It should come as no surprise that a community so dedicated to health and well-being is stepping up to the plate to address diversity, equity and inclusion with renewed vigor and dedication.
From the city’s IDEA steering committee to the community forums hosted by the school district, here’s an inside look at the groundbreaking work being done right at home.
A Citywide Effort
The new Inclusion Diversity and Equity Action (IDEA) committee is composed of residents and representatives from various community organizations, such as Healthy New Albany, the Jeanne B. McCoy Community Center for the Arts, the New Albany-Plain Local School District, the New Albany Community Foundation, Joint Parks District and the Columbus Metropolitan Library New Albany Branch.
“The city has organized and launched the IDEA committee with the aim of suggesting ways in which the city can improve the engagement of our diverse community and provide additional events and offerings that better embrace and support our diversity,” says Scott McAfee, chief communications and marketing officer for the city. “The city of New Albany believes that community connects us. City leaders and staff are committed to making our community welcoming to all our residents and we look forward to working with the IDEA committee to take action on improving our outreach and inclusion to all of our residents.”
The committee was formed as a result of two major events. The first is as part of the Engage New Albany strategic plan which focuses on improving quality of life and protecting investments. The second was following the recent resident survey in which 88 percent of respondents believe it is important for the people of New Albany and local government to focus on creating a diverse, inclusive and fair city.
In June 2020, community members gathered for a BLM demonstration in New Albany.
“During several of our small group workshops, issues concerning New Albany being a welcoming community for all residents became a theme that warranted further review,” says McAfee. “Then, when the tumultuous events of 2020 around race relations occurred in the United States, city leaders felt compelled to ask questions about diversity, inclusion and equity as part of our resident survey.”
The first meeting of the committee was held Dec. 9, 2020, and was led by Mayor Sloan Spalding and Dr. Lisa White, a consultant from Integrated Leadership Systems.
“While we retained a consultant to help navigate the process and foster conversations, we intentionally have not prescribed an agenda of sorts for this committee’s work,” says McAfee. “Instead, we want the discussions and outcomes to be self-driven and authentic. Our challenge to the committee is to help us improve on being a welcoming community to all residents, be that through actions, events or anything else that may help bring us all together.”
Meetings are open to the public, hosted on Zoom to promote social distancing and safety.
School’s In Session
In June 2020, community members gathered for a BLM demonstration in New Albany.
NAPLS has been hard at work, especially since June. Following the death of George Floyd and student and staff participation in local Black Lives Matter demonstrations, district administration decided it was time to roll up their sleeves and get to work on its top priority: student well-being.
“The events that took place nationally and locally this summer reignited this desire that we want to be able to serve children and families well in this area,” says Jon Hood, director of student services, safety and security.
Hood, along with Diane Herman, the district’s community well-being liaison, and Patrick Gallaway, director of communications, began looking for area resources to bring to their community.
That’s when they found Dr. Hasan Jeffries, a professor of history at The Ohio State University specializing in civil rights and the Black Power movement. Jeffries was invited to be a recurring speaker for the community forum series which endeavors to help parents engage with their children on current events, which in the past has included topics like vaping, bullying and other issues.
“This is a unique moment in history that we want to be able to support,” says Hood, “and so these community forums, the idea behind it is helping parents with, how do I talk to my children about this unique moment in history and the things that are going on here now?”
The 2020-2021 community forums have discussed the principles of racial equity, race and racism in America today, and the do’s and don’ts of talking to children about race and racism. The silver lining to the virtual forums is that the forums are now accessible to more people than ever before as recordings are livestreamed and then posted to YouTube.
Dr. Hasan Jeffries, a civil rights and Black power movement history professor at The Ohio State University, speaks in a community forum about diversity and inclusion organized by New Albany-Plain Local Schools.
Also new to the 2020-2021 school year, thanks to the Well-being Initiative, is the formation of diversity, equity and inclusion committees.
“There’s a diversity, equity, inclusion committee for each school building, then there’s also one for the whole district, which has some representatives from each of the school buildings so that everybody can talk,” says Herman. “So there are actually six committees, with people doing individual building work and then contributing to district work.”
Gallaway, who has been part of the district since 2012, compares this new committee to previous committees created to address student well-being.
“When I started, there was a committee that was more focused on antibullying. One committee was focused on the diversity and inclusion piece. There was another focused on safety overall and the well-being of students,” he says. “These have kind of evolved over time. But as Jon said, the need is now, and this is our moment.”
A big question the Well-being Initiative addresses is how well-being and diversity, equity and inclusion are connected.
“We want children to feel like they’re well cared for. We want them to feel that they’re in a safe environment, no matter what their background or belief system is,” says Hood. “We want them to feel like their voice is heard, that they’re valued in our community. That’s really the ultimate goal of all this work.”
Gallaway is proud of the way the community and the district have enthusiastically engaged in the work.
“I’ve never seen so many people as committed as they are to the work right now,” he says.
Sarah Robinson is a contributing editor. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
