What is Diversity, Equity and Inclusion?
Diversity: Physical, social, and psychological differences between people and groups, including things like race, ethnicity, gender, ability, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, tribe, socio-economic status, thinking and communication styles.
Equity: When everyone can reach their highest level of health and potential for a successful life, regardless of their background and identity. Equity is when everyone has what they need to be successful, while equality is treating everyone the same. Equality seeks to promote fairness, but it can only work if everyone starts from the same place and needs the same help.
Inclusion: Puts diversity into meaningful action and builds a culture of belonging, respect, and connection by actively inviting the contribution and participation of all people.
Find out what Culver City is currently working on and our future plans to bring initiatives, events, and projects to Culver City that will further promote our diversity, equity and inclusionary goals for our community and staff.
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Project Began: March 2023
Status: Completed
The City is partnering with Architectural Resources Group (ARG) to complete the City of Culver City Historical Context Study. Throughout the historical development of the metropolitan Los Angeles region and in many parts of Los Angeles County, policies and laws were designed to create and uphold discriminatory practices, to segregate Black people and other people of color, and to reinforce racial, cultural, and class bias in home ownership. Learn more about the Culver City Historical Context Study project below or follow this link.
Background
On June 14, 2021, City Council expressed a commitment to making Culver City a welcoming and inclusive community by voting to adopt Resolution No. 2021-R066, acknowledging the racial history of Culver City.
Since then, with the guidance of the City Council and the Ad Hoc Equity Subcommittee, the following meetings and discussions took place:
- August 8, 2022 – The City Council received a presentation from Kamilah Moore, the Chair of the Department of Justice’s California Reparations Task Force and City staff presented information on how other cities designed their reparation programs to narrow the racial income and housing gap in their cities.
- September 12, 2022 – City Council authorized the preparation and issuance of a request for proposals to prepare a historical context study.
- January 23, 2023 – City Council approved a professional services agreement with Architectural Resources Group (ARG) to prepare a historical context study for Culver City to help inform reparation discussions and decisions going forward.
Purpose
A historical context study will include past policy practices of the City and surrounding areas, provide primary and secondary source research, and analysis on how these policies have shaped the City’s current landscape and experience of its inhabitants and to:
- Get a better understanding of racial and cultural discrimination in Culver City from the 19th century to the present;
- To document racially and culturally discriminatory practices and policies;
- Trace demographics through time; and
- To analyze how these practices and policies have shaped the City's current landscape and the experience of its residents.
Process
Primary and Secondary Source Resources
Through a combination of primary and secondary source research ARG has gathered data, information, and research from:
- Existing studies about discrimination
- Newspaper Archives
- Local History collections
- Census and other demographic data and archives
- FHA/HOLC residential security maps and associated reports
- Books and other published materials and articles
Community Outreach
In addition to better understand the impact that any discriminatory practices have had on Culver City inhabitants, the City's consultants - Architectural Resource Group (ARG)-conducted outreach to hear from current and former residents, business owners, stakeholders, and others with personal knowledge of the community. Their personal stories have helped tell the story of how past policy practices of the City and surrounding areas have shaped the City’s current landscape and the experiences of its inhabitants. Information received and gathered by the team may have been incorporated into the document or used as starting points for additional research and follow-up. (Please note that no personal identifying information will be included in the study.)
Click here for the Culver City Historical Context Study! (PDF, 4MB)
Project Began: August 2023
Status: In Progress
The City of Culver City (City) is currently reviewing proposals submitted for RFP 2406, which opened on August 18, 2023, and closed on October 16, 2023, from qualified consultants to prepare and assist with the development and implementation of the City’s Racial Equity Action Plan (REAP) with both short-term and long-term initiatives and goals. The equity consultant will assist with REAP development, facilitate community engagement and stakeholder convenings in the development of the REAP, and build capacity among staff for ongoing implementation and performance monitoring.
Culver City has been a member of the Government Alliance on Race & Equity (GARE) since 2017. GARE is a national network of local governments, which believes in leading with race to acknowledge that racial inequity has been built into American society and all sectors of government, rendering disparate outcomes for people of color.
The City desires to continue its efforts to embed racial equity into its framework, through current and future policies, procedures, and structure and to repair the harms caused by policy decisions that have created, supported, or exacerbated racial inequities. To meet these objectives, the City desires to establish and initiate implementation of a Racial Equity Action Plan (REAP), applying a results-based accountability framework to facilitate the normalization of conversations around race, development of staff capacity through training, and to operationalize racial equity by embedding this lens into routine decision-making.
Through the REAP, the City aims to improve outcomes for all Culver City residents, and institute more targeted strategies to help improve outcomes for diverse community members that have been traditionally excluded from equitable opportunity and growth. The Proposer hired will develop key strategies to ensure the REAP is realized in a manner that is transformational, sustainable, targeted, intentional, and contain actions that will have the maximum impact in creating conditions where all people thrive and experience well-being through an application of targeted strategies.
Nomination Period Extended! The Nomination period now will close on Sunday, March 31, 2024.
Anticipated Awards Presentation: Late Spring 2024
The Culver City Equity and Human Relations Advisory Committee has created a Community Contributions Award to honor four outstanding individuals and businesses for their contributions to equity and human relations in Culver City. The recipients will be individuals and businesses who have embodied inclusiveness, altruism, and giving through volunteerism and public service to make Culver City a better place for all people to live. Each honoree will receive a medallion at a ceremony held during a City Council Meeting late in the Spring of 2024.
Click here for more information.
Submit a Nomination Here!
Date: May 15, 2024
Time: 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Location:
Culver City Senior Center-
Rooms B45, B47 and the Dining Room
4117 Overland Ave, Culver City, CA 90230
Join us on May 15, 2024, as the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations' Marshall Wong presents the 2022 Hate Crimes Report and statistics as they relate to Los Angeles County, and more specifically, as they related to Culver City. Join us for this eye-opening evening as light is shed on what types of hate crimes and hate incidents are occurring, where they are occurring and who the targets were/are all in the hope to bring awareness to what is happening and educate our community on how and when to report them.
Click here for more information.
Slated to Begin: Mid 2024
The City is working to bring the Culver City Community and Workforce a series of in person trainings designed to train participants how to respond to, intervene in, and heal from hate motivated incidents and crimes. Course offerings, dates and times coming soon!
Slated to Begin: Summer of 2024
More information coming soon!