Mayor’s Racial Equity Initiative will see changes after previous director resigned
Leaders of the Mayor’s Racial Equity Initiative on Thursday offered more detail about how the $250 million investment will be spent and tracked, describing a “decentralized” approach that will not include an executive director role after the initiative’s first pick resigned earlier this year.
The initiative is a public-private partnership announced in November with a goal to raise $250 million, hailed as the corporate community’s response to institutional racism.
It will invest in four focus areas: Johnson C. Smith University; bridging the digital divide by increasing internet and technology access; boosting recruiting and retention of diverse candidates by Charlotte’s biggest employers; and the city’s Corridors of Opportunity program. To date, $216 million has been committed to the initiative.
In an update six months after its launch, leaders said the four priorities will each have their own governing or community boards as well as a financial advisory committee to approve spending recommendations.
“There will be appropriate oversight of the work, the dollars that have been invested, and the community will have a voice in the process,” said initiative co-chair Malcomb Coley.
Public funding committed for the initiative, including the city’s Corridors of Opportunity program to invest in under-developed neighborhoods, will be approved by the governing bodies of the respective entity, such as the Charlotte City Council.
Leaders largely have still not offered specifics on how and where money will be spent, though leaders said they are working on concrete goals to present to the financial committees made up of private donors.
Bruce Clark, executive director of the Center for Digital Equity, said his organization has a goal to provide 20,000 laptops and internet access to 10,000 households in the first year. It’s part of the goal to make Mecklenburg “the most digitally connected county” in America and help residents access health care, education and job opportunities online.
The first months since the initiative launched have been rocky with controversies, leaving leaders promising more transparency and communication with residents about how money will be spent and its effectiveness.
In early February, Kimberly Henderson was named the initiative’s first top leader. She was to oversee the employer commitment and assist the other three areas. But just a day later, local media reported on controversy surrounding her handling of fraudulent unemployment claims while leading Ohio’s Department of Job and Family Services.
A report from the state’s auditor published months after Henderson left the job found the department made $475 million in fraudulent unemployment payments to people who did not qualify and another $3.3 billion in overpayments.
While the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance, where the new leadership position was held, initially defended Henderson’s hiring, she resigned Feb. 14, saying she didn’t want the controversy to jeopardize the initiative’s work.
Coley said leaders learned from that episode and determined the role “would no longer be needed,” because the organizations responsible for the four priority areas were capable of the work without an overarching director.
The initiative faced questions from several members of Charlotte City Council about how city funds would be used.
Several council members raised transparency concerns, saying they didn’t know the $10 million in federal pandemic funds they’d approved for digital inclusion just days before the Nov. 1 announcement would be used for the initiative.
Mayor Vi Lyles said Thursday that changing decades of discriminatory practices, especially for Black Charlotte residents, will take time.
“Transformation doesn’t come without trial and error and initiative, but we ought to be glad to do it,” she said. “It took us a long time to honor and respect the history of this community and it’ll take us a long time to get some of that changed.”
This story was originally published April 29, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
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