Let's Be Proactive in Planning for the Next Disaster
The Black Leaders Collective requests your participation in a focused conversation series to prepare effectively for disasters. We want to ensure that voices of Black leaders and community members are utilized to help design an equitable disaster response plan for Travis and Williamson counties.
“Winter Storm Uri showed us the resolve of our leaders to serve the community during an emergency. It also highlighted the gaps in our communications and resource delivery systems as a community, and those issues must proactively be cataloged and addressed,” says Shuronda Robinson of BLC. She adds, BLC wants to take what we learned together during Winter Storm Uri to create a solid approach to disaster planning, as well as a set of broader policy questions to be addressed.
BLC is hosting two “design thinking” workshops – one for Williamson County and one for Travis County. These sessions are designed to help us collectively create our comprehensive disaster preparedness plan from the black lens under the consultation and facilitation of world-renowned Design-Thinker and Stanford graduate Calvin Mays. The focused discussions aim to help Black leaders better understand community members' experiences and needs during emergencies. The sessions will also help us to collectively navigate a comprehensive disaster preparedness plan.
Travis County: Oct. 6-8, 9 am-noon each day
Williamson County: Oct 13-16, 9 am-noon each day
Participation in the collaborative sessions is limited to 15-20 participants. To learn more, email us at: leadership@blackleaderscollectiveatx.com
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Learning and Healing Experience No. 4:
"How Whiteness Impacts Trust & Community Building
The Black Leaders Collective will host our final Learning & Healing Experience of the year with Dr. Angela Ward!
If you have not been able to soak up the wisdom and insights from participating in the other sessions, we highly encourage you to attend this life- and leadership-changing session. Dr. Ward is a life-long educator who works on a national level to train other educators on bias, race, and equity.
You must attend both sessions.
Be sure to:
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About Dr. Angela Ward
Native Austinite Angela M. Ward, Ph.D., is recognized nationally as an Education Week 2019 Leader to Learn and serves on national, regional, and local Equity working groups. Her work has been featured in Teaching Tolerance Magazine. A graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, Dr. Ward’s expertise has been shared with organizations across the U.S. She is highly regarded as a skilled organizational coach, keynote speaker, and writer.
As a private consultant, she facilitates dialogue and focuses efforts toward organizational development, equity, inclusiveness, and capacity building. She manages the child-centered implementation of Cultural Proficiency & Inclusiveness and Restorative Practices for a large urban school district. She is motivated to study the implications of personal identity to culture, power, and society.
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Black Leaders Prioritize Public Health
Racial disparities in healthcare mean shorter life spans and increased risk of preventable diseases for Black men and women in Williamson and Travis counties. Since September 2020, the Black Leaders Collective, through our Public Health Issue Group, has been meeting and working on a set of priorities for better health outcomes.
We are starting to see the fruits of our education, outreach, planning, and work to address these disparities:
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City of Austin Public Health Commission Under Consideration
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Since 2017, collaborator Shannon Jones (former Austin Public Health Director) has pushed for the creation of a Public Health Commission. This critical community-based commission was ignored until he brought it to the Black Leaders Collective. We have made this a priority item since September 2020, educating our community and meeting with elected officials to move the item forward.
Mayor Pro Tem Natasha Harper Madison is sponsoring the resolution that will be heard by Austin's City Council on September 30th Thanks to the BLC’s public health issue group and Shannon’s resolve to make the Public Health Commission a reality. The next step is to engage with Central Health and Travis County officials.
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The Minority Male Health Clinic Is Now Open!
A new way to serve the needs of Black men’s health is open thanks to the vision and work of collaborator Larry Wallace, Sr. Wallace is an experienced healthcare operations professional who has made it his mission to make healthcare accessible and transform the stigma of typical healthcare systems into a positive life-changing experience to improve the quality of life for everyone.
BLC is excited to announce that in collaboration with the African American Male Youth Harvest Foundation, the clinic is operational and has a chief medical director. It is located at the AAMYHF offices, 6633 US-290 #303, Austin, TX 78723.
The Minority Male Health Clinic is specifically designed to reach men, boys, and their families where they live, work, play, and pray. The clinic will work with the community to:
- Improve the health status and quality of life for men of color.
- Develop and implement effective strategies to address health disparities impacting
- African American and Hispanic males.
- Bend the curve on needless premature deaths due to lack of information or access to healthcare.
- Impact quality of life through education and informing men of health, wellness and risks.
- Create partnerships with healthcare systems.
- Develop trusted relationships with targeted populations.
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Immediately after Winter Storm Uri, the Black Leaders Collective worked with local restaurants and foodservice providers to provide hot meals to people living in Austin, Pflugerville, Manor, and Georgetown. The impromptu initiative is called “Feeding the Village” and it is continuing to address food insecurity in Travis and Williamson counties.
With the support of collaborator Joi Chevalier from Cook’s Nook, BLC has been able to partner with GoodWorks Austin Community Kitchen to continue to provide freshly prepared meals for Austin's food-insecure communities. Funding comes from City, Federal or private sources.
Since June BLC restaurant partners have provided more than 8,000 meals to the underserved! These meals are procured with care by partner restaurants then distributed through local city partners. This program is responding to Austin's unprecedented need for food accessibility and continuous work to allow for our Austin-based business to survive and evolve.
We currently have the following restaurateurs and food trucks enrolled in our Feeding the Village program:
- Ms. Bobbie Mack and Bobby Mack, owners of Tater Que
- Jon Blake and Shell Dawson, owners of The Avenue
- Jermaine and Jahmaal Dumes, owners of Down South CaJJun Eats
- Harvey Merida and Ted Gifford, owners of Let’s Eat Healthily
- Alexandria Hollowell, owner of Le meals
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“This program is helping to provide delicious and culturally proficient meals to the needy, while creating a sustainable revenue stream for Black-owned restaurants,” says Clarence Guidry, program coordinator.
Many thanks to Clarence Guidry for leading this initiative and to Joi Chevalier for your direction and assistance. If you or someone you know may be interested in this program, please email us at leadership@blackleaderscollectiveatx.com.
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Please Give to the Haitian Disaster Relief Fund
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Weeks after a 7.2 extent seismic tremor struck Haiti, the loss of life continue to ascend as do the quantities of the harmed and uprooted. We’ve all born witness to the egregious and heinous acts of the refugees in Del Rio, TX who have now been sent back to Haiti during continued devastation. As we pull together to support those suffering in our communities, we must do everything in our power to support our Haitian brothers and sisters who’ve lost loved ones, who’ve been deported back to nothing, and whose homes and valuables have been destroyed.
Funds raised by the Black Leaders Collective will be donated to the ‘Love For Haiti’ Disaster Relief Efforts. 100% of proceeds will benefit local disaster relief organization, Hope for Haiti and will be used for food, medical supplies, and cement to help rebuild.
Please donate a minimum of $25.
We’d like to send a major thank you to our Haitian American collaborators Hon. Rudy Metayer, Farah Muscadin, and Qi Dada for leading the charge to help our brothers and sisters in need.
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Introducing the BLC Homelessness Service Providers Consortium
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Nearly 40% of the people experiencing homelessness are Black in Austin. As the City of Austin and Travis County pour nearly $200 million in federal recovery funds to address this issue, the Black Leaders Collective is stepping up to ensure that social service providers receive the funding necessary to build capacity for these organizations.
In response to this new wave of funding, BLC is creating a consortium of local grassroots organizations that are closest to the crisis to make sure they get the resources, support, and guidance needed to build capacity for their organizations that will, in turn, continue to build capacity for our community in the areas of direct services, housing, workforce development, healthcare, and food insecurity.
The Consortium of Black-led Service Providers is already serving unhoused populations not met by the current system including:
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Public Saftey/Criminal Justice with 10K
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Since the inception of BLC, the Public safety/criminal justice issue group has been committed to supporting the continued evolution, expansion, and scaling of 10K Fearless First Responders, led by Sister Christina Muhammed. In the month of September, we conducted our second meeting with leadership at the Austin Police Department.
APD is looking at new ways to collaborate in order to alleviate tension and apprehension between APD and the Black community. More details to be announced soon!
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Equity in Economics + Workforce Development
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BLC and the Small Business Resources Enterprise have finalized the details on the 8-part series lecture, titled, ‘Black Businesses Rising – How to Do Business with the City of Austin’
Thank you to our lead Tyra Clark and the help of Michael Ward Jr., and Janice Omadeke for adding their expertise to the series.
Here is the series schedule:
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Tues. Oct 26th @ 12:30 pm - ‘How to get started as a small business’ (For-profit / Nonprofit) with Joy Miller (Small Biz Division)
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Tues. Oct. 26th @ 5:30 pm - ‘How to Become a Vendor’ with Reve Crayton (COA Purchasing Office)
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Wed. Oct. 27th @ 12:30 pm - ‘How to Find a Local Bid’ with Reve Crayton (COA Purchasing Office)
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Wed. Oct. 27th @ 5:30 pm - ‘How to Certify your Business (For-profit vs. Nonprofit)’ with Deanna Brown (SMBR)
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Thurs. Oct. 28th @ 12:30 pm - ‘Keeping up with your Taxes’ with State Comptroller’s Office
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Thurs. Oct. 28th @ 5:30 pm - ‘How to Write a Proposal’ with Joni Foster (EGBI)
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Fri. Oct. 29th @ 12:30 pm - ‘How to Submit a Proposal’ with Joni Foster (EGBI)
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Fri. Oct. 29th @ 5:30 pm - ‘How to report [Contract Management]’ with Samuel Hernandez and Yolanda Miller (COA)
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Thanks to the support of the Carver Museum, Six Square, Austin Area Urban League, and SoulCiti, BLC is moving full steam ahead with the creation of a children’s book that will highlight Black Leaders of Austin that came before us. Illustrations are nearly finished, and we’ve started the process of content creation. We are currently in the fundraising phase. If you are interested in sponsor opportunities, please reach out to us via email at leadership@blackleaderscollectiveatx.com.
Connect with a Collaborator
BLC is committed to helping to build, bridge and deepen relationships between collaborators through the practice of Constructivist Listening also known as Collaborator Chats. Be sure you are reaching out to at least 2 collaborators a month to hold a 10-min Collaborator Chat. BLC also commits the first 10 min of every general body meeting toward the initiative.
Here is the framework:
Here are the questions we ask you to cover:
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