RCF Connects' -
Equity for
Black Women &
Girls Initiative
"Black women and girls will
be seen, heard, and served."
October 2021
1 CONTRIBUTORS
Dr. Cynthia LeBlanc, RCF Connects Board Chair
Kelly Robinson, CEO Coach to Discover
Rosalind Welch, RCF Connects Senior Director
Akosua Opong-Mensah, Community Stakeholder
Diedre Goree, Community Stakeholder
Katrina Hollins, Community Stakeholder
This report is dedicated to the beautiful and generous Black women and girls who participated in the five Sister Circle focus groups. Thank you for your humility and honesty, and for the connections you created in each circle .
Design by Shayla Taylor, Coach to Discover (C2D)
Photos by Katrina Hollins
2 CONTENTS
BACKGROUND 4
SCOPE OF THE WORK 5
SISTER CIRCLES PRACTICE 6
DATA COLLECTION &
ANALYSIS
7-9
LIMITATIONS 9
RECOMMENDATIONS 10-11
APPENDIX 13-22
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 12
3 Black Women and Girls in Contra Costa County will be seen, valued, and served.
Background
In October 2020, Dr. Cynthia LeBlanc, RCF Connects’ Board Chair recommended that the organization’s recently adopted equity statement be actualized through a board initiative to address equity for Black women and girls in Contra Costa County. The board approved the initiative:
RCF Connects is a leading motivator in Contra Costa County in the field of philanthropy and community change. Its mission is to mobilize the power of connection to build healthy, thriving communities through five focus areas: Restoring Neighborhoods, Health, Community Growth, Quality Education, and Public Safety.
RCF Connects defines equity as the opportunity for all communities, and each of their members, to flourish, achieve, and attain their maximum power and potential – irrespective of their racial composition and starting place in life. Equity embodies qualities of fairness, justice, and freedom from bias and discrimination. As its core mission, RCF Connects seeks systemic change that eliminates policies, practices, and attitudes that are root causes of inequity.
RCF Connects issued a Request for Proposal in January 2021 for the Equity for Black Women and Girls Initiative. The scope of the work included:
A study to include interviews and focus groups to explore the needs of and current supports for Black women and girls in Contra Costa County.
A position paper with recommendations supporting equity for Black women and girls in Contra Costa County.
The contract was awarded to Coach to Discover (C2D), a local, Black female-owned consulting firm.
This report contains a description of the scope of work, data collection methodology, data analysis, research limitations, and recommendations. Additionally, the report features excerpts from participant narratives and focus group photographs.
A Black woman to me is a woman
with the power to build, change,
create, equip, etc. What’s special
about it - we are visionaries! We are
all dreamers and have bounced
back like no other.
L. Martin, Sister Circle participant
4 Scope of the Work
A project design team of Black women launched in April 2021 to implement the scope. The team includes Dr. Cynthia LeBlanc, Kelly Robinson, CEO of Coach to Discover, Rosalind Welch, Senior Director of Marketing and Development for RCF
Connects, and three community stakeholders: Akosua Opong- Mensah, Diedre Goree, and Katrina Hollins.
The community stakeholders were selected, via application and interview, for their lived experiences as Black women, mothers, professionals, community members, advocates, and as
transmitters of cultural wisdom and history. They received stipends for their contributions to the project.
The design team has met continuously since April 2021 to plan the project, to host focus groups, to review and analyze the data, and to make the recommendations.
The design team held these values and intentions to affirm and respect the Black women and girls who participated in this project:
To intentionally create and deliver experiences for, about, and by Black women and girls.
To collect data, via in-person gatherings, in communities in which Black women and girls live, work, worship, and socialize.
To communicate with transparency about how the data
will be used by the design team and by RCF Connects.
To create welcoming, comfortable, and relaxing spaces
for Black women and girls to openly share feelings and
experiences, and to be seen and heard by other Black
women and girls.
To regard Black women and girl’s stories as their absolute truth.
To participate fully in the process along with the
participants in a power-with rather than power-over
position.
I love being a
Black woman
from start to
finish!!!
Alexis, Sister Circle
participant
Being a Black woman is
everything to me. It is my
essence, my joy, my
womanhood, my ability to
love and to be loved. I am
uniquely divine in my
connection to the universe
and my ancestors.
Yvette, Sister Circle participant
I love being a Black
woman! We are so
creative, innovative and
brilliant. We are beautiful
in all shapes, sizes and
shades.
Tammi, Sister Circle participant
5 Sister Circles Practice
The design team selected a circle practice to implement the five focus groups for Black women and girls. Named the Sister Circle practice by the team, the approach is based on the restorative justice circle framework. It is a values-driven process that promotes healing in individuals and empowerment in communities.
Sister Circles created an inclusive, energized space for Black women and girl’s bodies and voices to be present in deep listening, mutual respect, and acceptance. Black women and girls collectively created a unique experience that existed for the duration of each individual circle. Openness and vulnerability seemed to naturally emerge within the circles along with camaraderie and a feeling of ease.
The design team offered the circles in-person to create a distraction-free setting in which intimacy and freedom of expression would thrive. Circles were held in a church library, a community center, and in a co-working space. Covid-19 precautions included masking, pens and markers distributed for individual use (with sanitizing in between use), and the availability of hand sanitizer and individually packaged snacks.
Design team members personally welcomed and registered each participant upon their arrival. A fellowship period preceded each circle, allowing participants to meet and mingle and to respond to a writing prompt: What does being a Black woman or girl mean to you?
The facilitator asked for a volunteer to dedicate each circle to a Black woman or girl. This practice followed the design team’s custom of dedicating each of our planning meetings to a woman or girl historical figure, kin/relative, or someone in the popular culture. 6 Being a Black woman to me is like having a superpower. As I grow deeper in my womanhood journey I feel the strength, resilience, love, and greatness of all the Black women that have come before me. I feel empowered and honored by it. I feel truly blessed to be a Black woman and to hold love, support, space for Black women.
It’s a true sisterhood. - Anonymous
Being a Black woman means strength to me. It means magic. It means no matter the obstacles I face, I’ll always rise. - Katrina
Sister Circle participants
Data Collection
East and west county were selected as geographic areas of focus due to the significant and increasing presence of Black/African Americans in these regions. Contra Costa County is home to 1,165,927 residents, 9.5% of whom identify as Black/African American. Between 2010 and 2020 the percentage of Black/African American residents increased by 4.7% in the County.
Black/African American residents decreased in west county (Pinole by 14.5%, Richmond by 19%, and San Pablo by 12.9%) during this period. Their numbers increased significantly in east county (Antioch 36.5%, Brentwood, 32.3%, Pittsburgh by 15.7%). (2020 Census, State Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171) Summary File, U.S. Census Bureau, August 2021).
The design team consulted Black women and girls across age, occupation, income, and education, to learn about their lived experiences in Contra Costa County. The team also consulted representatives of organizations that fund human services programming in Contra Costa County regarding their organization’s intentions to center the needs of Black women and girls in their current and future funding priorities.
Design team members recruited Sister Circle participants through their personal, professional, faith-based, and other networks, and via RCF Connects’ Mobility Labs East County women’s cohort. Participants registered to attend a focus group through Eventbrite, on a first come-first served basis. Participants were offered a $50 gift card as a gratuity.
Funding organizations were requested by RCF Connects to participate in a virtual focus group and to complete an electronic survey. The participating organizations primarily fund programming in Social Justice, Children and Families, Immigrant Rights, Community Organizing/Power Building, and Racial Equity.
To promote a feeling of safety and comfort, and in observance of Covid-19 restrictions, Sister Circle focus groups were each limited to a maximum of 10 participants. 7 Analysis
The design team collected a balance of numeric and qualitative data.
Qualitative data was collected during five circles held in East County (2 in Antioch) and in West County (3 in Richmond) via written responses to the following prompts:
What strengths do Black women and girls have?
What supports do Black women and girls need?
What worries Black women and girls?
What do Black women and girls have to offer?
Participants were also invited to post additional comments in an “Other” category. Participants posted their written comments gallery-style on the walls using Post-It Notes. The facilitator read each comment aloud and held space for dialogue.
Forty-seven participants attended 5 focus groups. Participants posted 674 written responses across the 5 focus groups. Word cloud analysis (see Exhibits 1- 5) revealed the words most often used in the comments posted under each of the 4 prompts as well as under the additional “Other” category.
What strengths do Black women and girls have? (Exhibit 1): community, businesses, strength, create, make, ability, solutions, find, space, nothing (as in, make something out of)
What resources and supports do Black women and girls need? (Exhibit 2): support, business, community, mental, health, training, family, programs, care, groups, money What worries Black women and girls? (Exhibit 3): support, mental, loss, family, lack, violence, harm, trauma
What do Black women and girls have to offer? (Exhibit 4): support, mental, health, power, love, care, experience, help, example, educate, self, others, wisdom, listening, knowing Other (Exhibit 5): support, business, community, talent, circles, grants, access, money, fear, family, sister, afraid, ownership
Numeric data was collected in the form of a post-session survey following each focus group (Exhibit 6). A total of thirty-nine surveys were collected. Thirty-eight participants reported enjoying the circle “Incredibly”. One reported enjoying the circle “A lot”. Eighty-seven percent expressed an interest in hosting their own sister circle. When asked, “What needs to be addressed mostly for Black Women and Girls”, participants prioritized (top three):
Mental/Emotional Wellness
Business Development/Entrepreneurship
Physical Health and Relationship Health (tie)
Across both the focus group written comments and the post-circle surveys - support, mental (wellness), business, and community trended most often.
The facilitator observed that the atmosphere across all the Sister Circles seemed inclusive of divergent opinions and lived experiences, optimistic, and at ease. There was an often-repeated appeal, in the posted comments and in the dialogue, for Black women and girls to urgently invest in self-restoration and personal development.
The circles were also characterized by post-session informal networking and casual dialogue.
After three of the 5 circles the facilitator gently requested that participants leave as to vacate the venues on time. Participants also requested that the facilitator share participant’s email addresses for further networking among and between attendees. Participants, especially during the east county circles, shared information about a variety of ad hoc services being offered by women to attend to urgent community needs. These services are being paid for from the personal finances of the women who were offering them.
8 Analysis
Representatives of seven funding organizations (described as foundations, private funders, and corporate funders) that fund community-based programming in Contra Costa County each completed an electronic survey (see Appendix page). Five of the 7 organizations committed funding, over the past 24 months, to services for women in Contra Costa County. Two of the 5 organizations named their funding amount in this area as “less than 5%”, and $200,000 (of the organization’s total funding commitment). Four of the 5 organizations committed funding specifically to Black/African American people over the past 24 months. Two of those 5 organizations named their funding level in this area at “less than 5%”, and “20%”.
None of the organizations committed funding specifically for Black girls. Two organizations have committed funding specifically to Black women over the past 24 months. One of those 2 organizations named their funding level at “less than 5%”. Only one organization plans to commit funding specifically for Black women and girls within the next 24+ months, at a level of 10%.
Three of the 7 funders who participated in the electronic survey and one additional funder who did not participate in the survey attended a virtual focus group (Exhibit 8). They shared that their funding priorities generally are stable year-to-year, are most often staff initiated and board approved, or are compliant with legal mandates. All the organizations currently fund programming for people of color (POC) but not specifically for Black women and girls.
Limitations
The sample size of Black women and girls was intentionally very small for this project. Venue options and maximum Sister Circle size were dictated by Covid-19 restrictions. The sample size of the funders was also small. The scope of this survey examined only the surface layer of a needed and sustainable effort to prioritize equity for Black women and girls in Contra Costa County.
Facilitation of the Sister Circles, data collection and analysis, and the recommendations contained in this report were all filtered through the design team member’s personal knowledge and insights as Black women and formerly Black girls. The stance we took as participants in the project and as authors of the recommendations contain our biases informed through our lived experiences. 9 Recommendations
The design team commends RCF Connects’ chair and board of directors for moving boldly to shepherd and to resource the Equity for Black Women and Girls Initiative. We make these recommendations with a firm belief that:
Efforts to achieve equity for Black women and girls in Contra Costa County deserve status as an RCF Connects strategic plan priority.
The board of directors is duty-bound to strongly consider these recommendations in its continuing commitment to intentionally invest in Black women and girls in Contra Costa County being seen, heard, and served.
RCF Connects will authentically embody the spirit of its name, identity, and function as a connect or by mobilizing to fill part of the current void of services and supports specifically for Black women and girls in Contra Costa County.
Being a Black woman means that I am powerful, beautiful. I am unique. It means that I am an adaptive being that cannot be caged. I represent true power. I am capable of anything. I will succeed and bring others up. I am purpose-driven and I innately understand the power of legacy.
A. Opong-Mensah
10 RCF Connects and its board of directors will secure funding to:
High Impact
Develop and implement a Grant Funding and Technical Assistance Program to deliver Sister Circles . The program will offer micro-grants to Black women and girls and to organizations that serve Black women and girls to implement circles in their communities, workplaces, churches, wellness spaces, etc. The program will offer grantees technical assistance and support through a Train-the-Trainer model. Circles may be centered in mental wellness, business development, community-owned resources, families, parenting, relationship health, re-entry support, social justice, voting and civic participation, etc. The program will deliver at least twenty-five, 4-6-session circles annually. Grants to be awarded on a competitive basis.
Develop and implement a Black Women and Girls Incubator Program , to provide mentoring, networking, technical assistance, grant funding, and fundraising support for at least five Black women and girl’s enterprises annually The enterprises may be start-ups or existing. Funded enterprises will deliver services and resources to Black women and girls by Black women and girls. RCF Connects may serve as the fiscal sponsor, as needed, for the enterprises. Grants to be awarded on a competitive basis.
Moderate Impact
Initiate a convening of Black-led organizations and o ther organizations that serve Black people in Contra Costa County to inventory services for Black women and girls. Create and publish a bi-annual, on-line directory of formal and informal, seasonal/cyclical, non-profit,, government, corporate, etc. resources, supports, materials, access points, funding opportunities, etc.
Lead an ongoing task force on Black women and girls (including representative members from faith-based institutions, education, healthcare-childcare-eldercare providers, recreation/arts/leisure resources, business development enterprises, family/children's services, funding organizations, etc.) to share these recommendations and to build a network of co-responsible and co-accountable implementation partners.
Low Impact
Audit and publish a report on all RCF Connects’ programming to assess the extent to which said programs align with the Equity for Black Women and Girls Initiative: Black Women and Girls will be Seen, Valued, and Served.
To implement the recommendations
Create and fund a permanent position within RCF Connects, staffed by a Black woman, to fulfill the goals of the Equity for Black Women and Girls Initiative . A core objective for the position will be to ensure continuous implementation of the Equity for Black Women and Girls Initiative beyond the tenure of the current board.
11 Acknowledgements
The Design Team appreciates each Black woman and girl who shared her unique and special story during the Sister Circles. We thank the Dr. Mattie McGlothen Library/Museum at the McGlothen Temple Church of God in Christ in Richmond, Co-Biz in Richmond, and the Antioch Community Center in Antioch for providing clean, private, and safe spaces for Sister Circles. And we thank the funding organizations that shared their information and insights. Sincere thanks to Kacey Carterelliott for coordinating with RCF Connects’ Mobility Labs East County to ensure access to Sister Circles by members of that project’s women’s cohort.
We appreciate RCF Connects Board Chair and Board of Directors and CEO Jim Becker for valuing that Black women and girls be seen, heard, and served.
Equity for Black Women and Girls Design Team
"You are your best thing." -Toni Morrison
12 Appendix
EXHIBITS 1-10
1. Community Stakeholder Bios
2. Word Cloud – What strengths and assets do Black women and girls have?
3. Word Cloud – What do Black women and girls need?
4. Word Cloud – What worries Black women and girls?
5. Word Cloud – What do Black women and girls have to offer?
6. Word Cloud – Other comments
7. Sister Circle Post-Session Survey
8. Funder's Focus Group Questions
Other:
Electronic Funder’s Survey - https://www.surveymonkey.com/stories/SM-XMVQJ9BJ/
Relevant Resources
13 Design Team Bios
EXHIBIT 1
My name is Akosua Opong-Mensah and I am one of the design team members. I became interested in the design work primarily because I identify as a black woman. I grew up in Contra Costa County and spent my whole life here until I moved to attend college elsewhere. I don't recall having specific programming directly supporting black women and girls in my youth, which was why supporting this research was so important to me. Coupled with my background in organizational development and people development, this opportunity was a good way to apply my skills. I had a great experience observing the circles and feel like I grew so much in how I approach data collection. I was honored to share space in the sister circles and look forward to seeing the fruits of our labor come to fruition.
Diedre J Goree: An Around the Way Girl, All Grown Up
I am a trained personal life coach with over 25 years of experience as a consultant, trainer, counselor and facilitator working with organizations and individuals in all kinds of communities–both personally and professionally. I started my career working in group homes for 6 years then moving on to working in non-profit organizations for over 15 years. While attending CA State - Hayward, I started my career as a case manager in group homes. Once I started working for different non-profit organizations around the Bay Area, I continued my education in the field of life coaching at San Francisco State Positive Psychology Dept. In 2009 I designed a great practice to specifically help people start a magnificent personal changing process and opened my own life coaching company. “If Nothing Changes…Nothing Changes”, is headquartered in Richmond, California. This premier coaching practice has provided women, men, and families with effective coping strategies, emotional support, and resourceful alternatives so they can experience significant increases, success, and higher awareness in their personal life. The firm specializes in finding practical solutions to problems, hurts, stresses, and frustrations by developing options and vision. There’s a lot you can do to turn your life around but if nothing changes, nothing changes.
My name is Katrina Hollins , mother of 2 and administrative extraordinaire! I was raised and received my education through high school in Richmond, CA. I want to change the world, first starting with my city. As a design team member, I’ve been able to grow and learn through the wealth of knowledge imparted in the planning and Sister Circles. I’m extremely grateful to be given the opportunity to be a part of such important and great work but most of all, I’m extremely grateful to be BLACK. 14 What Strengths and Assets do Black Women and Girls Have? EXHIBIT 2
15 What do Black Women and Girls Need?
EXHIBIT 3
16 What Worries Black Women and Girls?
EXHIBIT 4
17 What do Black Women and Girls Have to Offer?
EXHIBIT 5
18 Other Comments
EXHIBIT 6
19 Sister Circle Post-Session Survey Template
EXHIBIT 7
I enjoyed this Sister Circle (circle range from 1 to 10) A little - 1-3 A lot - 4-7 Incredibly - 8-10
I would like to host a Sister Circle in my workplace, church, social network, neighborhood, other?
Yes ___ No ___
What needs to be addressed mostly for Black Women and Girls? (check all that apply)
Mental/Emotional Wellness ___
Physical Health ___
Spiritual Health ___
Relationship Health ___
Business Development/Entrepreneurship ___
Social Networking ___
Other:
Other Comments:
20 Funder's Focus Group Questions
EXHIBIT 8
Research Questions:
How does your organization determine its funding priorities?
When were your funding priorities last updated?
What will be your organization’s top priorities in funding ongoing COVID-19 recovery efforts?
What are the issue areas impacting Black Women and Girls in CCC that you believe are priorities? What do you think are the best ways to address these issues?
Where do Black Women and Girls fit into your funding priorities?
Communications Questions:
What is your sincere reaction to the BWG initiative? What are the strengths and challenges that you see in this effort?
What direction would you give to RCF as it prepares to seek funding and relationships to build support for ongoing Black Women and Girls-specific funding in Contra Costa County?
What other organizations should RCF talk to about future programming/funding/partnering opportunities for Black Women and Girls in Contra Costa County?
21 Relevant Resources
African American Policy Forum - https://www.aapf.org/ (Black Girls Matter Report - https://www.aapf.org/blackgirlsmatter)
Black Directory – BlackDirectory.com
Black Girl Freedom Fund - 1billion4blackgirls.org
Black Female Project - http://www.blackfemaleproject.org/
Black is Still Beautiful - https://www.bbisb.org/
Black Women’s Blueprint - https://www.blackwomensblueprint.org/
Black Women’s Health Imperative - https://bwhi.org/
California Black Freedom Fund - https://cablackfreedomfund.org/
California Black Media - http://www.californiablackmedia.org/
Color Outside the Lines - http://coloroutsidethelines.xyz/
Code Switch – Restorative Justice for Girls of Color - http://www.codeswitch.org/
Cinnamon Girl - https://www.cinnamongirl.org/
Girl Interrupted. The Erasure of Black Girl’s Childhood – Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality
Goldman Sachs–One Million Black Women - www.goldmansachs.com/our-commitments/sustainability/one-million-black- women/
Global Fund Addressing Key Issues Facing Black Women – fordfoundation.org
Ms. Foundation - www.forwomen.org/resources/pocket-change-report/
National Coalition of 100 Black Women
National Council of Negro Women
Safe Return Project – Arresting Trauma - https://d17679b3-9470-4903-9e79- 0232f4dd472d.filesusr.com/ugd/0ba76a_5e9cb482c9f94620bf5035d6785320f5.pdf
22