Last month, over 600 racial equity practitioners in government gathered in St. Louis for the 2024 GARE Membership Meeting, held at the Facing Race conference. The gathering marked an important intersection of history, resilience, and our shared commitment to racial justice, providing an opportunity for racial equity practitioners across the GARE network to connect, strategize, and strengthen their collective impact in a pivotal moment.
The Membership Meeting also carried added significance. It took place in St. Louis during the tenth anniversary of the Ferguson uprising – a moment that reshaped the national conversation on racial justice - and occurred weeks after a consequential election poised to influence the trajectory of local, regional, and state racial equity efforts.
Sensemaking in Complex Times
The locally based group, Native Women’s Care Circle opened the meeting with a powerful territory acknowledgment of the Indigenous stewards of the land. GARE Senior Director, Marsha Guthrie followed with opening remarks that captured the essence of the gathering, “Today, we stand at a critical crossroads, where we might either retreat or fill the gap and fight for racial justice. This year’s conference theme reminds us it is, indeed, Our Power, Our Solutions.”
Jonathan Strong, Chief Equity Officer, City of St. Louis welcomed the audience and introduced the opening plenary, Election Aftermath: Sensemaking and Next Steps for Racial Equity in Local Government, a panel discussion moderated by Timothy Green IV, Culture Change Leader, Albuquerque, NM. Panelists included Linda Sarsour, Organizer, Activist, and Co-Founder of Until Freedom, Women’s March, MPower Change; Guerline Jozef, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Haitian Bridge Alliance; and Betsy Hodges, Advisor, Betsy Hodges, LLC; former Mayor, Minneapolis, MN. In processing the implications of the elections on racial equity work, the panelists spoke sincere and difficult truths that underscored the urgency of coming together to navigate these shifting dynamics and remaining steadfast in our commitment to building racially just and equitable communities. Guerline Jozef, created a powerful multilingual moment, “Anpil men chay pa lou,” which means, “Many hands lighten the load.” After the convening, we held a follow-up, post-election sensemaking program, which you can read about here.
Learning, Innovating, Celebrating Progress
Breakout sessions, which were organized by themes that spoke directly to the challenges and opportunities in our collective work such as co-governance, racial equity tools in action, and policy innovation - showcased the breadth of work underway across the GARE network. Popular sessions included Using Evaluation to Drive Accountability for Advancing Racial Equity, Racial Equity Toolkit: Developing Racial Equity Action Plans and Decision Support Tools, and Narrative Strategy for Advancing Racial Equity in Government. From the presentation on the role of local government in building racial wealth equity to the workshop on building strong peer networks for racial equity, participants took away actionable ideas and renewed inspiration.
In addition to breakout sessions, the Membership Meeting also featured workshops and learning gatherings for specific cohorts. Held on the day before the conference, the Jurisdiction Evaluation and Learning Exchange brought together 48 practitioners from 23 member jurisdictions for an all-day workshop to develop tangible evaluation skills to support their racial equity work. The cohort will continue their work throughout 2025, helping to inform the development of a racial equity evaluation framework for GARE member jurisdictions.
After the full day of Membership Meeting activities, Innovation Community participants gathered for a lively evening of connection, consultation, and even a little dancing. This intimate event brought together members from the current California Innovation Community cadre and the former Southern Innovation Community cohort, offering a rare chance to connect in person, engage in creative community-building, and exchange insights on their ongoing work.
Photos by Carolina Kroon
Building Connections and Community
Networking was a cornerstone of this year’s Membership Meeting, giving participants a multitude of ways to forge meaningful connections and exchange ideas. These moments of connection are vital to building a strong network. The Leadership Luncheon brought together racial equity leads from across jurisdictions to reflect on their unique challenges and share insights. The Racial Equity CEO Breakfast focused on assessing what leaders need in their jurisdictions and discussing innovative strategies to drive institutional change.
On Thursday evening, the “Work Hard, Play Hard” GARE Mixer was a festive gathering to honor the top contributors to the GARE Online Community, recognize Karla Bruce, an early pioneer in building GARE who recently joined Race Forward as Chief of Staff - and celebrate the spirit of collaboration. With a live DJ, dancing, and vibrant conversations, attendees had a chance to unwind while exploring new opportunities for connecting. Participants embraced the occasion by wearing colors from the GARE-branded palette.
These events both deepened connections within the GARE network and highlighted the transformative power of community in driving meaningful change. “My experience at Facing Race has been incredible. It's been an amazing opportunity to be able to openly and explicitly have conversations about race and racial equity and to do so with people from so many different sectors and parts of the country,” said a GARE attendee.
Photos by Carolina Kroon
A Movement that Transcends Moments
The Membership Meeting concluded with a panel discussion with St. Louis government and community leaders, Ten Years Since Ferguson: Where are We Now? moderated by Shenekia Weeks, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Equal Employment Officer, Chapel Hill, NC. The panel included Nichole Murphy, Director of Community Partnerships, Forward through Ferguson; Tracy Stanton, Artist, Organizer, Founder of Some Things Must Be Heard: Spitting & Politicking and Founding Member of the Freedom Community Center; Ohun Ashe, Founder, ForTheCultureSTL; Rick Gaines, Chief Juvenile Officer, St. Louis County Family Court; and Nicole Greer, Councilmember, St. Louis County Council, who discussed local government and community response to public safety in the decade since the killing of Michael Brown, Jr. by a Ferguson police officer, how to build new systems, and use local policy as a driver of change.
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Our Power, Our Solutions
The Facing Race Conference is a powerful convergence of the racial justice movement’s energy and ideas. For GARE practitioners,
it was a space to connect their racial equity work with the broader movement for justice.
It also reflected GARE’s origins, emerging in response to the shift in public discourse sparked by the Black Lives Matter movement, which elevated racial justice as a central focus of public conversation and action. This year’s keynote featured Joy-Ann Reid, political analyst and host of The ReidOut on MSNBC, in dialogue with Alicia Garza, author, principal at Black Futures Lab, and co-founder of the Black Lives Matter Global Network. They discussed how the media and storytelling are reshaping public consciousness in this pivotal moment. The call to action was clear: we must reimagine our strategies and redefine how we make meaningful change. Reid and Garza's insights highlighted the vital role of government practitioners in shaping a future where justice and equity are embedded in the systems that impact our communities.
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Moving Forward Together
Looking ahead to 2025, we are inspired to build on the insights and connections forged in St. Louis. The Membership Meeting was more than a moment to reflect; it was a call to action - to deepen our work, strengthen our partnerships, and sustain our momentum. One GARE attendee noted, “It's great to connect with people, to share ideas, to be in community with one another, and to feel like you're not alone in this work.”
Photos by Carolina Kroon
Thank you to everyone who joined us and made this event a success. Let’s continue to honor the legacies of those who came before us, forge pathways for future generations, and bring the vision of racial equity to life.
For more photos of the Membership Meeting, Online Community members can click here.