial equity strategies across local and regional governments. I feel like it’s the place where you can have the most impact.
It’s what I care about and what I do at my job – thinking long term about our kids and our kids’ kids, the generational impact we can have by moving this work forward.
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Duncan Hwang
Why do you think it's important to focus on racial equity?
For me it’s not just about the data. It’s really about the experiences of people most impacted by being left out of the public discourse. That’s keenly felt in communities of color. That’s why racial equity is so important – because our institutions have purposefully excluded or left out lots of important voices. It’s important that we address those historic issues and create a future that works for everyone.
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Effie Stansbery
What do you hope this committee will achieve?
First and foremost making sure that Metro’s plan is working. Next, if it goes well and Metro does well then hopefully other organizations see that it’s possible. A big plan for a thing like racial equity can be achieved and it’s an example that can ripple out across the community,
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Dele Oyemaja
Why did you want to serve on this committee?
I've been involved in racial equity for many years. Currently I work with people who have criminal backgrounds to find employment. So I’m doing equity work there, providing opportunities for second chances for many of those folks. I also volunteer with Africa House.
I would like to contribute at least what I’ve learned and be learning from other members of the group. I want to help Metro reach its goal, if I can help to contribute in any way to shape policy around these issues, to make things better for this community.
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Laura John
What do you hope this committee will achieve?
Of course, advancing the strategic plan, but in particular that they’re able to have that lens of how are we inclusive to Native Americans in the city. Oftentimes that’s a voice that gets left out of the discussion or not invited to the table. So I’m really excited to be able to provide that perspective.