2024 RSJI Summit: Celebrating 20 Years of RSJI
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The 2024 RSJI Summit celebrated the past, present, and future of racial justice organizing in the City. Approximately 300 City of Seattle staff gathered in the Seattle Center Armory to grow their race and social justice knowledge and practices.
The 2024 Summit was presented by the Race and Social Justice Initiative, Seattle Office for Civil Rights, and Seattle Center.
Thank you to the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections and the Office of Sustainability and Environment for contributing to the 2024 Summit.
Opening Remarks
Land Acknowledgement
Featured Speaker:
- Rita Gray, Learning Partner, Seattle Human Resources
Seattle Office for Civil Rights: Director Remarks
Featured Speaker:
- Derrick Wheeler-Smith, Director, Seattle Office for Civil Rights
WATCH: Remarks from Director Wheeler-Smith
Looking Back on Race & Social Justice in the City of Seattle
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WATCH: Looking Back on Race & Social Justice in the City of Seattle
Featured Speakers:
- Mickey Fearn, Retired and Former RSJI Manager
- Mary Flowers, Human Services Department, Safe & Thriving Communities
- Glenn Harris, Race Forward and Former RSJI Manager
- Tamar Zere, King County Metro and Former RSJI Manager
The Race and Social Justice Initiative (RSJI) turns 20 years old in 2024, but what was it like in 2004? How did we go from one staff member to a talented team of organizers? Hear from three different generations of RSJI figures in this panel reflecting on the journey of the Initiative. You’ll learn what’s changed over the years, what’s stayed the same, and how we can learn from the past to move forward.
Breakout Period #1
60 Years of Civil Rights: Civil Rights and Culture Shift
How has our culture shifted since the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964? This session will reflect on the impact of civil rights laws across the United States and here in the City of Seattle. Learn why civil rights are a critical part of race and social justice work, and how we can continue building toward a better future.
Featured Speakers:
- Mike Chin, Civil Rights Enforcement Director, Seattle Office for Civil Rights
- John Page, Community Investments Divsion Director, Seattle Office for Civil Rights
From Microaggressions to Microaffirmations
This presentation is an introduction to understanding the three types of microaggressions and their impacts on employees. Learn how to navigate and respond to microaggressions in the workplace and in the community. Then, learn about microaffirmations and how to begin shifting your workplace culture to a more inclusive and belonging environment.
Featured Speakers:
- Sylvia Cavazos, Community Partnerships Manager, Seattle Public Utilities
- Natalie Hunter, Retired, Seattle Public Utilities
Using Data to Prioritize RSJI Communities for Place-Based City Investments
This session will provide you with an understanding of the City’s Racial and Social Equity (RSE) Index and how it is being used to prioritize demographic communities for place-based investments. The session will also engage you in the kind of strategic thinking that you would use in applying the RSE Index or similar tools to advance equity in your own projects and programs.
Staff from the Office of Planning & Community Development (OPCD) will outline key considerations for using the RSE Index and show how to access the index data. Colleagues in the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT), Seattle Parks & Recreation, and the City’s Innovation & Performance team will describe how their teams are using the RSE Index to help ensure that the distribution of City investments promotes racial and social equity. A mini-workshop will provide a hands-on opportunity for participants apply the index in an example scenario. This session is co-organized by the City’s interdepartmental Data Analytics and Racial Equity (DARE) group, which is open to all City employees working to use data to advance racial and social equity.
Featured Speakers:
- Diana Canzoneri, City Demographer, Office of Planning & Community Development
- Phillip Carnell, Planning & Equity Data Analyst, Office of Planning & Community Development
- Margo Iñiguez Dawes, Levy Equity Coordinator, Seattle Department of Transportation
- Janis Jordan, Evaluation Advisor, Innovation & Performance
- Shaquan Smith, Strategic Advisor, Seattle Parks & Recreation
Shared Hope and Inspiration for the Future – Why I Do This Work
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This conversation features City staff who have impacted race and social justice work within the City and our community. Through individual reflections, lessons learned, struggles and successes, this panel will share insight to what it takes to support and facilitate this work today, and into the future.
Featured Speakers:
- Reagen Price, Race & Social Justice Program Manager, Seattle City Light (Moderator)
- Jennifer Chao, Director, Department of Neighborhoods
- Suzette Espinoza-Cruz, Sr. Early Education Program Specialist, Department of Early Learning & Education
- Ed Odom, Race & Social Justice Lead, Seattle Information Technology
- Angela Wallis, Development Review Supervisor, Seattle Public Utilities
- Bradley Wilburn, Land Use Manager, Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections
Breakout Period #2
Empowering Partnerships and Strengthening Engagement with Tribes and Native Communities
Learn about the work of various Indigenous City employees and how they support creating powerful partnerships with Native and Indigenous communities. This conversation will increase your awareness of current efforts that are paving the way and changing the how the City of Seattle operates. Participate in an interactive and reflective activity to spur your thinking on how you can strengthen your inclusion of Indigenous communities to ensure incorporation of their voice in City services, policies, and programs.
Featured Speakers:
- Vicki Pinkham, Community Service Officer, Seattle Police Department (moderator)
- Marta Idowu, Civil Rights Advisory Commission Liaison, Seattle Office for Civil Rights
- Rita Gray, Learning Partner, Seattle Human Resources
- Tim Lehman, Indigenous Planning Strategist, Office of Planning & Community Development
- Tim Reynon, Tribal Relations Director, Office of Intergovernmental Relations
Bias Interrupters
In this session, you'll learn how our brains are built for bias, five patterns of bias in the workplace, your role in interrupting bias, and evidence-based models to tweak your existing systems and disrupt the real costs of bias.
Featured Speakers:
- Jennifer Dawson-Miller, Race and Social Justice Advisor, Seattle Information Technology
- Ed Odom, Race & Social Justice Lead, Seattle Information Technology
Closing Remarks
New RSJI Division Director Roderick Morrison will share his thoughts on the 2024 RSJI Summit, and his vision for citywide RSJI work going forward.
Featured Speaker:
- Roderick Morrison, Race & Social Justice Initiative Division Director, Seattle Office for Civil Rights
More Summit Spaces
Theatre of the Oppressed
This workshop melds Theatre of the Oppressed, Cultural Somatics, and Kolb's experiential learning theory. Participants will investigate the stories our bodies tell with and without our consent, and consider it as a means of healing racialized trauma. You'll explore what it means to do this deep work while working within a government agency.
Facilitator:
- Jéhan Òsanyìn (learn more about Jéhan)
Journey Through the Senses: Experience Healing and Connection
Join unique and transformative activities themed around the 20-year journey of RSJI. We encourage you to reflect on the past, engage with the present, and envision the future. Our thoughtfully crafted spaces offer the opportunity to rest, restore, and reconnect, providing much-needed renewal and deep connection for those dedicated to race and social justice efforts.
Honoring History Installation
For the past twenty years, people across City departments and community organizations have worked to implement the Race and Social Justice Initiative. This is a space to recognize that work and the people who made it happen.
The profiles displayed at the Summit were put forward for recognition by staff from across the City. The content was created in collaboration with the people profiled. You’ll have the opportunity to add your own recognitions of people that have been important to the success of RSJI!
Digital Exhibition of the Ethnic Heritage Art Gallery
The Ethnic Heritage Art Gallery was founded in January 2009 by City staffers uniting across four City of Seattle Affinity Groups: City Light Black Employees Association (CLBEA), Filipino American Civic Employees (FACES), Latino City Employees (LCE), and City of Seattle Native American Employees (CANOES).
The goal of the gallery is to strengthen relationships with communities of color, foster pride and appreciation for diverse cultures, showcase and support local artists of color, and build appreciation for the diversity and social commentary of art. This Digital Exhibition highlights the gallery’s history and features work by local Latinx, Black, Native, and Asian American artists.
RSJI 20th Anniversary Reception
2024 marks the 20th year of the Race & Social Justice Intiiative! The day before the 2024 RSJI Summit, we invited past and present RSJI contributers to gather at Cornish Playhouse in Seattle Center. Together, we celebrated the many people who made RSJI possible.
Remarks were given by RSJI Division DIrector Roderick Morrison, SOCR Director Derrick Wheeler-Smith, and Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell. In addition, we heard from the first RSJI Manager, Mickey Fearn, and his successor as RSJI Manager, Glenn Harris.
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