Regina Tillman, 3rd Vice President for DEI, rmt370@gmail.com, and Crystal Joseph, DEI Task Force Co-Chair, campus@lwvnyc.org
It has been a good several weeks for the planning and conveying of information on DEI that could affect the culture, and thus, the policies and practices within the Leagues of NYS. So much to do at this time of year that some of you may have missed or were not in a particular audience so here are the highlights, past and future.
• Dear White Women, Please Come Home – Book Discussion and DEI Workshop conducted
Tuesday, October 18th on ZOOM. With a new techie toy Mentimeter, we were able to graphically observe that we were bi-coastal for this workshop and that we had league representatives from over 13 locations in NYS.
This workshop was heralded as perhaps the best DEI workshop held to date! This was thanks to the two featured presenters, book author Kimberlee Yolanda Williams who partnered with our friend
from the DEI workshops of 2021, NYT best-selling author, Debby Irving. The DEI Task Force and I still need to absorb the wealth of comments from both an exit survey and a healthy chat discussion. However, to indicate the direction they went, let me say that 97.2% of survey respondents would recommend, or highly recommend, these two presenters to other Leagues! And congratulations to the 10 attendees who had entered their comments and will be randomly selected to receive a free copy of Kimberlee’s book within the next several weeks!
Due to hearing that many registrants were not able to attend as they had planned and made inquiries about a recording of the program (no recording was made), here are some ways to access the teachings that we all walked away with on October 18th.
Watch Video of a news interview of Kimberlee (6min): www.youtube.com/watch?v=jB89rM9bKLY
Watch Video of Kimberlee and Debby in Conversation (1hr 27min): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEnDKVGlNxM
Purchase the books, Dear White Woman and Waking Up White from bookstores, or as below:
Bulk Books Order Page Dear White Woman
Signed Single Book Order Page Dear White Woman
Bulk Books Order Page Waking Up White
• A virtual DEI Drop-In Session, via ZOOM, is planned for Thursday, November 3rd at 7:30pm as a casual conversation of what we have processed since the workshop and want to share with others. All attendees will receive an email invitation and ZOOM link. Others wishing to consider attending, please look for an upcoming email blast from the State League to all members prior to November 3rd from with the ZOOM link therein. (FYI: Pre-registration is not required for our virtual Drop-Ins and neither are they recorded.)
• President’s Zoom Meeting of October 19th: which picked up on a conversation begun at the
LWVNYS BOD Meeting of October 7th on the importance of Nominating Committees. It provided me with the opportunity to speak about the role that Nomination Committees play in diversifying Board memberships. Clearly this is a multi-step process and begins with committee members defining skill-gaps (with the help of the current BOD) and, afterward, applying a DEI lens in recruitment. A page of suggested readings was prepared (contact me for an emailed copy) but this article is on the top of the list: 6 Steps to Increase Board Diversity at Your Nonprofit, by Tatiana Morand, in Organizational Management, March 26, 2021. If you are a member who has been designated to work on Nominations for your local League, please read.
• 21 Day Racial Equity Indigenous Challenge: beginning on Sunday, November 6th. Join us as we,
as a League, prepare to better consider the impacts of colonial settlers upon the Indigenous population of the Americas. We put aside romanticizing the creation of Thanksgiving and prepare to recognize Native American Heritage Day on Friday, November 25th (designated by Congress in 2009). This challenge was curated by Dr. Eddie Moore, Jr., our friend and teacher Debby Irving, Marguerite Penick-Parks, and Claudia A. Fox Tree (Arawak), Massachusetts Center for Native American Awareness (MCNAA) board member.
“The process of reclaiming Indigenous history is a work in progress and therefore not always complete or aligned. Not to worry. Take in what you can in the spirit it is offered – from perspectives and experiences as diverse as the millions of descendants from the 574 nations on whose land we in the US now stand.”
Sign up anytime between now and November 6th and join your fellow Leaguers in the enrichment of our knowledge and understanding of the heritage of the Indigenous people of this land we now call the United States of America. Contact me at rmt370@gmail.com for more information.
• Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Organizational Assessment: to be issued shortly to all local Leagues of LWVNYS. Two years ago, this assessment was applied to selected local Leagues. However, this year, we hope to ascertain the growth in awareness, knowledge, skill, and abilities related to DEI implementation throughout the entire State. We will ask for its completion by local BOD’s using a method that ensures input to reflect your league, not just of one or two individuals. Please look for more information soon on this important assessment tool to be issued to the field by the end of the month of November. If any questions arise on this matter, or any of the aforementioned items, please feel free to contact me at rmt370@gmail.com
