Changing the Narrative Toward a Visionary Future
My project involves analyzing narratives across institutions investing in “workforce development” in San Antonio, Texas, and developing the most powerful, sector- specific narratives for influencing the advancement of racial equity.
I will conduct an environmental scan and content analysis of all publicly available communications from institutions affecting “workforce development”: local city government, the regional economic development organization and their corporate members, the regional workforce development office, 15 nonprofit organizations that work directly in jobs training/placement and/or higher education, the community foundation, corporate funders, the community college consortium, and two public universities.
The project will culminate in a digital report documenting the key findings, offering recommended institution- and sector-specific narratives to advance racial equity, and calls to action given the current investments in “workforce development.” The report will be accompanied by a campaign to distribute the research findings and recommendations to institutions and community organizers.
PROBLEM ANALYSIS
Like communities across the world, the COVID-19 crisis has compounded racial inequities in San Antonio, Texas. At the same time, institutions have amplified commitments to advancing equity. The City of San Antonio’s COVID-19 Recovery and Resiliency Plan, for example, identifies equity as one of five guiding principles.
In November 2020, voters additionally approved a training and education initiative that will invest $154 million over 4 years to serve 40,000 people who lost their jobs during the crisis. These investments have the potential to change people’s lives, including those who have been disproportionately affected by unemployment and underemployment in San Antonio: Black people and Latinos.
The initiative, however, remains race neutral and is but one example of efforts to advance equity that are falling short of their potential to disrupt systemic racism. The plan itself drives individual narratives that focus on “upskilling” workers rather than understanding and removing institutional barriers to their health and well-being.
Impact
This project ultimately aims to influence an increase in the number of Black people and Latinos with living-wage jobs in San Antonio. The narratives produced will include institution- and sector-specific calls to action for shifting policies, budgets, and programs. The long-term impact will additionally be measured by the rate of adoption of the calls to action.
I expect increased awareness of race-conscious, systems-focused communications among leadership in multi-sector organizations investing in “workforce development.” This includes acknowledging the disproportionate effect of COVID-19 and longstanding inequities on Black and Latino San Antonians and shaping services responses to their needs, tracking and reporting participation in their services by race, and tracking and reporting their impact by race.
