Marin Voice: Race Equity Action Plan demonstrates intentional focus

Marin County is often recognized as a top county for health, wealth and natural beauty in California. But did you know that, according to the Race Counts report from Catalyst California, Marin is also the third most racially disparate county in the state, including life expectancy, homeownership and per capita income?

It’s time that we work together to become a leading county on racial equity, inclusion and opportunity for all.

Recently, Marin County Equity Director Jamillah Jordan said it well: “Racial inequities are not random, natural or inevitable. … It’s possible — and only possible — to close these equity gaps by using strategies determined through an intentional focus on race.”

Marin’s Race Equity Action Plan was developed to  do just that. The plan combines data and the lived experiences of community members into a set of focused goals and actions to address racial disparities.

The plan’s implementation team has identified specific priorities to support systemic changes for equity in three key areas: housing, economic opportunity and mental health. The team looked across the lifespan as they chose these areas, understanding that racial disparities impact children, youth, adults and seniors.  Additionally, all three priority areas are “high leverage,” with the potential for significantly changing individual and family outcomes.

I want to highlight the implementation team’s deeply collaborative process, which included people of diverse backgrounds, including residents who work, play, pray and go to school in all of Marin’s communities, including low-income ones. They intentionally amplified voices of people with lived experiences in the most marginalized communities in Marin.

Public officials, nonprofit leaders, county employees and residents devoted significant time and energy to the process, facing the reality that social and racial inequities are deep and pervasive. The policies and practices we create and uphold maintain these inequities. We need new, equity-centered policies and practices to reverse them.

The Marin County Board of Supervisors’ allocation of $1.7 million is a good start for implementing the equity plan. Of course, to have a significant impact on housing, economic opportunity and mental health, ongoing funding and steady support from elected officials  will be needed.

Let’s follow the example of the race equity implementation team and practice deep collaboration to advocate for the allocation of a much larger sum for this critical work.

The implementation strategy for the plan includes high-impact recommendations, such as increasing the minimum wage. It establishes anti-displacement policies to increase housing affordability and expands access to mental health services in communities of color and low-income communities.

The implementation of an $18 minimum wage, with a graduated increase to a wage that mirrors the Marin County living wage, would be a meaningful place to start. Let’s take the first steps together today.

As a commissioner for First 5 Marin Children and Families Commission, I know that deeply collaborative work for racial equity has the potential to help ensure that every child in Marin, regardless of race, zip code or national origin, will thrive in the future.

Marin could be No. 1 for racial equity, and every child, every individual and every family deserves our commitment and action.

If you would like to learn more about implementation of Marin County’s Race Equity Action Plan, register for the next Marin Communications Forum on April 5 from 9 a.m. to noon at the Embassy Suites Hotel in San Rafael. This will be an interactive event, and we invite your participation. To RSVP, email Michelle@First5Marin.org.

Lisa Raffel is the executive director at Bridge the Gap which supports children from transitional kindergarten to college. She serves on the First 5 Marin Children and Families Commission.