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VCU Project Overview

The document outlines various projects aimed at promoting social equity and supporting marginalized communities in Virginia. Key initiatives include the digitization of Governor L. Douglas Wilder's work, understanding the experiences of Black girls in Richmond, and developing strategies for hazard risk reduction in vulnerable communities. Additional efforts focus on entrepreneurship support, legislative equity analysis, housing stability research, and the creation of an annual social equity report card, along with educational podcasts and webinars.

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Abdoukadirr Sambou
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19 views3 pages

VCU Project Overview

The document outlines various projects aimed at promoting social equity and supporting marginalized communities in Virginia. Key initiatives include the digitization of Governor L. Douglas Wilder's work, understanding the experiences of Black girls in Richmond, and developing strategies for hazard risk reduction in vulnerable communities. Additional efforts focus on entrepreneurship support, legislative equity analysis, housing stability research, and the creation of an annual social equity report card, along with educational podcasts and webinars.

Uploaded by

Abdoukadirr Sambou
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Project Overview

1. Governor L. Douglas Wilder Digital Collection and Library


Objective: In partnership with Virginia Union University (VUU), we seek to extend and
make readily available the work, continuous career, and life of Gov. Wilder to the greater
community and country. Through the digitization of the Gov. Wilder, we will honor and
showcase the impact the first African American elected Governor in the United States
has had on policies, social equity movement, individuals, and the country.
Commitment: RISE will assist in the initial development of digitizing the collection,
obtaining the metadata for the digital collection, building and maintaining the digital
library website, and building the digital collection platform housed on VUU library
website.
2. Centering Black Girls' Voices: Exploring Their Lived Experiences in Richmond,
Virginia Objective: To understand the assets of Black Girls in Richmond and their peers
to provide a broader narrative about their lived experiences. As a result, the proposed
report will raise awareness about the quality of life of Black girls. In addition, this
empirical-based report will benefit future offerings of GFAC and Black girls across
Richmond by contributing an asset-based perspective to the body of research on Black
girls.
Commitment: RISE is creating a status report of the quality of life of Black girls in
Richmond using Girls for a Change (GFAC)'s girl-centered programs as a vehicle for
exploration.
3. Hazard Risk Reduction in Historically Marginalized Communities
Objective: To develop actionable strategies and identify grant opportunities to mitigate
or prevent the negative impact of degraded critical infrastructure on marginalized
communities due to climate change and extreme weather events. The project will collect
and analyze hazard impact information to create data packages to support the
development of hazard mitigation grant applications to prioritize the protection of
historically marginalized communities located near and around critical infrastructure in
Charles City, Emporia, and Richmond, VA.
Commitment: RISE will support this grant-funded opportunity by coordinating
community engagement efforts to collect and analyze data on climate change, critical
infrastructure, environmental justice, and disaster resilience efforts within historically
marginalized communities.
4. Sustaining a Resilient Richmond through Initiatives
Objective: To evaluate how the programming strategy, accessibility to emergency
funds, public health expenditure as a percentage of total GDP, and social protection (as a
decommodification index) impact economic inequities among Richmond working
families. The Institute will utilize an assets-based framework to guide the two-phase
research study (i.e., phenomenological research and longitudinal panel study), including
RRI cohorts (i.e., 2022 cohort and 2023 cohort).
Commitment: RISE will conduct a multiphase study to understand the impact of the
City of Richmond's Richmond Resilience Initiative (RRI) program. More specifically,
information captured will inform the Office of Community Wealth Building of (1) their
program's alignment with their office's Vision 2020, (2) the program's impact, and (3)
the program's short- and long-term outcomes (ie., 24-months post-completion of the
program).
5. Create, Grow, Scale Entrepreneurship Convening
Objective: To advance social equity in Black and Brown communities throughout
Virginia, focusing on Richmond City, through a one-day convening that brought together
individuals and organizations with a vested interest in advancing the success of Minority
Business Entrepreneurs (MBEs)
Commitment: RISE will partner with Capital One Insights Center to host a convening
to discuss the ecosystem around Black and Hispanic businesses. The RISE team will
provide meeting and curriculum design, facilitation support, and the development of
Capital One's convening.
6. Legislative Equity Review & Analysis
Objective: The Institute's Legislative Equity Review & Analysis examines how specific
legislation promotes or reduces disparities in procedures, access, quality, and outcomes
of public services within the Commonwealth of Virginia. The equity review helps us
better understand the extent to which bills passed by Virginia's General Assembly during
the recent session reflect the values of equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging.
Commitment: The Institute will provide a yearly snapshot of legislation from an equity
perspective, highlighting successes and opportunities for improvement. This information
will allow policymakers and the public to be better equipped to advocate for creating and
passing equity-focused legislation in future General Assembly sessions.
7. RVA Eviction Lab
Objective: Created in August 2018, By Kate Howell and Ben Theresa, the RVA Eviction
Lab has a primary mission of collecting, analyzing, and disseminating data and research
to inform policy-making to support stable housing for low- and moderate-income
households. We facilitate shared knowledge production about community needs and
opportunities and support efforts of communities most impacted by housing instability
to research and advocate for themselves.
Commitment: Provide data analysis and written reports to decision-makers, policy
advocates and government agency staff about eviction-related trends, policies and
structural bases and engage with community-based organizations to provide
community-relevant research and data that can be used for knowledge-building and
action.
8. Annual Social Equity Report Card
Objective: To create a space where individuals may receive most recently published
information as it relates to various areas including but not limited to demographic
profile, education, employment, transportation, emergency management, health,
broadband, housing, public safety, Taxes, and legislation.
Commitment: The Institute will provide data for 50-states including DC. The reports
will be released every year. The aforementioned areas and their content will be organized
and discuss in the context of, but not limited to, racial ethnic minorities (e.g., Black,
Latino, Asian, and Indian); mental health status; people with disabilities (PWD); limited
English proficiency (LEP) populations; and sexual/gender minorities (e.g., transfolx,
non-binary folx, women) - where appropriate
9. Podcasts & Webinars
Objective: As the Institute becomes prominent in the social equity research field,
hosting a podcast can educate a broader audience. The podcast aims to educate adults on
a wide range of social equity topics that point them to the Institute for additional
resources and encourage the general public to support the Institute's mission. Live
webinars offer opportunities to engage with Institute researchers and scholars. The
Institute webinars will be geared towards other academics and professionals engaged in
social equity work to highlight the Institute's experience and expertise and foster future
research collaborations.
Commitment: The Institute will establish a podcast series with episodes that can run
20 - 30 minutes or be an hour long for more in-depth conversations. Each series will be
between 6 - 10 episodes, tackling various equity-centered topics such as: language access,
health equity, food insecurity, and emergency management. Webinars can be offered on
a quarterly basis drawing from completed or near complete research projects.

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