The Washington State 2022 Governor’s Equity Summit

December 7, 2022

By
Emily Boone (e mail)

Division of Corrections

On November 30, DOC employees had the privilege of attending Governor Inslee’s 2022 Fairness Summit, hosted by the Workplace of Fairness. The inaugural occasion introduced collectively different state businesses and neighborhood members to work towards attaining fairness in our state, so everybody has a good likelihood to dwell out their desires and thrive in enterprise, faculty, work and life.

Almost 1,000 members got here collectively to guage the progress and establish areas of enchancment for state businesses.

“We don’t break centuries of behavior and considering, except we determine to interrupt the chains of that historical past. So that’s the reason we’re right here right this moment, to essentially consciously, deliberately, deliver fairness and justice towards the best way we do enterprise,” stated Gov Inslee. “There may be an apparent motive for doing this work, as a result of we actually imagine in justice. We actually imagine in equity. We imagine in what [Dr. Karen A. Johnson] is speaking about, which is to offer all people a chance to satisfy their future the place it desires to be… After we do that, we carry out higher for the individuals within the state of Washington.”

By way of a number of facilitated workgroups, suggestions have been offered on to Gov. Inslee on attaining fairness in public contracting, schooling, employment and providers:

• Excessive-priority race and gender-neutral measures to standardize in public contracting:
• Improve state awarded contracts and spending with small and numerous companies
• Improve schooling and empowerment inside businesses and organizations and for small companies and contractors
• Scale back boundaries for contracting
• Excessive-priority measures for attaining fairness in public schooling:
• Improve fairness in pre-k by way of 12 funding
• Create and implement culturally related curriculum
• Consider and make suggestions to alter how pupil success is measured
• Excessive-priority measure for attaining fairness in public employment:
• Improve the range, fairness and inclusion for all by taking a look at how we prepare employers
• Excessive-priority measures for attaining fairness in public providers:
• Improve our statewide emergency preparedness persevering with operations posture with classes discovered so we turn into a proactive society for all Washingtonians to be ready and capable of thrive
• Improve the variety of cellular well being helps for regardless of the well being determinant is
• Improve fairness in housing
• Scale back housing displacement as a consequence of lease will increase and monetary emergencies

These high-priority measures every have motion gadgets and metrics for businesses to comply with. Gov. Inslee, by way of Govt Order 22-02, plans to carry state leaders accountable for attaining fairness in Washington. DOC is dedicated to selling methods that create an equitable, numerous, inclusive, respectful and anti-racist tradition to positively change lives. A part of this work is recognized within the company’s strategic plan and Professional-Fairness Anti-Racism (PEAR) Plan. DOC will proceed the journey towards fostering a system that enhances our tradition and improves neighborhood outcomes.

For those who have been unable to take part, you may watch recordings of parts of the summit obtainable on TVW: