UWAA Racial Equity Update 2020-2021
Advancing Inclusivity and Anti-Racism
In October 2020, the UW Alumni Association formalized its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), and pledged to advance anti-racist understanding and actions.
Our objective is to lead substantial change to engage underrepresented alumni and amplify Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) voices. Five areas of focus emerged — people, programming, advocacy, communities and communications — grounded in the premise that an organized community of more than 500,000 graduates is a force for extraordinary change.
The work these past 12 months has been both important and humbling. We quickly learned where our ambitions and realities collided. And then learned again. And again. Incremental and impactful progress was made, pauses were frequent, and conversations — internally and externally — were difficult and profound.
As an organization, we acknowledge that this is a long journey and we still have much to do ahead. We remain committed.
Read on to learn more about the actions taken over the previous year.
People
ESTABLISHED INAUGURAL combined staff-board REJ committee to explore UWAA’s race, equity and social justice programs and services in alignment with the UWAA strategic plan and the UW’s public mission.
INCREASED DEI TRAININGS for all staff and Board of Trustees, including mandatory Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) trainings that explored unconscious bias and provided ongoing opportunities for individual and organizational conversations and education about race and equity.
REVISED ORGANIZATIONAL SYSTEMS AND GOVERNANCE for Trustee, volunteer and staff recruitment as well as dedicated, renewable funding resources for hiring, training, and retention.
CHANGED NON-PROFIT BY-LAWS and trustee nominations process to increase BIPOC representation. The current UWAA board identifies as 59% non-white.
IDENTIFIED THE NEED TO HIRE a Director of Engagement with DEI programming as a priority, undertook a national search that led to a subsequent staffing re-organization and the elevation of this position to Senior Director.
ENGAGED A BIPOC WORKING GROUP of paid experts in community centric engagement and fundraising to provide formal recommendations on how UWAA can develop a practice of centering community in its engagement work.
WORKED WITH UWAA’S MULTICULTURAL ALUMNI PARTNERSHIP (MAP) to reimagine collaborative community centric engagement. MAP will provide consultation, assist with focus groups, and help build community support in 2022 and beyond.
HIRED MCCOWAN AND ASSOCIATES, a BIPOC-owned consultancy, to provide strategy and plan development for gathering, analyzing and reporting information from alumni in short- and long-term studies.
Programming
UWAA PRODUCED 20 PUBLIC EVENTS using a racial equity lens as defined by content matter, featured speaker or both. These lectures, workshops and celebrations included topics as diverse as the role of higher education in advancing racial equity; a career series focused on navigating identity and career as a BIPOC professional; an in-depth look at athletes and activism; and two celebratory storytelling showcases focused on Indigenous and BIPOC alumni.
INCREASED BUDGET INVESTMENT in current and future REJ programming and community-centered engagement.
THE RACIAL EQUITY ASSESSMENT, designed by UWAA’s staff-led Racial Equity team, is a tool to help ensure that annual programs are thoughtful about programming with a racial equity and overall equity lens. This assessment is used currently at UWAA and was widely adopted by on-campus partners.
Communications
LAUNCHED RACE, EQUITY AND JUSTICE online resource to the community for promoting campus events, resources and stories with a racial equity focus.
AMPLIFIED 300+ REJ-related campus partner events and lectures through dynamic online events calendar and social media platforms.
PRODUCED 40+ E-NEWSLETTERS that included promotion of UWAA and UW campus events, resources and stories with a racial equity focus.
UW MAGAZINE AND VIEWPOINT publications expanded its BIPOC contributors to enrich written content, photography and illustrations; increased number of feature stories told through a diversity lens; and began the process of developing a land acknowledgment for UW Magazine print and online magazines.
APPLIED RACIAL EQUITY LENS to all social media posts, graphic design, copywriting, and photography.
Communities
STRENGTHENED COMMITMENT to UW’s Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity and the student facing Samuel E. Kelly Cultural Center, with budget, program and fundraising support, including a dedicated sponsorship gift to the Instructional Center launched with the UWAA’s annual fall fun run, Alaska Airlines Dawg Dash.
DEEPENED EDITORIAL SCOPE for print publications UW Magazine and Viewpoint by expanding outreach and connections with equity leaders across our campuses and in the community.
PARTNERED WITH University Book Store and Seattle Arts & Lectures to host BIPOC author events and readings.
PRIORITIZED AND PARTNERED WITH BIPOC-owned restaurants, small businesses and non-profit organizations as the centerpiece for Membership Appreciation Week, alumni engagement programming and member benefits.
Advocacy
UW IMPACT, UWAA’s legislative advocacy arm, expanded to include three presentations to the Samuel E. Kelly Ethic Cultural Center and one to UW/WSU student athletes.
INCREASED BIPOC MEMBERS on UW Impact’s Legislative Advocacy Committee to 44%.
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