City of Asheville Community Reparations Commission
Background
The Community Reparations Commission was established in 2020 to develop recommendations to specifically address the creation of generational wealth and to boost economic mobility and opportunity in the Black community.
On July 14, 2020, the Asheville City Council passed a resolution supporting community reparations for Black Asheville. In an effort to repair the harm done by decades of discrimination, the city manager and city staff recommended a three-phase process that included:
Information Sharing and Truth-Telling
Formation of a Reparations Commission
Final Report
The City and County Government combined set aside a total of $5.6 Million in their public budgets to be allocated for the purposes of reparations.
Challenges
Civility Localized founder and Principal Consultant Christine Edwards, MPA traveled to Asheville, NC monthly to attend all Commission meetings. With expert knowledge of Project Management principles and community engagement strategies, she guided Commission members through the steps of developing and refining recommendations.
Civility Localized provided Project Management to the Reparations Commission from November 2022 through completion of the Commission’s work in April 2024. The Impact Focus Areas for these reparations recommendations ranged from Education to Healthcare to Justice. Ms. Edwards attended conferences and designed work retreats for Commission members, all to grow and improve the commission’s knowledge base and best practices and to develop recommendations to repair harm.
What We Did
Civility Localized founder and Principal Consultant Christine Edwards, MPA traveled to Asheville, NC monthly to attend all Commission meetings. With expert knowledge of Project Management principles and community engagement strategies, she guided Commission members through the steps of developing and refining recommendations.
Civility Localized provided Project Management to the Reparations Commission from November 2022 through completion of the Commission’s work in April 2024. The Impact Focus Areas for these reparations recommendations ranged from Education to Healthcare to Justice. Ms. Edwards attended conferences and designed work retreats for Commission members, all to grow and improve the commission’s knowledge base and best practices and to develop recommendations to repair harm.
Media
