2022 Recipient of National Association of Regional Councils' Achievement Award
PSRC has won an award from the National Association of Regional Councils for its Equity Program. The award was one of 11 given out for regional achievements.
“I am so pleased and so proud as President of NARC to be able to celebrate these achievements in regional cooperation, excellence, and leadership,” said NARC President Bob Cannon, Supervisor of Clinton Township, Michigan and former chair of Southeast Michigan Council of Governments.
"We are very happy to be recognized for this important work," said Josh Brown, PSRC's Executive Director. "What I am even more proud of is that we have developed a program that is already making a difference. We've been able to make some key changes to how we do business, including our new Equity Pilot Program for PSRC Funds, board workshops focused on racial equity, the compensation policy for outreach and committee participation, and increased analysis of data with the goal of understanding the state of the region’s BIPOC community."
PSRC’s goal is to advance racial equity to ensure that the region’s vision for a prosperous and healthy future is possible for all people in the region. Recognizing that this is not available to everyone, PSRC set out to change this with its new Equity Program.
The Equity Program is multifaceted, looking at both internal and external functions of the agency through an equity lens. It seeks to guide change from within the agency, inform the regional conversation about equity, and assist our members to advance equity in local communities. The program includes the development of a Regional Equity Strategy that will be co-created with the Equity Advisory Committee.
"It is a great honor to be nationally recognized for our equity work," said Charles Patton, Ph.D., PSRC's Program Manager for Equity Policy and Initiatives. "We've built a great foundation and have strategies in place to keep building on it along with excellent support from PSRC's board members and staff."