Apra Mo Kan’s first book club of 2022 is scheduled for May 19 at 4 pm and will feature So You Want to Talk About Race, by Ijeoma Oluo. 

I picked up this book after reading Suzi Elzie-Tuttle’s excellent article, Racial Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: Resources to Help You Get Started in Apra’s Connections (March 2021). As a board we chose this selection to encourage honest conversations within our community about race and privilege, particularly as they relate to philanthropy and our roles as prospect development professionals. We recognize that this is a topic which may be painful or uncomfortable. But as Suzi reminded us in her article, with the quote by James Baldwin, "Not everything that is faced can be changed; but nothing can be changed until it is faced."

In an effort to facilitate continued conversation, Ijeoma Oluo has provided a comprehensive discussion guide and list of basic guidelines in the second edition which you may find helpful in preparing for our conversation. If you have an earlier copy of the book, or are listening to the audio* version, please email me for a copy of the guide.

Our May 19  book club discussion is just the beginning of a broader, ongoing programming focus for our chapter. Last summer, the Apra Ethics and Compliance Committee published the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Data Guide, which was developed “to serve as a resource for best practices in the ethical collection, storage, and usage of DEI data.” Starting in May, as a way to bridge the intention-action gap, we’ll dedicate (at least) one Coffee Chat open forum per month to specific topics around DEI, using the guide as our road map. If you haven’t already, I encourage you to take a look at the DEI Data Guide prior to the May 18 coffee chat  and/or the May 19 book club.

As always, bring your questions, ideas and plans to the conversation so we can all learn and grow together.

*The audio version of So You Want to Talk About Race is available via Hoopla (free with a public library subscription).