The Racial Truth & Reconciliation VA coalition assembles advocates who are committed to racial advocacy and equity work across many sectors to implement the campaign goals. There are five committees to mobilize and advocate for change.

• General Members: General coalition members are authentically committed to the RTR mission and goals. General coalition members must be willing to participate in ongoing professional development opportunities around cultural competency, implicit biases, racial equity, equity, diversity, and inclusion. Coalition members serve as implementers and mobilizers of the RTR initiatives throughout the year. Members constantly assess the mission, goals, strategies, and tactics of RTR through their work on committees or through coalition meeting attendance; in doing so, they serve as ambassadors and protectors to ensure the mission is moving in an authentic way.
• Executive: The executive committee serves as the liaison between the external partners, the coalition, and its committees. The committee includes the chair, vice chair, secretary, the co-chairs of each committee. The committee is tasked with the responsibility to serve as a protector and ambassador of the mission and goals of the coalition to ensure all programming is authentic and just. The executive committee provides coaching, planning, and technical assistance, and support to the coalition members to implement the goals of committee and the broader coalition goals.
• Grassroots Engagement: The grassroots engagement committee connects with rural, urban, suburban communities and community members within them. The goal is to build trust with community stakeholders in an effort to ensure people feel empowered and prepared to ignite the change they wish to see in their communities. In addition, the committee focuses on advocacy and activism by leading awareness, trainings, and community-building events to promote justice. The committee works to connect local-level trends to state policies that deconstruct systemic, social, and institutional barriers to achieving a trauma-informed, equitable and just society for all.
• Partnerships & Education: The partnership and education committee engages with partners in solidarity committed to the coalition mission and goals. The committee encourages partners to integrate equitable policies of change within their organizations and networks. Committee members engage with organizations that serve diverse demographics to catalyze organizational and institutional change within their spear of influence. The committee additionally focuses on education by connecting members to ongoing personal and professional development opportunities around cultural competency, implicit biases, trauma-informed care, equity, diversity and inclusion. Committee members engage with individuals with lived experience, organizations, and public officials to shed light on systemic and institutional best practices and challenges to achieving a trauma-informed, equitable and just society.

Through the work of the coalition’s committees, Voices will play an active role in shaping a unified policy agenda that aligns with the organization’s policy goals as well as issue areas identified by the campaign. This level of advocacy includes Voices identifying opportunities to mobilize advocates to support Voices’ policy initiatives and the work of partner coalitions addressing issues ranging from food access to paid sick days.

General Coalition Members include:

• an advocate with lived experience of trauma and oppression.
• an ally willing to work alongside marginalized communities to create an equitable and just society for all.
• an advocate or activist for inclusion, i.e. LGBTQ+ advocate, Black Lives Matter activist, youth advocate, etc.
• a professional working to combat systemic inequities or uplift marginalized communities.
• an individual who contributes to a diversity of perspectives, i.e. parent, youth, professional, student, individual(s) from urban, rural, or suburban communities, individual that has been impacted by the system, i.e. foster care, healthcare, mental health, etc.
• a community leader or elder working directly with communities impacted by the mission and goals of RTR in a variety of sectors, which can include: mental health and health, foster care, early childhood education and education, juvenile justice, higher education, data and research, housing, food justice, family economic security, and more.
• GED, high school diploma, bachelors, or advanced degrees are not required to join the coalition.

Partnerships & Education Committee members include:

• Individuals from the following field are encouraged to join: human services, public administration, public policy, mental health, public health, healthcare, education, early childhood education, family economic security, economic development, child welfare, foster care, trauma-informed care and resilience, sociology, racial equity and equity, diversity and inclusion, community impact, community outreach and engagement, research and data, higher education, juvenile justice, criminal justice, social change, systems change, advocacy, activism, non-profit, public service, professional development, etc.
• Experts in an array of fields with an associates, bachelors, advanced degree, or professional or personal experience are encouraged to join.
• GED, high school diploma, bachelors, or advanced degrees are not required to join the coalition.

Grassroots Engagement Committee members include:

• Grassroots engagement committee members should have the skillset, experience, or expertise to authentically engage with organizations and communities on an ongoing basis.
• Grassroots engagement committee members should have a speciality in relationship-building with different demographics, including: private and public sectors, children and youth, parents, urban, suburban, and rural communities, different educational backgrounds, and diverse socioeconomic backgrounds.
• Individuals from an array of fields that work directly with community stakeholders and communities are encouraged to join.
• Individuals who identify as a community member with lived expertise of Voices issues are encouraged to join.
• Individuals with an associates, bachelors, advanced degree, or professional and personal experience are encouraged to join.
• Qualifications include individuals that come from the communities we hope to engage with.
• GED, high school diploma, bachelors, or advanced degrees are not required to join the coalition.

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