YWCA Asheville nominated for top racial justice award

Press release from the YWCA Asheville:

ASHEVILLE, NC – We are excited to announce that YWCA Asheville has been chosen as one of the top three nominees for YWCA USA’s nationwide Association Excellence Award for Racial Justice!

YWCA USA presents Excellence Awards in three categories: Advocacy, Racial Justice and Women’s Empowerment. Nominations submitted reflect the distinctive and community-changing work YWCA associations are doing throughout the country. Of the YWCAs nominated, three are selected in each category as finalists and the entire network of 216 YWCAs vote for the association whose work they find most outstanding.

“Every YWCA works to eliminate racism and empower women, but we are especially honored to recognize YWCA Asheville, YWCA Evanston/Northshore, and YWCA Rochester for their dedication to providing excellent racial justice programming in their communities,” said Casey Harden, Interim CEO, YWCA USA.

YWCA Asheville has been selected as a finalist for the Association Excellence Award for Racial Justice based on our three main racial justice initiatives: our robust Stand Against Racism campaign; implementation of internal and external Racial Justice Workshops; and bold community leadership spearheading the development of the Racial Justice Coalition (RJC). This year, the RJC led an initiative to revise the Asheville Police Department’s (APD) use of force policy. A community working group convened with APD to revise the policy, which now emphasizes de-escalation and accountability – holding APD officers to a higher standard than the North Carolina statute.

“We are so honored. We share this recognition with our many community partners who make up the Racial Justice Coalition as well as community groups and individuals who take a Stand Against Racism with us each year. It will take all of us working together to continue to make progress towards our bold mission of Eliminating Racism,” said Beth Maczka, CEO, YWCA Asheville.

The winner will be announced at the Women of Distinction Awards Gala in Washington, D.C on June 16, 2017, during the YWCA USA National Conference, Bold Mission, Bright Future.

SHARE
About Thomas Calder
Thomas Calder received his MFA in Fiction from the University of Houston's Creative Writing Program. His writing has appeared in Gulf Coast, the Miracle Monocle, Juked and elsewhere. His debut novel, The Wind Under the Door, is now available.

Before you comment

The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.

Leave a Reply

To leave a reply you may Login with your Mountain Xpress account, connect socially or enter your name and e-mail. Your e-mail address will not be published. All fields are required.