Photo Credit: UC Santa Cruz Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program

Local People of Color-led and serving organizations with lived experiences driving racial equity work in Santa Cruz County. Local community organizers of color advocating for systemic change in Santa Cruz County. Learn tips from the Community Foundation on how to give locally for racial equity.

Buy from and hire local People of Color: Day Workers Youth and adults overcoming obstacles Local vendors or businesses led by People of Color Paid interns Make your hiring process more equitable Create workplace structures that support the leadership and compensation growth of People of Color within your organization. Support access to higher education opportunities for youth of color.

Attend local community events that are led by and share stories by people of color. Listen to, learn from, read, and share the stories of local People of Color. Celebrate and support local artists and musicians of color. Share a land acknowledgement.

Continuously educate yourself in how you, as an individual, can be anti-racist. Understand the race and ethnicity demographics in Santa Cruz County. Use it as a measure to evaluate equitable representation in your organizations’ leadership, staff, board, vendors, and participants. Learn about local racial disparity data, the root causes, and identify ways you or your organization can contribute to decreasing the local disparities. Support, learn from, and vote for trusted leaders of color in local government and positions of power. Commit resources to equity, ongoing racial equity training, and including personnel dedicated to diversity, equity and inclusion in your workplace and organizations you’re involved with.

Make information about essential services easy to understand, accessible in different languages: Spanish, Native languages (Mixtec, Zapotec, Chatino, Mixe, Nahuatl, Triqui), Tagalog, Cantonese, and Khmer, and in non-digital formats too. Support local advocacy and anti-racist policies that increase equitable affordable housing, food access, health care, immigration reform, and worker rights.