CLEVELAND — EDITOR'S NOTE: The video in the player above is from a previous story.
Top honors for the YWCA Greater Cleveland, as the organization was honored with the YWCA USA's Excellence Award for Racial Justice.
The award recognizes the hard work of the team led by President & CEO Margaret Mitchell. It honors local chapters that champion YWCA's mission to "eliminate racism in their communities while centering women, girls, and nonbinary people of color."
Specifically, the YWCA Greater Cleveland was recognized for its work in the following areas:
- Structural Change in the Workplace: including written equity plans, rising to a $15 minimum wage, expanded PTO, and a Pathways to Promotion Program.
- A Strategic Plan to Meet the Moment: adopted in October 2019, the Strategic Plan acknowledges and centers the needs of women and girls of color as the framework in which to achieve peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all.
- Declaring Racism a Public Health Crisis: with the support of YWCA Greater Cleveland and other community organizations, the city of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County declared racism a public health crisis in 2020.
- 21-Day Racial Equity & Social Justice Challenge: initially created as an internal training tool for staff, this year the Challenge reached 30,000 people in 48 states across the country.
Mitchell thanked YWCA Greater Cleveland’s Board, Staff, and the community for supporting the organization’s journey of achieving true racial justice and gender equity. YWCA Greater Cleveland said in a press release that it plans to continue to expand the reach of their programs and services to the Greater Cleveland area and beyond.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The video in the player below is from a previous, unrelated story.