Governing for Racial Justice, the 2024 GARE Membership Meeting

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What is the Government Alliance for Race and Equity (GARE)?

GARE is a dynamic peer-to-peer learning and practice network dedicated to advancing racial equity in government, so that we all thrive where we live, learn, work and play. This network is driven by the active participation of 11,000+ public stewards, or racial equity practitioners, working in 400+ local, regional, and state GARE member jurisdictions and supported by a small staff team and strategic partners. GARE racial equity practitioners work to equitably strengthen and steward our public goods so that individuals, families and communities can live long, healthy, joyful lives, no matter their race, class, gender, sexuality, ability, migration status, or zip code. GARE envisions a vibrant, just, multiracial democracy in which local, regional, and state governments work for all and race no longer determine life outcomes.

Toward these ends, GARE fosters critical connections, shared learning, and leadership development support to build skills, influence, capacity, and accountability to achieve racial equity.

Interested in becoming a GARE member? Please complete the following GARE membership application.

About

Governing for Racial Justice, the 2024 GARE Membership Meeting at Facing Race is a three day, in-person gathering of the full GARE membership. This event will bring together racial equity practitioners and government officials to explore the challenges and opportunities for advancing racial equity towards a just multi-racial democracy.

This year, practitioners from GARE member jurisdictions will have an opportunity to enjoy two events while in St. Louis. We will open on November 20th with the GARE conference taking place simultaneously with the Facing Race preconference events. November 21-22, attendees will enjoy government related breakouts as part of the Facing Race programming. Some of these sessions will be exclusive only to a government audience.
 
The conference provides attendees unprecedented access to resources, information, and collaborative opportunities geared towards advancing racial equity for all.

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Goals/Purpose:

• Showcase government efforts to combat systemic racism and address the structures, policies, and practices that contribute to disparities and inequities, giving practitioners new resources for building toward a just multiracial democracy.
• Foster cross-system relationships, collaboration, and partnership among federal, state, and local governments with communities to forge pathways for community-informed change.
• Provide a platform for sharing best practices and strategies for advancing racial justice through dialogue, reflection, learning, and ideating on key issues.
• Equip racial equity practitioners in government with the tools and resources to advance racial equity within their spheres of influence.
• Provide content that enhances and supports leading members and the development of new and growing racial equity practitioners.
• Create pathways to bridge government and community, discuss power imbalances, and understand government, process, and outputs and their relationship to community-level impacts.
• Build a shared understanding between government and community of where and how change happens. Understand more about people and culture.

Why have the G4RJ, the GARE Membership Meeting at Facing Race?

• Build community and collective power.
• Give racial equity practitioners in government access to the racial justice movement outside of the offerings of a standalone Membership Meeting.
• Provide ccess to a wide variety of arts, culture, and performances from movement builders across the nation. 
• Promote networking and relationship-building to generate innovative ideas and solutions for advancing racial justice.

Why St. Louis?

St. Louis, Missouri, a city rich in history, culture, and resilience, is set to host the biennial Facing Race conference in 2024. St. Louis is a testament to the ongoing battle for racial equity, having served as a critical juncture for both historical and contemporary racial justice movements. From its beginnings on the ancestral lands of the Illini Confederacy to its pivotal role in the Movement for Black Lives, this city is emblematic of America's racial justice journey.

In St. Louis, issues like racial segregation, the pressing need for police reform, unequal access to quality education, and grassroots movements challenging deep-seated systems of discrimination provide tangible context for our discussions on racial justice.

The narratives and lived experiences of St. Louis residents offer invaluable insights that can guide and inspire our national efforts to address racial disparities. By convening in St. Louis, Facing Race 2024 aims to amplify the voices of those who have spearheaded transformative changes, forging a path toward a more inclusive future. As St. Louis’s Mayor Tishaura Jones and other local leaders are initiating change within the city, Facing Race stands as a beacon of hope, a clarion call to action, and a testament to the power of community-driven transformation.

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Schedule at a Glance