Update for July 10 - Listening and Learning

Message from Helen Robbins-Meyer, Chief Administrative Officer

After calls for racial justice moved into the national and local spotlight, our employee resource groups took the initiative and hosted a listening session this week on equity and identity. The response to this event was tremendous. I truly want to thank the organizers for putting it together and the hundreds of employees who participated. (If you weren’t able to join, you can read this summary.)

In particular, thank you to all those who had the courage to speak. For these kinds of forums to have impact, they’re going to be uncomfortable for most involved. It’s hard for those who share painful experiences, especially in front of a crowd. And it’s hard to hear how our organization has failed some of our colleagues, and to realize how our individual actions – or inactions – play a part in that.

This week’s discussion was direct and frank, and I welcome that. It’s only by clearly confronting our shortcomings that we can identify how to do better. We plan to hold similar sessions in the future, and for many of us, I do want these to truly be listening sessions. Take in what you hear from your co-workers. Value their perspective. Learn from it, grow from it.

I encourage everyone to bring an open heart and mind to not just this event, but what will be an ongoing process. Rooting out systemic racism and bias is difficult but essential work. Without ensuring social justice, we fall short of the ideals we hold for the County and the commitments we make to all our residents. As the late great poet Maya Angelou once said, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”