Authentic Community Engagement - Best Practices for Equitable Work

Join America Walks for webinar presentations and a robust Q & A dialogue with active transportation professionals, nonprofit leaders, and equitable engagement experts around what it means to practice and build authentic community engagement with diverse coalitions as the foundation for driving those vital relationships.

Panelists will share their best practices for equitable work in striving for inclusive, accessible, connected, and walkable communities – through the lens of their invaluable learned, professionally practiced and lived experiences. Among the details covered, presenters will lean into the importance of acknowledging past harms and learning how to demonstrate an awareness and distinction of active transportation and walkability work as a true tool for empowerment vs. a weapon of racialized oppression.

The presentations and discussion addresses the following critical questions and more:

- What are the most universal best practices in achieving equity in our work?
- How can advocates, practitioners and leaders center the needs and desires of BIPOC and low-income residents?
- How can we achieve buy-in and funding streams from government leaders?
- How can we habitually challenge normativity in how we define safe walking, biking, mobility, and access?
- Why is it imperative to get out of your demographic bubble?
- How can we get overlooked community members involved in government-decision discourse?
- What are examples of removing barriers for individuals to experience safe destination-based movement while lowering car dependency?
- How can we build trust, empowerment and agency with communities that have been perpetually ignored, harmed, and disinvested in?
- What kind of data points, projects or outreach can provide the most insight for determining connected, safe active transportation routes and services in the given community

[penelopelilliannalilliemay]

Excellent presentation... thought provoking and engaging.