04/08/2022
Welcome to the new Executive Director of Race and Equity, Tyeastia Green!
Tyeastia holds a Master of Public Affairs degree that focuses on Racial Justice and Racial Equity from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. Tyeastia was the 2017 Gary DeCramer Fellow, 2018 Scholarly Excellence in Equity & Diversity (SEED) Scholar, and 2019 Thank-a-Teacher Award recipient. She has also published academic literature on the topics of whiteness and antiracism, studies on police violence against blacks and income and wealth study between educated white and black women.
Tyeastia was appointed the first Director of Racial Equity, Inclusion, & Belonging (REIB) by Mayor Miro Weinberger and approved by Burlington’s City Council in February 2020. She was responsible for the development and implementation of the Racial Equity Strategic Plan for the City of Burlington in partnership with the REIB team and relevant community stakeholders to validate and operationalize the long-term roadmap of initiatives that will develop an equitable and inclusive culture; develop priorities that provide opportunities to build racial equity practices into the fabric of the City’s operations and advocate for data-driven imperatives for change. Tyeastia was charged with researching and implementing a plan to eradicate systemic racism from policies, practices, and overall culture. As Director, Tyeastia’s priorities were data analysis and race-centered policy creation to eradicate systemic racism from policies, practices, and overall culture. In addition to being one of the mayor’s closest advisors, Tyeastia was the:
• Chair of Reparations Study Taskforce
• Chair of Rapid Response Team for Racially Just Recovery from COVID-19
• Created programs to financially assist BIPOC small businesses, and families
• Lead Employee Resource Group for REIB office
• Creation and Implementation of Racial Affinity Groups for City Employees
• Member of Racial Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Committee with City Council
• Chaired Population Health Alliance focused on Racism as a Public Health Emergency
• REIB Team are the Creators of Antiracism Curriculum for City Employees, City Council, Board and Commissions
• Implemented pay structure for boards and commissioners
• Initiated livable wages for all city employees
• Created an Economic Analyst position to ensure Black and Brown businesses are awarded city business
• Strategic Plan for Racial Justice and Cultural Empowerment
• Creation and Implementation of Organizational Culture Analysis
• Creation and Implementation of Workplace Census
• REIB Team are the Creators of the new Racial Equity Toolkit
• Two Public Safety Studies
• Created the 1st City Sponsored Juneteenth
• Created the 1st City Sponsored Black History Month celebration
• Created the 1st City Sponsored Women’s Month celebration
At the core of her work is creating a culture of belonging. Her success is dependent upon race not being a determining factor in any measurable outcome. She is resolute in ensuring that programs, policies, and practices implemented are racially just, sound, and iterative – meaning those measures cannot be stopped.
The REIB started out as a department of one – the Director. In less than two years, Tyeastia built the team to fifteen strong, and created a highly sought after and popular internship program. She worked diligently to sustain success by maintaining and strengthening partnerships with City Council, senior government officials, and external community partners. She developed a racial equity toolkit that is used to help all departments in minimizing, with the goal of eliminating, negative impacts on BIPOC communities. This toolkit is used from the early stages of budgeting, policy and program development, and City practices to implementation. Before leaving her post, she created and implemented a supplier diversity program, antiracism training curriculum for all city employees, and a hiring, retention and promotion policy.
There is no area of City business that the REIB doesn’t touch. Whether it is engaging BIPOC communities, instituting policies to deal with the impacts of the social determinants of health, advising City Council, or the creation of the first Strategic Roadmap for Racial Justice, the REIB is involved, and leading the efforts. Tyeastia was a catalyst to that work. Her objective with the REIB was to ensure that race is not a determining factor in any measurable outcome. She is very proud that the impacts of her efforts within the REIB have already been life changing, according to feedback from the community. She intends to do the same for the City of Minneapolis.
