What does it take to bring Racial Equity Work to the forefront of a statewide membership organization during a moment of a national and global racial reckoning?  

How do you approach a diverse group of members and stress the importance of engaging in racial equity work at the collective statewide level?  

Who leads the recruitment, implementation, and ongoing support work that ties together the collective needs of over 90 member organizations?  

What is required of Community Development Corporations to elevate, execute, and implement racial equity work in their communities?  

These questions have undoubtedly presented themselves in various ways throughout the development, launch, and implementation of the statewide MACDC Racial Equity Pledge. What began in the space of the MACDC Organizer Peer Group was brought to the forefront of MACDC’s priorities, with an ask of MACDC to take  leadership in pioneering collective action through a Racial Equity Pledge amongst their statewide membership of CDCs. The request to the MACDC board and executive leadership was taken with a keen sense of urgency and responsibility as the pledge was initially developed in the midst of a national and global outcry for racial justice. 

The MACDC Racial Equity Pledge is rooted in acknowledging the four levels of racism:  internalized racism within individuals, interpersonal racism that occurs between individuals, institutional racism with our institutions and systems of power, and structural racism across our society and is centered around addressing four areas including: root causes, representation of staff, representation of the board, and representation in our work. To access the Racial Equity Pledge webpage click HERE and for the full pledge document, please click HERE. 

To capture the vision of the Racial Equity Pledge, MACDC developed a theory of change to showcase the methodology of our work. Please see the Theory of Change HERE.