The health impacts of racism have always been present, but the broad scale community suffering experienced during COVID-19 have made them even more visible.
Inspired by the Black Agenda Group’s influential declaration of Racism as a Public Health Crisis, Genesee Land Trust made our own mission-related commitments on September 14, 2020. We know how important diversity, equity and inclusion is to our community, and one of the commitments we made to the Black Agenda Group is to share the steps we’ve taken to move Genesee Land Trust forward.
In 2020 we created a task force to identify the specific ways we could incorporate the Black Agenda Group’s declaration into the fabric of our organization. We integrated these actions into our strategic plan in 2021 and began monitoring our progress, sharing quarterly updates with the Board. We have also endeavored to embed diversity and inclusion into our decision making and Board discussions, with task force members specifically charged with speaking up and asking questions to hold us accountable.
We recently reviewed and evaluated our year-one progress, and were honored to be selected to share our efforts at a March 2022 press conference to announce Black Agenda Group’s new evaluation tool.
Some highlights we would like to share:
1) Equity in Strategic Conservation Plan:
In 2022, we are updating Genesee Land Trust’s strategic conservation plan, which will outline our conservation priorities for the next 10 years. As part of the plan, equity is incorporated into the mapping of priority areas in the region and as a lens to evaluate future land protection opportunities. When completed in the fall, the Strategic Conservation Plan will help us identify gaps in equity that will help determine which land to conserve to improve access to green spaces and to address the inequitable impacts of climate change across the region.
2) Diversity in Relationships with Local Businesses:
In 2021, we gathered a list of Minority and Women Owned Businesses in order to develop relationships with more diverse businesses. When looking for freelance professionals, food vendors, landscaping firms, surveyors, appraisers, environmental consultants, other real estate-related firms and other service providers, we look first to this directory. In 2022, we will track the hiring of diverse contractors for different projects.
3) Staff and Board training:
We believe every member of our staff and board should expand their understanding of issues related to racism, environmental justice, and land access. In 2021, the staff participated in the climate justice 21-day challenge hosted by Climate Solutions Accelerator as well as the Urban League’s 21-day challenge. We also held board and training sessions with Taj P. Smith, the Director of Diversity Education at RIT, that focused on engaging in difficult conversations that involve racial diversity, inclusion, and equity and subsequently on applying a diverse, inclusive, and equitable strategic lens. In 2022, several staff and board members completed an equitable hiring training course specific to the conservation field.
4) Access to Nature in the City:
Through the Genesee River Alliance, we are focused on access issues specifically related to the Genesee River as it flows through the City of Rochester and that have the potential to address issues of equity in the community. We have a dedicated staff member focused on the Genesee River Alliance, its advocacy, and community activities. Helen Dumas manages an ongoing walking series called the Mile-a-Month program, which encourages enjoyment of this vibrant urban trail by downtown residents and visitors alike. She is also conducting a community survey to measure current awareness and engagement, and identify areas of improvement. In the past year, events like the Underground Railroad Walk and Native American Heritage Walk celebrated the cultural diversity and history of both Rochester and the river. To continue to expand the ways the Genesee River and surrounding area enrich our communities, we are involved in the planning efforts for a state park at High Falls.
5) Inclusive Hiring:
With Executive Director Gay Mills retiring in early 2023, our search committee has placed an emphasis on diverse, equitable and inclusive hiring practices, and completed an equitable hiring training session focused on reducing bias and will have the job description evaluated to reduce bias. As part of our search, Genesee Land Trust has hired an executive recruiter with a strong track record of finding diverse candidates.
Treating racism as a public health crisis isn’t something we only want to focus on during Black History Month, on Juneteenth, or on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. We’re making an ongoing and sustained commitment to addressing racism’s structural and institutional roots in the work we do. As a Land Trust, we know how powerful roots can be. The way they dig deep, spread wide, tangle, and connect.
We believe some of the ways we can get at racism’s insidious roots include:
looking at land conservation through an environmental justice lens
programming that promotes more equitable access to the joys and health benefits of land and water
investing in diverse professionals for services
engaging with and listening to people in diverse neighborhoods
We are grateful for the leadership of the Greater Rochester Black Agenda Group and will continue to take steps that will make it possible to live up to our Declaration and commitments. We have developed year-two commitments to guide us in the year to come, and will continue sharing our progress.
If you have any questions or would like to share your ideas supporting our efforts, we’d love to hear from you. Please email Executive Director Lorna Wright at lwright@geneseelandtrust.org or call 585-256-2130.