Metro recognizes that it has a responsibility to remove the barriers of institutional racism that keep communities of color from achieving their fullest potential. In 2016, the Metro Council adopted racial equity as the approach to ensure that the people in the region have the opportunity to share in and help define a thriving, livable and prosperous region.
Metro’s Parks and Nature Department is committed to racial equity. And it’s a work in progress.
Metro is in the middle of creating a plan to fulfill this commitment. The plan is being created by staff members with input from community members and partners and will:
- identify ways to make its parks more welcoming and safe for people of color
- bring people of color into the department’s decision-making processes
- diversify its staff and create career pathways for people of color
- connect regional and community partners to efforts to promote racial equity
- support the work of organizations that serve communities of color and businesses run by people of color through equitable contracting.