Session Description:
This recorded GARE Conversation focuses on strategies and structures that jurisdictions can employ to ensure that they are creating and maintaining accountability for advancing racial equity, as well as the role that community power should play throughout this process. Specifically, we deep dive into NYC Commission on Racial Equity (NYC CORE) as a model for enforcing accountability and are joined by NYC CORE’s Executive Director, General Counsel, and members of the NYC CORE team for an insightful conversation.
Objectives:
Understand the model of NYC CORE, how it was developed, and how the strategies employed by CORE can be replicated elsewhere
Gain insight into how government can align with community in resisting authoritarianism and austerity
Deepen relationships and connections with practitioners across the GARE network
Session leads:
Linda Tigani (she/her), Chair & Executive Director, NYC Commission on Racial Equity
Linda Tigani is the Chair and Executive Director of the NYC Commission on Racial Equity (CORE), where she leverages over a decade of government experience to work with New Yorkers to create meaningful change and advance racial equity. Prior to this role, Tigani was the acting Chief Equity and Strategy Officer for the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, where she led the Race to Justice team, an internal initiative to transform the agency into an anti-racist organization.
Torian Easterling (he/him), Commissioner, NYC Commission on Racial Equity
Dr. Torian Easterling is a physician and public health leader, renowned for his equity and public health work. As an expert on racial inequalities rampant in the medical field, Dr. Easterling was appointed the first Chief Equity Officer for the NYC Health Department. As the First Deputy Commissioner and inaugural Chief Equity Officer, Dr. Easterling worked to align external and internal equity initiatives. He led the NYC equity response to the COVID-19 pandemic and ensured equitable distribution of vaccines to vulnerable populations and communities. Dr. Easterling recently served as the Senior Vice President for Population and Community Health and Chief Strategic and Innovation Officer at One Brooklyn Health where his leadership and vision was instrumental in the creation of the Office of Community Health and Health Equity. Currently, Dr. Easterling is a Senior Fellow for the Health and Opportunity Leadership Institute (HOLI) at CUNY’s Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership and the Director for Young Doctors Project-NY. Dr. Easterling also serves as one of 15 Commissioners for the municipal independent Commission on Racial Equity.
Rachel Natelson (she/her), General Counsel, NYC Commission on Racial Equity
Rachel Natelson has two decades of experience in cross-system work in support of populations impacted by social injustice. In her current capacity at CORE, she advises on transparency, contracting, employment, and litigation as well as providing guidance on legislative matters. Her time in government was preceded by years in the advocacy community, where she developed and managed campaigns to reduce discrimination against women in the military, dismantle barriers to education for residentially mobile youth, and expand home-based services for older New Yorkers.
Session Recorded via Zoom:Tuesday, December 16, 20252:00-3:30pm ET/ 1:00-2:30pm CT/ 12:00-1:30pm MT/ 11:00-12:30pm PT
Session Reads:
NYC CORE website
NYC CORE linkedin
NY1 Article: Mayor hit with lawsuit over delayed racial equity plan
Shared Materials:
Session Notes:
CORE Overview and Structure:
NYC Commission on Racial Equity (launched October 11, 2023)
Only known US racial equity commission with accountability mandate written into charter
Protected from federal DEI attacks due to charter embedding
14 commissioners + 13 staff, all with demonstrated experience advocating for communities harmed by racism
Independent commission managing own procurement, communications, hiring
Largest staffing investment: organizing/engagement team
Everyone works with community, attends ≥1 community conversation
Five Charter Mandates:
Follow equity values (justly value talents, ensure thriving conditions, embrace vigilance/remedy/reconstruction)
Identify/propose community equity priorities (people’s equity agenda)
Respond to city’s racial equity plan with community voices
Track and publicly report on city progress every two years
Receive public complaints about agency conduct exacerbating racial disparities
Legislative Additions (negotiated Linda’s first week):
NYC reparations study coordinating with state commission
Citywide truth, healing and reconciliation plan implementation
Only US jurisdiction where separate reparations commission wasn’t created
Communities harmed by racism definition — Charter names: Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, Pacific Islander, Middle Eastern, people of color, women, religious minorities, immigrants, LGBTQIA, people with disabilities
CORE expanded after community feedback:
Added: youth, elders, incarcerated people, unhoused people, North African
Terminology shift from “underrepresented/underserved” to emphasize systemic inequities, not community identity as problem
1989: Equal Employment Practices Commission (addresses 300,000+ workforce occupational segregation, pay equity)
2006: Social Indicators report (unemployment, poverty, child welfare, housing, homelessness analysis)
2017: First racial equity plan legislation for 3 largest agencies (Child Welfare, Health, Social Services)
2019: Executive Order 45 requiring disaggregated data across all city agencies
Combined 13,162+ responses across two rounds
Round 1: 4,212 New Yorkers created 18 community equity priorities
Round 2: Prioritized most urgent needs
520+ funded local conversations (20-25 people each, ages 11+)
$15-20 participant incentives established as minimum standard
70+ organizations received up to $12,500 to host conversations
Priorities cover: police accountability, child welfare, school funding, language access, social services
Charter Requirements:
Biennial plan timeline mirrors budget process
Must include neighborhood-level indicators, citywide goals, needs-based priority neighborhood map
January preliminary plan, spring final plan with 30-day CORE response period
Legal Status:
Complete plan exists, city won’t release it
March 2024: Public demand letter with Progressive Caucus, Public Advocate support
Lawsuit filed after Law Department opposition (unusual for watchdog agency)
Currently on hold for mayoral transition, hoping for January 16, 2025 release
Dr. Mary Bassett 2014 leadership after Eric Garner killing:
Public call to action in New England Journal of Medicine
Told 7,000 staff inequities are “unfair, unnecessary and avoidable”
Implementation using GEAR framework (normalize, organize, operationalize):
3-day structural racism training for senior leadership
1-day training rollout to nearly 7,000 staff over 3 years
COVID-19 Community Advisory Board (~100 partners influenced policy)
Task Force on Racial Equity Inclusion (TRE) - predecessor to Mayor’s Office of Equity
Results: Multi-agency resource leveraging, policy changes based on community input
Intergovernmental Work:
Child welfare system reform with community-run accountability council
Regular testimony on police accountability, housing, education
Reparations study with policy recommendations
Truth/healing/reconciliation grants up to $17,500, implementation required within one year
Federal Climate Response:
No legal impact on mission, but engagement strategy shifts for safety
Community groups requesting anonymity in releases
Maintained full access for undocumented New Yorkers
Doubled response rate through trust-building adaptations
Preliminary Tracking: City workforce diversity, cost of living/housing, business ownership using publicly available data
If you have any questions, please contact us at gare@raceforward.org. If you are a GARE member and are looking for additional recordings of GARE programs, check out our recordings on the GARE Online Community!#DemocracyResilience#CommunityandPublicEngagement#RacialEquityToolsActionPlansandReports
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