NLIHC wrapped up its second Racial Equity Cohort on June 18 after 10 months of meetings, trainings, and workshops held with housing advocates from across the country. The Racial Equity Cohort included eight NLIHC state and tribal partner organizations actively working to incorporate racial equity policies, tools, and practices into their organizations. Staff from NLIHC’s Field and IDEAS (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Antiracism, Systems-thinking) teams convened the cohort to facilitate peer learning, build the capacity of partners to advance racial equity within their organizations and with external partners, and identify key themes, resources, and strategies to share broadly with state and tribal partners.
The Racial Equity Cohort kicked off during NLIHC’s Fall 2023 State and Tribal Partner Convening, during which cohort members gathering in Washington, D.C., for two days of networking, peer sharing, and a visit to the National Museum of the American Indian. Rebeccah Bennett of Emerging Wisdom facilitated a half-day workshop centered around personal reflection, accountability, and assessing how different organizations envision and measure racial equity “success.” In the following months, virtual meetings focused on topics such as engaging and diversifying statewide coalitions, shifting organizational culture and dismantling white dominant culture, and authentically engaging people with lived and living expertise of housing instability. Additionally, Marisol Bello of the Housing Narratives Lab shared some messaging guidance to help navigate tensions around the housing needs for migrants and asylees. Rebeccah Bennett and colleague Jacqui Rogers also facilitated a workshop, “Building Belonging: Moving Beyond Tolerance & Acceptance.”
Throughout the cohort, members shared successful strategies and lessons learned, as well as opportunities for growth within their organizations and statewide coalitions. Upon the conclusion of the cohort, one member reflected that the experience “helped our team to focus on equity issues both inside and outside our agency by setting intentional space for us to learn and grow together and with peer agencies and staff.” Another found that the cohort “expanded my knowledge of and appreciation for the work that is happening in other states. As a new leader in this arena, I gained new contacts and feel encouraged push forward.” Another reflected that “being in this cohort gave us great insight into the path we take in our racial equity work, such as the importance of making sure we’re taking care of our own house before going beyond, and building a culture of belonging.”
Cohort members also provided an honest critique of their experience to help inform the next phase of this effort at NLIHC. For instance, one member reflected “I think we needed something more like a 201 course that allowed us to go deeper and get more uncomfortable, and define clear actionable items for us to take back to our work.” Similarly, another found that “the content was good but it wasn’t driving us towards action. More emphasis on using the content to help us form action plans or something that helps to hold us more accountable could have been transformative.”
NLIHC is grateful to the following organizations for participating in the second Racial Equity Cohort and looks forward to continuing to support their work to advance racial equity: New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness, North Carolina Coalition to End Homelessness, Michigan Coalition Against Homelessness, Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, Coalition for the Homeless, California Coalition for Rural Housing, Georgia Advancing Communities Together, Inc, and Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio.