Blue Ribbon Commission
Reducing Racial Employment Disparities
in the Ramsey County Metropolitan Area, including Anoka,
Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Scott, Washington
Everybody In Overview
EVERYBODY IN CO-CHAIRS:
BUTCH HOWARD, GENERAL MANAGER, HMSHOST,
MINNEAPOLIS/ST PAUL AIRPORT
NEKIMA LEVY-POUNDS, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
OF LAW, ST. THOMAS SCHOOL OF LAW
How to Use This Presentation
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 The purpose of this presentation is to acquaint you with the history
of the formation of the much discussed Blue Ribbon Commission’s
Report for action: Everybody In...A Report to Reduce Racial
Employment Disparities in the Ramsey County Metropolitan
Area, and to provide information on the follow up work of the
Everybody In team
 This information will give you a head start if you choose to
participate
 Information about participating is also included
Thank you for your interest in this project
Patricia Brady
Everybody.In@co.ramsey.mn.us
Agenda
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 Background
 Blue Ribbon Commission
 Six Strategies to Reduce Racial Employment Disparities
 Everybody In: Implementation Team (I-Team)
 Actions taken to date
 Alignment with key partners
 How you can participate
Background
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 2010: Economic Policy Institute reports the Twin Cities as
having the largest racial employment gap in the nation (see
next slide for details)
 2010: Foundation community invites Dr. Algernon Austin
(report author) to Minnesota to deliver report; resulting press
draws attention to issues
 2011: The Ramsey County Workforce Investment Board
(RCWIB), with key partners the City of Saint Paul and Ramsey
County, appoints a 20 member Blue Ribbon Commission
(BRC) to develop strategies to reduce racial employment
disparities
2009 Economic Policy Institute Report
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 The black-white difference in unemployment in 2009 was
larger in the Twin Cities Metro Area than anywhere else
 Below is an excerpt from the 2009 unemployment rates in
18 large metro areas:
Metro Area
Black
White
Difference
Detroit
20.9%
13.8%
7.1%
Twin Cities
20.4%
6.6%
13.8%
Memphis
15.7%
5.1%
10.5%
US Average
14.3%
7.4%
7.0%
The Achievement Gap
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Compiled by MNCompass, from: Minnesota Department of Education.
Median Household Income
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Note: In 2009, inflation-adjusted dollars.
Race and ethnicity reflect the race and ethnicity of the head of the household.
Compiled by MNCompass from: Integrated Public Use Microdata Series from the U.S. Census Bureau, American
Community Survey.
Why Racial Unemployment Disparities Matter
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 By 2035, 48 percent of Ramsey County residents and
44 percent of Hennepin County residents are
projected to be people of color
 In suburban counties, the proportion of residents
who are people of color is expected to double during
that same period
Blue Ribbon Commission: May–Oct. 2011
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 In response to the aforementioned issues, The RCWIB and its
partners, the City of Saint Paul and Ramsey County Board of
Commissioners, appointed a Blue Ribbon Commission (BRC)
 The BRC created Everybody In: A Report to Reduce Racial
Employment Disparities in the Ramsey County Metropolitan
Area. The report:
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defines the key issues in six strategies to be implemented over five years
defines key actions to be undertaken
defines and recommends a performance measurement system to
determine progress
 The BRC defines itself as the accountable body for future
teams to report progress and updates
Everybody In Strategies
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1.
2.
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Raise public awareness among employers and greater community
about racial employment disparities
Create a broad-based regional collaboration of employers, including
business, government, nonprofit organizations, educational
institutions, and service providers to concentrate on decreasing the
racial employment disparities
Implement specific targeted policy changes that directly support
racial employment equity
Strengthen the transparency of workforce development outcomes
Promote opportunities that increase postsecondary attainment and
training for job readiness
Foster business and entrepreneurial opportunities that result in job
creation
Initial Key Actions for Implementation
as Directed by the BRC
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1.
Immediately establish an implementation group and structure
2.
Build on data in the report to establish a comprehensive inventory
of programs and efforts within the Ramsey County metropolitan
area that are aimed at reducing or eliminating racial disparity in
employment
3.
Develop and execute an implementation plan to address the six
strategies and related actions in this report
4.
Establish a valid and reliable performance measurement
system as a critical component of the implementation phase and use
it to monitor progress over time
5.
Communicate the implementation group’s plan, including
preparing and delivering presentations and written summaries
appropriate to the needs of a wide range of audiences
Everybody In: Implementation Team
(I-Team)
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 Established in August 2012 as directed by the BRC
 Comprised of 40 members, staff, and facilitators
who are community leaders representing both Saint
Paul and Minneapolis
 Led by the RCWIB, in partnership with the City of
Minneapolis, City of Saint Paul, Minneapolis
Workforce Council, and Ramsey County Board of
Commissioners
Charge: Develop a five year plan to implement
selected Everybody In strategies
Initial Partner Organizations
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Governor’s Office
City of St. Paul
St. Paul Human Rights & Equal
Economic Opportunity
MNDOT
Minneapolis Dept. of Civil Rights
United Way
McKnight Foundation
Phillips Family Foundation
American Indian Family Center
Build Wealth Minnesota
Camphor Memorial United Methodist
Church
Wells Fargo Foundation
Growth and Justice
Governor’s Jobs Initiative, DEED
Dakota County WIB
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Minneapolis Urban League
African American Leadership Forum
St. Paul College
St. Paul Public Schools
McDonalds
Ramsey County WIB
Minneapolis Workforce Council
Network for Better Futures
MEDA
St. Paul Promise Neighborhood
Minneapolis Regional Chamber
Greater MSP
U of St. Thomas School of Law
Culture Brokers Foundation
Neighborhood Development Center
HealthPartners
Anoka County WIB
Other Organizations That Participate
in the Growing Partnership
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 Metropolitan Council
 Bricklayers & Allied
 Minneapolis Regional
Craftworkers Union
 AFL-CIO
 Minneapolis Community
Planning and Economic
Development
Labor Federation
 Minneapolis Building
and Construction Trades
Council
Alignment with Initiatives of Initial Key Partners
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Ramsey County Board of Commissioners: Unified with Critical Success Indicator
 Disparities in, access to, and outcomes of County services for diverse populations are
eliminated
Itasca Project
 Generating Quality Job Growth; Improving Higher Education; Improving our Region's
Education System closely linked to job growth
Ramsey County WIB: Unified with Vision
 To be a leader in identifying future workforce issues and developing appropriate responses
to those issues
City of Minneapolis
 Hired full time position to address disparities in employment (first in the state)
City of Saint Paul: Mayor’s Strategic Plan
 Workforce will be ready to compete in a global economy
Early Alignment with Key Entities
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 Four Metro Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs)
have moved to assure their strategies are aligned
with those of Everybody In:
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Ramsey County Workforce Investment Board
Minneapolis Workforce Council
Dakota County WIB
Anoka County WIB
Washington County WIB
I-Team Progress to Date
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 Issued an RFP and contracted for professional facilitation
services
 Assembled and charged to eliminate racial employment
disparities through strategies developed by BRC
 Assisted by a regional Steering Committee
 Developed an action plan that includes the identification of three
strategic areas to address
 In process: development of a community awareness campaign
 In process: bring together WIBs in the 7-county metropolitan
area to review the racial unemployment disparities
I-Team Progress to Date
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 The following strategies were selected and are
being addressed by Action Teams of the
membership:
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#1 Raise public awareness among employers and greater
community about racial employment disparities
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#5 Promote opportunities that increase postsecondary
attainment and training for job readiness
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#6 Foster business and entrepreneurial
opportunities that result in job creation
Do you Wish to Visit
Implementation Team Meetings?
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The schedule for the open meetings of the
Implementation Team may be found at the following
link:
http://www.rcwib.org/boardmembers/EverybodyIn/I
nfo/2013EverybodyInITMeetingDates.pdf
Your attendance as a guest is welcome.
Action Teams
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Raise public awareness among employers and greater community about racial employment
disparities - Lead: Commissioner Kevin Lindsey, Minnesota Department of Human Rights
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Promote opportunities that increase postsecondary attainment and training for job
readiness - Lead: Eric Muschler, McKnight Foundation
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Foster business and entrepreneurial opportunities that result in job creation - Lead:
Morris Goodwin, Wilder Foundation
For more detailed information on any of our strategies, please go to:
http://www.rcwib.org/boardmembers/EverybodyIn/MeetingMaterials/EverybodyInReportstrategies.pdf
For more information on the work of the Action Teams or to directly interface with Action Teams, please
contact Patricia Brady at the following email address - Everybody.in@co.ramsey.mn.us
More Information
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Detailed information on I-Team Strategy
http://www.rcwib.org/boardmembers/EverybodyIn/MeetingMaterials/Every
bodyInReport-strategies.pdf
The Blue Ribbon Commission
http://www.rcwib.org/Aboutus/BRC.htm
Everybody In…the report
http://www.rcwib.org/boardmembers/BRC/BRCReport.pdf
Research Links
http://www.rcwib.org/Aboutus/BRC.htm#Research_Links:_
Press Coverage:
http://www.rcwib.org/Aboutus/BRC.htm#Research_Links:_