RACIAL EQUITY INSTITUTE | CHARLESTON, SC

WE'RE ELIMINATING RACISM
with our Racial Equity Institute workshops

We first brought the Racial Equity Institute (REI), nationally recognized for helping communities address institutional racism, to Charleston in January 2017 with seven supportive partners. With feedback overwhelmingly positive, we brought back REI’s Phase I workshop eight times in 2017 and the first nine months of 2018, and introduced the first REI Phase II workshop in March 2018.

Organizations sponsor board members, executives, staff, or volunteers to attend, or individuals attend on their own. Each come away with dramatically changed worldviews and tools to address racism in their own communities and lives. (Organizations, click here to sign up and pay online.)

Held from 9 AM to 5 PM on two consecutive weekdays at the College of Charleston's North Charleston campus at 3800 Paramount Drive, each workshop is led by REI facilitators and is designed to help local leaders proactively understand and address racism in their communities, workplaces, and personal lives.

SEE THE 2019 REI DATES

Participants come away from REI's Phase I workshops with:

l   A mutual understanding of how US history has contributed to inequitable systems and organizations
l   A stronger, more informed vocabulary to use when discussing issues of race and ethnicity
l   A foundation for understanding and addressing racism
l A launching pad for questions regarding their own organizations

Participants come away from REI's Phase II workshops with:

l Ways to reframe problems and determine solutions using a racial equity lens
l A new way of thinking based on an “analysis before action” model
l Practice using a time-honored “trial and error” approach
l Confidence to take greater risks to change entrenched patterns of institutional practices

If desired, Racial Equity Institute workshop participants also enjoy access to racial / ethnic affinity groups offering people of similar cultural and ethnic backgrounds a chance to discuss issues they've experienced as someone with that background, presenting a powerful environment for honesty, understanding, cooperative learning, and planning. These groups typically meet separately on a monthly basis and combine with other groups for a quarterly meeting; some groups may meet online on a private website.

Sign up today

It's easy to sign up! Register online or by phone at 843.722.1644.

How you can help

If you own or lead an organization, send your board members, executives, staff, or volunteers to a Racial Equity Institute session! Sign up now and receive a discount for each person.

If you're an individual, attend one or more of our Racial Equity Institute workshops — and invite your friends!

Donate! A $400 tax-deductible donation will provide a scholarship for one individual to attend one of our Racial Equity Institute workshops... and if desired, participate in an REI sub-group afterward.

If you work for a local restaurant, donate food or drinks for these workshops! We have so appreciated our local Starbucks, Krispy Kreme, and Jason's Deli for their donations of coffee, breakfast food, and boxed lunches in the past. Thank you for your support!

HOW TO BUILD RACIAL EQUITY
IN CHARLESTON 2018 Ideas Into Action events

We appreciate the 100+ people who came out to hear our executive director and two Racial Equity Institute participants speak about how these workshops and groups are changing Charleston, and how much potential it has to change our region in even more powerful ways.

We also appreciate Ideas Into Action for partnering with us on the September 20 event... and going to the extra mile to arrange a second event for those who could not make it due to Hurricane Florence! We also had a great group at our October 9 event.

SEE THE EVENT PHOTOS