Women & Politics: Sharing our Platform for Racial Equity: Ep 1: Entrepreneurship and Engagement

For the next 6 weeks, Women & Politics is on a break and sharing our platform with Ebony Guy and her Racial Essays podcasts and interview series. You can find them at: https://richmondracialequityessays.com/podcast

In this podcast, urban planner and diversity, equity and inclusion consultant Ebony Walden talks with 15 Richmonders from all walks of life and sectors to explore their visions for an equitable Richmond, especially as it relates to racial equity, and the strategies that will help us get there. We hope this can be a model for discussion in other U.S. cities.

Today we listen to Episode 1: Ebony talks with Richmond Night Market and The Artisan Café co-creators, Melody Short and Adrienne Cole Johnson about how Richmond can advance racial equity by supporting Black entrepreneurship and improving community engagement.

Ebony Walden is the Founder and Principal Consultant at Ebony Walden Consulting (EWC), an urban strategy firm based in Richmond, Virginia. At EWC, she works with a wide range of organizations to design and facilitate meetings, training, strategic plans and community engagement processes that explore race, equity and the creation of more just and inclusive communities. Before founding EWC, Ebony worked in local government and for non-profit organizations dedicated to citywide and neighborhood level revitalization. Currently, Ebony is an adjunct professor at Virginia Commonwealth University where she teaches Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the City. Ebony’s work has been featured in The Hill, Richmond Times-Dispatchand The Nature of Cities. She holds a Masters in Urban and Environmental Planning from the University of Virginia and a Bachelors in Business Administration from Georgetown University. Inspired by The Just City Essays, Ebony Walden conceived the idea of an essay collection focused on Richmond (The Richmond Racial Equity Essays) in hopes of bringing together thought leadership and practice to advance racial equity in the region.

The Second half of the show we highlight two individual essays. “Reading and writing essays isn’t for everyone. However, we wanted to get more perspectives on: the inequities our city faces, what a vision for racial equity would look like and how to get there. Curated by Duron Chavis, below are 7 short video interviews designed to expand the discussion.”

Today we play video essays by Donald Coleman and Carolyn Lofton

_________________________________________________________________________________

Follow our show on our social media on twitter, facebook, and our blog – look for womenpoliticsva