DIVERSITY CONSORTIUM ACCOMPLISHMENTS 2009

A YEAR OF CHANGE

Promoting diversity and inclusion through education, leadership and example

Dear Affiliates,

We have taken it upon ourselves to confront the most challenging social issues of our day. Racism, sexism, ageism, class disparities, harassment, discrimination, a lack of equity, communities and work environments that are not welcoming and inclusive to name just a few. I am proud to be affiliated with a group of people who are willing to commit to a cause. You do possess the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to take on such monumental and seemingly insurmountable challenges and actually make a difference. In the past, when things were less formal and there were no monthly agendas or follow-up minutes to refer back to, I was often discouraged because I found it difficult to focus on the goals and was unable to recall our successes. Everything just seemed to slip into the mists of time and we had nothing against which to measure progress. With the change in practices that we have implemented over the last couple of years, I have found the minutes of past meetings and these yearly summaries to be a very useful tool. I hope that these summaries validate your efforts and provide the inspiration necessary for you to continue the work.

As I prepare to pass the reigns of leadership to our new President, Kristina Belanger, I would like to take a few moments to reflect on exactly what we have collectively accomplished in 2009. In more ways than one, 2009 was a year in which we were "Preparing for Change." Though we are not a political organization, many of us paid very close attention the national elections and to the resulting political shifts that have occurred. We were eagerly looking forward to change. In the weeks and months leading up to our May 7th Community Roundtable Event, we all pulled together to orchestrate one of the best Community Roundtable Events ever titled; "Preparing for Change". We had our first incorporated election in December of 2008, establishing the new 2009 Board of Directors. I have to laude your enthusiasm. From an initial slate of twenty affiliates, we ultimately elected a Board of Directors of eleven, four of whom are officers. This new structure, and more formal way of doing business, was another significant change from the past. But I believe it was a change was for the better, as it enabled us to focus. Please allow me to list a few more of our accomplishments.

We became fully not-for-profit in 2009 and await one last item, our full tax-exempt status.

We are now incorporated as a self-perpetuating 501-c-3 not-for-profit educational organization consisting of no fewer than eleven board members. Our address is: P.O. Box 6714, Ithaca, New York 14851-6714.

We elected new Directors and Officers.

The election held December 18, 2009, resulted in the following:

Officers:

Kristina Belanger, President

Schelley Michell Nunn, Vice President

Carol Mallison, Secretary

Judy Drake, Treasurer  

The full Board of Directors consists of:

Kristina Belanger - starting a two-year term in 2010

Kimberly Brown - starting a two-year term in 2010

Audrey Cooper - second year of term

Mary DeSouza - second year of term

Judy Drake - second year of term

Stephen Estes - starting a two-year term in 2010

Vicki Estabrook - second year of term

Carol Mallison starting a two-year term in 2010

Schelley Michell Nunn - second year of term

Larry Roberts - starting a two-year term in 2010

Suki Tabor - second year of term

We took the following actions toward our mission.

Promote workplace diversity and inclusion by recruiting, hiring, promoting, retaining, and providing educational and growth opportunities for all.

Collectively, we represent a wide cross section of this community, including: government, not-for-profit, education, housing, aging services, youth services and private sector. Our core group provides opportunities to underrepresented groups in the fields of education, housing, employment, banking and other services. At the start of each monthly meeting, the affiliates share information about community happenings, employment opportunities and information about diverse talent with whom they are working. There are generally a few minutes following each meeting where individuals network, share information and resources. In addition, an email distribution list and résumé bank of local diverse talent has been added. Placements were made as a result of this feature and I hope to expand the pool of talent, have more affiliates provide their employment opportunities and make many more placements as the economy strengthens.

The following four educational sessions are under consideration for 2010 with perhaps two in the spring and two in the fall:

1. Your Communication Tool Box in a Diverse Workplace

2. Fundamentals of Creating a Sustainable Inclusive Organization

3. Strategic Career Planning in a Diverse and Inclusive Workforce

4. The Audit You Won’t Dread: Creating and Utilizing a Diversity Performance System

We strive to provide high-quality, dynamic, and responsive programs and services in diversity and inclusion issues to the community.

We are a community resource on diversity and inclusion topics.

The May 7, 2009, Community Roundtable Event provided cost effective training to over two hundred individuals from throughout the region across eight different subject areas. Our Keynote Speaker, Fernan R. Cepero, PHR, Vice President of Human Resources for the YMCA of Greater Rochester, provided us with an excellent opening to the day. John Johnson gave us his take on The Role of Municipalities in Promoting Diversity and Inclusion. Debra Turner Bailey explained to us Why Diversity is Everyone's Business: Readying Your Organization for Diversity. Sean Eversley-Bradwell had the most popular presentation with his intriguingly titled presentation "Nasty Fighting Words". Geovanny Trivnio of the NYS DOL presented The Rights of Immigrant Workers in the Workplace/Guest Worker Programs. Susan Woods provided us with information on how to go about Measuring Diversity Initiatives. Diane Vayeski, educated us on our Generational Differences. Lisa Maurer of Ithaca College's LGBT Education and Outreach Services presented What’s the “T” and “Q”? which brought some enlightenment with regard Transgender and Queer issues in the workforce. Douglas Freeman and Davine Bey of Virtcom Consulting, presented Retention in Our Workplace and In Our Community. And last but not least, Kirby Edmunds of TFC Associates closed the day by bringing it all together and helping us to define next steps. It was an exceptional conference and everyone who worked on it should be extremely proud of the effort.

We partnered with the Tompkins County Workforce Diversity and Inclusion Committee, Cornell, Ithaca College, the Chamber of Commerce and The Society for Human Resource Management of Tompkins County as well as the rest of our affiliates to fund the Roundtable. We again had a strong showing at the World of Skills Job Fair and some affiliates were represented at community events.

We will facilitate and provide guidance to organizations that are developing and adopting diversity and inclusion practices.

We will work to establish and promote standards for diversity and inclusion.

The Ithaca City School District has appointed Robert F. VanKeuren to lead their workforce diversity and equity initiatives and will be to addressing the district’s issues surrounding recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce. Kristina Belanger and Schelley Michell Nunn have been invited to participate in this planning process and I hope that they will report on their progress in coming meetings.

We adopted a tag line: Promoting inclusion through education, leadership and example

F.  We will facilitate diverse workforce employment, recruitment and retention opportunities for area employers and employees.

In February, Maureen Curtis, Challenge Employment Services, gave a thorough description of Challenge Industry's role in the community. Challenge's goal is to promote abilities, not disabilities. They do this by providing on-the-job training and experience. They hold mock job interviews, assist with resume development, direct job placement provide training, offer supported placement with a job coach, and provide education about Federal work incentives and tax benefits for employers. Some of the other services that Challenge offers are; digital screening, packaging, custodial, and archival microfilm services. They produce Fingerlakes Fresh hydroponics lettuce which is sold locally.

In April, Affiliate Lenore Olmstead presented the results of the Alternative Federal Credit Union's (AFCU) Living Wage Study. Lenore explained to us that the mission of the Alternatives Federal Credit Union is, “To build wealth and create economic opportunity for underserved people and communities.” The Living Wage Study is conducted every two years and a copy of this year’s study was distributed. The resulting minimum living wage needed in Tompkins County is $11.11 per hour, or $23,104 per year, for an individual 18 years of age or older, receiving health insurance from their employer. The wage is up 13% from the previous study due to the rising cost of housing, out of pocket health care, and food. If you would like to be certified as a living wage employer, please contact AFCU.

In October, guest Speaker Catherine Leonard, Associate Employment Services Representative for the NYS Department Of Labor, handed out materials and gave a detailed description of services provided by Tompkins Workforce NY. For instance, they review resumes to help match skills with job openings, match employers with job seekers, hold targeted recruitment events and general job fairs, promote shared work programs vs. lay offs, and offer employee business buy-out assistance, on the job training (OJT), worker opportunity tax credit (WOTC), and Job Service Employment Committees (JSEC). For more information, see www.mybenefits.ny.gov and www.labor.state.ny.us.

In November, our new Affiliate, Kimberly Brown, of the Community Dispute Resolution Center (CDRC), provided us with materials and a detailed overview of CDRC services and programs. Every county has a mediation program and some programs, like CDRC, serve more than one county. CDRC often engages in transformative mediation (problem solving) vs. conflict resolution. Services are free of charge and their primary source of funding comes from the court system, thus helping the courts unclog their dockets. Mediation is available for resolving conflict within any type of relationship. CDRC also has certified mediators who specialize in certain areas, such as assisting with small claims, teens, PINS (coordinated with the courts), family (Family Talk), senior citizens (Wise Talk), caretakers/intergenerational caregivers, victim/offender, and situations involving abuse of children or vulnerable adults. Some people are already in agreement on an issue and simply seek help ironing out the details of working towards a common goal. Follow up is provided after every mediation session. CDRC trains their own mediators with 40-hours of certification training. Volunteers receive free mediation training and are expected to assist with 6 cases a year. The public can also take advantage of 20-hours of communication training for a fee.

Our résumé bank is now functional and we have approximately 80 diverse candidates on file, many of whom have a Bachelors or higher level of education. Affiliates are strongly encouraged to discuss this opportunity with diverse candidates and get their approval for us to add their résumés to the bank of talent. Please forward résumés to: sestes@tompkins-co.org (MS Word or Adobe Acrobat PDF).  You are also strongly encouraged to tap into this resource any time you are recruiting for a position. I am trying to work this both directions; forwarding résumés to you as I receive them and forwarding your job opportunities to these candidates for consideration. Please help me to facilitate these connections. I have volunteered to continue this initiative into the future.

Promotion of the Consortium

Our Affiliates at The Boat Yard Grill hosted a Brunch for Diversity fundraiser on Sunday, June 7. Mark Capalongo and Steve Flash generously donated 10% of their proceeds from 11:30 A.M. to 4:00 P.M to the Consortium. Materials promoting the Consortium were available on the tables and the event was announced in a variety of places, including at the Roundtable, local radio stations, and on the Boat Yard’s web site.

We picked up four new affiliates this year. I would like to welcome representatives from the Ithaca Health Alliance, Transonic Systems, Inc., Workforce NY, and the Community Dispute Resolution Center (CDRC). We haven't been as strong of a presence in the community as perhaps we should be and we may need to promote the consortium a little better. This may be an area in which you determine that extra effort could be expended.

We adopted a tag line for promotional purposes; Promoting diversity and inclusion through education, leadership and example.

Diversity Consortium web site

In the past, the Tompkins County Personnel Department has provided an “in-kind” value to the Diversity Consortium by hosting and providing staff to maintain the web site. I have maintained the website and will continue to do so.
Remember, there is a secure section of the web site containing the talent bank and all records, which requires a user name and password. Please feel free to peruse the past agenda/minutes and résumés of diverse talent in this secure section. Send job opportunities or résumés to sestes@tompkins-co.org for posting.

Annual Membership Dues for 2010

The dues for 2010 were agreed upon by the affiliates as follows: small organizations pay $25.00 and may be represented by up to two affiliates; mid-sized organizations pay $50.00 for three affiliates; and large organizations pay $100.00 for up to five affiliates. Large organizations may purchase multiple memberships in order to enable more affiliates to participate in the consortium. I am pleased to report that two thirds of the affiliate organizations have sent in their annual dues.

Committee Development:

The current committees are listed below. It is anticipated that some people may want to try out different roles and I assume that Kristina will lead that discussion in early 2010. 

Executive Committee: Kristina Belanger, Schelley Michell Nunn, Judy Drake and Carol Mallison

Nominating Committee: Audrey Cooper, Chair; Osupa T-Davis, Cindy Martin and Vickie Estabrook

Bylaws Committee: Carol Mallison, Kristina Belanger, Schelley Michell Nunn, Steve Flash, Judy Drake and Stephen Estes

Roundtable Committee: Carol Mallison, Audrey Cooper, Judy Drake, Kristina Belanger, Schelley Michell Nunn, Mary DeSouza, Lynette Chappel-Williams, Connie Park and Vicki Estabrook

Fundraising Committee: Schelley Michel-Nunn and Stephen Estes

Education Committee: Kristina Belanger and Mary DeSouza

Marketing Committee: Connie Park and Vickie Estabrook

Membership Committee: Judy Drake and Lenore Olmstead

I apologize if I neglected to mention any initiatives or individuals. Putting our accomplishments down on paper has made me realize just how busy 2009 has been! Please make sure to report out thoroughly at every meeting. My hope is that Kristina will continue this practice of summarizing the year.

I am honored to have served as President of the newly incorporated Diversity Consortium of Tompkins County, Inc., in 2009 and thank each and every one of you for supporting me in that role. I am definitely richer for the experience and the opportunity to be affiliated with such a fine group of committed individuals. I would like to close with the paragraph that began last year's letter, as I believe it defines this group.

"Long before I became active in the field of diversity and inclusion, many of you were already taking the steps necessary to diversify your organizations. You—the long-term core group of affiliates—were: developing and implementing zero tolerance policies; working to end harassment and racism; educating others in the community on the need to respect, accept and welcome others; creating welcoming and inclusive work environments; and serving as advocates and mentors. I have the utmost respect for the work that you have accomplished and would like to thank you for your ongoing commitment. Through our combined efforts we can give a voice to, create opportunities for, and provide equity and acceptance for all underrepresented groups within our community. We can effect social change." Yes we can.

Thank you for a wonderful year.

Sincerely,

Stephen Estes, President Emeritus

The Diversity Consortium of Tompkins County, Inc.