Challenge Day Reflections _600 x 200 px_ _2_.png

To keep you connected to current issues and topics discussed in the Flagship Program, LT shares reflections and resources from our Challenge Days. New this year, we are pairing Challenge Days together. This change is intended to support connections across Challenge Days, allowing the class to dive deeper into regional challenges while also building skills for effective leadership and cultivating belonging. The Economy (December 9, 2021) and Environment (January13, 2022) Challenge Day are paired this year.

The Economy Challenge Day was centered around this question: What does an equitable and inclusive economic recovery look like? How do we center racial justice in envisioning new possibilities for economic recovery? How can we think about economic and environmental interconnectedness as we consider equitable recovery? What actions can advance economic justice in our region in the short, medium, and longer term?

To get a feel for the full day, read the agenda HERE. For a list of resources related to this Challenge Day, read the prework HERE. Read below to see how the day impacted two LT'22 class members.

Many thanks to Microsoft for their sponsorship of this day and leadership in our community.

Conversation on an Equitable and Inclusive Economic Recovery

Jenefeness Tucker, Honorary LT, Curriculum Committee; Mele Miller, Chief Operating Officer, Seattle Credit Union

Mele Miller grew up in Hawaii with her parents and four siblings. Her parents, not having the opportunity to go to college, worked multiple jobs to make ends meet, but sometimes their hard work wasn't enough. Her family sometimes struggled with food insecurity and often overdrew from their checking account.

Lacking knowledge about how checking accounts and overdraft protection worked, she found herself in a similar situation when she went to college. She overdrew from her account and was sent to collections. These experiences motivated her to work in the financial industry and help people who, like her family and herself, had historically been "under-banked."

When discussing what an equitable economic recovery could/should look like, Mele offered the following comments and recommendations:

It's important to design and deliver services to meet the needs of historically underserved communities.
The journey to access capital is important; it's not just about the money. It's important to listen and educate. Ask questions, be humble and curious.
Pay transparency is important - publicize salary ranges for roles.
Managers should look at compensation packages holistically and from multiple perspectives.

Tisha's Reflections

Tisha Held, LT'22, BECU

The Economy Challenge Day brought up a common theme for me: How are we passing on our knowledge? How do we share our gifts? In the first session, we discussed gratitude as shared from the book “Braiding Sweet Grass." Gratitude is the word that comes before all else. I’m grateful for my daily gifts. One of the things I have been doing daily is writing at least three things I’m grateful for on Facebook. It is how I stay grounded, share positivity, and start my day before all else. Sharing helps you see more within yourself and appreciate others.

Jenefeness Tucker said that the basic definition of economics is making decisions with resources. This brings me back to one of the prior questions of “How are we passing on our knowledge?” This is part of generational wealth and how families share with one another in order to pass on the gift of knowledge on how to obtain and maintain resources. Mele Miller, COO at Seattle Credit Union, shared her economic story and how her choices and resources influenced her decisions. It is overwhelming at times to think of all that is needed, but we all can teach, learn, and connect through our core values.

The breakout sessions were gifts in community learning and vulnerability. It was a time to reflect on our own leadership and how we choose to share our energy. The choices we make not only impact ourselves but the people around us. The Black Caucus had the chance to reconnect with Marc Dones, CEO of King County Regional Homelessness Authority. During our session, they discussed how the system enforces the narrative that “Poor people have to earn the right to be inside,” and “all day long they are asked to move.” Marc's insights took me back to resources. How are we investing in people when the systems are not set up for the next steps?

Generations of scarcity may have led to learned helplessness but the continuation of cruelty and disempowerment highlights under-investment. The current infrastructure ideologically invests in a system for everyone but only gives to a small demographic. Money is a big component to addressing how resources are shared. It is also the unchecked intentional choices of those in power. By diving down to the root cause of the visible symptoms, we may be able to reach the needed impact.

Trade Offs: Decision-Making for Equity in the Context of Complexity

The class was given several scenarios where a decision needed to be made with imperfect information and a choice between opposing goals. The point of the exercise was to grapple with the different impacts of imperfect decisions, develop consensus building skills, practice applying a racial equity lens to policy decision making, and recognize the benefit of diverse perspectives in problem solving.

Stanley's Reflections

Stanley Tsao, LT'22, City of Seattle

As someone who works at the City of Seattle, I am often asked to find solutions for all our communities. The Trade Offs exercise in decision-making reminded me of the impossibility of finding many of these solutions quickly. Usually, we aim to find relevant tools and experiences to make intelligent tradeoffs between conflicting parameters. We would draw costs & benefits analysis and would try to make a rational choice based on that.

The real community, unfortunately, doesn’t operate with the same analytic thinking. Many important problems, especially around racial justice and social inequality, simply don’t have quantitative and rational data for us to make these tradeoffs (mainly because many communities have been underfunded and underserved for a long time).

When stuck with the two impossible choices in the Trade Offs exercise with very little background information, do we make a choice based on the usual costs and benefits analysis? Do we potentially compound the current crisis by making more bad choices?

As the rest of the Challenge Day conversations continued, I realized missing in the Trade Offs Exercise are other important representations such as active listening, building trust and meeting the needs of our communities where they are. I couldn’t help but think of my own Seattle Department of Neighborhoods’ P-Patch Community Gardening Program example, where community members come together to enjoy organic urban agriculture at community-stewarded open spaces.

Inclusive economy and recovery can be achieved, perhaps not by making more impossible choices but with all of us finding local and community-based solutions.

Special Thanks to our

Challenge Day Sponsor!