by Jessica Carreras
When Torii Hamilton joined the Affirmations Board of Directors in 2003, she was surprised to see that though the community center aimed to serve a diverse LGBT community, the organization itself lacked that same variety of race and gender.
"Everyone on the board, when I first came on, was white," Hamilton explained. "Most of them were men, and there were two women."
Hamilton's dismay at the make up of both the board and staff was not remarkable. In fact, as she and others who now make up the Affirmations Multicultural Advisory Committee found, the concerns of internal racism and exclusion were widespread.
But thankfully, all that is beginning to change.
The MAC was formed just over a year ago following an accusation of racism at Affirmations. The resulting group's goal was to spend two years surveying the community, figuring out what the problems were and, last but not least, fixing them. They would focus on such areas as programming, staff, services and the board of directors.
Now, at the half way mark, MAC facilitator and Affirmations Chief Administrative Officer Kathleen LaTosch said they are well on their way to addressing the problem, but still have a lot more work to do.
"(Our purpose) is to create inclusiveness in this organization at a deeper level, so something that is far-reaching that covers multiple levels," LaTosch said. "It's not just about programs and services or who's coming to the center. It's about who's working at the center, in what capacities, who's serving on our board of directors and how all of those multiple identities and experiences are contributing to this being a multi-cultural community center. So it's really about encouraging and involving people at all levels, with all kinds of different backgrounds, in the ongoing creation and recreation of what we do here."
As such, the MAC is a diverse group, including such people as Karibu House Executive Director Reynaldo Magdaleno, Affirmations Volunteer Coordinator Tysha Rodriguez and Michelle Walters, who helped found Chrysler's LGBT resource group. It also includes several Affirmations board members and those who were simply concerned about the direction the center was headed in.
"There's a community all around us and as stakeholders, we want to make sure everyone feels welcome to come here, to be a part of all of the different activities and be a part of all the different cultures that are surrounding the facility here," MAC member Pamela Alexander said of her reasons for joining. "(Everyone should) be able to come here and feel like they're stakeholders in what's going on here at Affirmations.
"I want to see change."
An excellent resource
Though the members of MAC knew what they wanted to accomplish, they weren't quite sure how to get there. Luckily, they discovered a little help.
After receiving a grant from the Arcus Foundation to do their work, the MAC hired a consultant who directed them to a piece by the Denver Foundation called the Inclusiveness at Work Manual. "It's basically everything we want and everything we thought we were going to have to create from scratch, but it had already been done," explained LaTosch. "So we're now using that, and it's going to take our organization step by step through a process of identifying what it is we want to do and how we're going to get there. And then we'll end up with this blueprint for building Affirmations into an inclusive organization."
The manual consists of modules that explain how to do exactly what Affirmations is trying to do: make the organization more inclusive and representative of all races, ethnicities and cultures. Each module completed, such as assessing what their needs are, or researching, takes them closer to that goal.
Members of the MAC agreed that without the manual, they'd be a bit lost. "This guide, for me, felt like a turning point," Walters said. "It affirmed the work that we had been doing… . But it really felt like a turning point in terms of actually having something concrete that we could look at and implement."
"It doesn't tell you everything," Hamilton added, "but it gives you enough information on how to do things and what things are essential to really move you in the right direction."
Discovering the community
They've done trust building.They've been in contact with the Michigan Roundtable for Diversity and Inclusion to begin training. They've identified their issues. The next step for the MAC, and perhaps one of the most time-consuming, is research.
"I'm expecting the research component to start taking place over the summer," LaTosch said. "We haven't determined exactly what that's going to look like, but it's probably going to include focus groups, and surveys and questionnaires."
Their hope is that through this research, they can figure out exactly who Affirmations is serving and what those constituents want to see and do at the center. "The point is to get a really good context for where you are before you then apply that lens to yourself. It's to kind of take a look at the tri-county area and see what that looks like," LaTosch explained. "Then we can take that and overlay it onto our organization and see where we are – how do we match up, how do we fall short? Those areas that we think are really important to focus on, we can't do it all at once time. We have to prioritize and really start honing in on all those areas."
Hamilton agreed, adding that without a good foundation, programming and staffing aimed at diversifying the center will likely crumble. "You have to do it from the…bottom up. It has to be complete, or else it doesn't work," she insisted. "It only takes one person who doesn't get the message to totally destroy whatever work you've done. So everybody has to be in on the program. Everybody has to be doing the same things."
The show must go on
Though the work of the MAC is far from done, it's hardly feasible to suggest that Affirmations shut down until they are done addressing these issues. LaTosch explained that Affirmations is trying to implement what they learn as they go. February saw the most extensive celebration of Black History Month ever at the center, and beginning in June, the center will offer diversity trainings to staff, board members and volunteers. "We're doing a lot of things internally while this process is going on," LaTosh said. "By the time we're done, we'll be able to match it to what we're currently doing, and maybe we won't have much to do by that time. But there are some obvious things that we're doing while the MAC is doing their work."
For Rodriguez, who is both an Affirmations staff member and a center user, it's clear that the services and programming at the center need to change drastically. And although things are beginning to move, she believes there's still a long way to go.
"As a center user, there's certain things that I want to see, and as an employee, there's certain things I want to see and that I hear," Rodriguez said. "I'm hoping that when our work is done, that we don't just think of multicultural programming as doing Black History Month; that it's something that's embedded in programming all year round. Even though that's a great start, I just feel that we still have a lot more work to do."
The end result
Like Rodriguez, all members of the MAC have their own hopes for the center, and personal definitions of what "inclusiveness and diversity" will be.
MAC member Phil Rivera admitted that he never saw Affirmations as being divisive or non-inclusive. But after joining the committee, he believes the center can do better for both its users and its workers. "Hopefully, what I can be a part of is creating a center where not only the users feel that they're a part of it and benefitting from it, but also the employees," Rivera said. "You tend to forget about the employees sometimes…but we also need to make sure that they feel safe and that they're being treated fairly and getting the same opportunities."
Kathy Place, another MAC member, put her expectations simply: "I think our community is ready for change, and I want to be a part of that; to go with the ball that's rolling to make it a better place for everybody."
For Hamilton, there is both a lot to be proud of and a lot more to do. "We have made a lot of progress, I think, but there's still a lot of building blocks that you have to do…," she said. "It's never fast enough, because you want to be here right away, but I think as a group, we're making really great progress. I'm happy with the way we're going, but still a little impatient…because I want it now."
And not surprisingly, she's not alone.
The Multicultural Advisory Committee is looking for your input! To join or volunteer, contact Kathleen LaTosch at [email protected] or call 248-398-7105.
