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RACIAL EQUITY ACTION PLAN 2025

Developed by Equity & Inclusion Workgroup | Effective July 1, 2021

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
4 Letter from the Chair
5 Letter from the County Manager
6-7 Create pathways to ensure engagement in racial equity strategies that improve quality of life
8-9 Provide racial equity education and communication to the community
10-13 Improve quality of life outcomes through racial equity initiatives
14-15 Cultivate a thriving workforce within Buncombe County that ensures racial equity
16-17 Institute organizational policies and processes to ensure equity and accountability
18-19 Establish Buncombe County as an equity inclusion model
20-21 Equity Concepts & Terms
23-23 Acknowledgements
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LETTER FROM THE CHAIR
When my colleagues on the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners declared racism a
public health and safety crisis in August of 2020, it signaled the confluence of a legislative
commitment to dismantling systemic racism within Buncombe County governmental
operations with meaningful community action. Not only does this plan set out to address
the urgent priority areas identified in the Resolution to Support Community Reparations
for Black People in Buncombe County, it also upholds our commitment to creating safe
and equitable community that is outlined in our Non-Discrimination Ordinance.

When the COVID-19 global pandemic struck in March of 2020, disparities in Buncombe
County widened, with Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) communities
disproportionately affected. Not only were our BIPOC communities suffering more from
the economic devastation, but they also were more likely to be impacted by the virus, with
disproportionate death rates among our Native, Black, and Latinx populations.

The crisis of the pandemic intersected with the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor,
Ahmaud Arbery, and countless other BIPOC people, and the need for a Buncombe County
Racial Equity Action Plan only grew. With hate crimes on the rise against members of our
Asian community, the need for action is immediate.

The work outlined in this plan is long overdue. We recognize that the land Buncombe County
sits on is originally the homeland of the Cherokee as well as the Yuchi, and it is our County’s
responsibility to ensure the atrocities of the past have no place in our future.

Sincerely,

Brownie Newman
Buncombe County Commission Chair

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LETTER FROM THE COUNTY MANAGER
While the 2025 Buncombe County Strategic Plan places equity as both a foundational focus
area and a value, none of the stated goals or objectives can be met without first developing
a Racial Equity Action Plan to help us create the path there.
In Early 2020, Buncombe County staff formed an Equity & Inclusion Workgroup. Our staff
applied to volunteer for three-year terms to help not only build that path, but also create the
measures that help us stay the course to meet the goals outlined in this plan.
Our Equity & Inclusion Workgroup is focused on building a sustainable culture of equity,
diversity and inclusion in our community. While inequities and lack of inclusion exist across
all areas - race, gender, age, sexual orientation, ability, and more, we are beginning with
racial equity because of pronounced disparities in this area. Because we know that there are
the largest disparities by race across all sectors, focusing on racial equity helps us to get our
systems and structures in place in order to improve all types of equity.

This Racial Equity Action Plan is just the next step of deliberate and intentional work to build
community resiliency. It is built upon the foundation of:

• Isaac Coleman Economic Community Investment and Tipping Point Grants, which work
to build equitable opportunity
• A 2018 Community Health Assessment with cross-sector collaboration to undo racism
• The Justice Resource Advisory Council and the Safety & Justice Challenge funded by
the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
• 2025 Buncombe County Strategic Plan
• August 2020 Resolution by the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners declaring
Racism a Public Health and Safety Crisis
• August 2020 Resolution by the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners committing
to Community Reparations
• April 2021 Non-Discrimination Ordinance approved by the Buncombe County Board of
Commissioners

The success of this plan is contingent on Buncombe County leadership, employees, and
residents connecting to this work and holding Buncombe County Government accountable.
Together, we will grow as champions, teachers, and connectors for equity.

This plan was not the work of Buncombe County staff alone. It was developed over the
course of a year, then shaped by employee and community input. With Board adoption, our
Equity & Inclusion Workgroup will assign timelines, establish performance measures, and
hold ourselves accountable through a public dashboard to track our progress toward real
racial equity.

Avril Pinder
Buncombe County Manager
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COMMUNITY

ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY
CREATE PATHWAYS TO ENSURE ENGAGEMENT IN RACIAL EQUITY STRATEGIES
THAT IMPROVE QUALITY OF LIFE

Assess current state of racial Accountability

disparities • Budget
• Equity Data Support Team
1. Compile and review existing data on equity and • Finance
community outcomes • Performance Management
• Equity & Inclusion Workgroup
2. Review an array of community assessment tools, and
consider industry best practices in selecting a methodology

3. Hold an asset planning/mapping process to assess work

occurring in the community around equity, specific to the
four County strategic focus areas

4. Ensure completion of a racial equity community

assessment

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Support and expand Accountability
community partnerships • Communications & Public Engagement
in equity programs and • County Manager’s Office
efforts for high impact and • Economic Development
• Justice Services
better outcomes • Planning
• Public Libraries
1. Partner with municipal governments, school systems, • Strategic Partnerships
and other organizations to coordinate and align equity • Equity & Inclusion Workgroup
efforts around all community areas (such as educational
opportunity gap, housing, employment, health, justice, etc.)

2. Convene input sessions/forums with leaders from

(BIPOC) communities

3. Involve communities in creating BIPOC history

programming

4. Utilize models for compensating community members

for community participation, where possible

Increase diverse
representation on
Buncombe County Boards Accountability
and Commissions • Clerk’s Office
• Communications & Public Engagement
1. Develop an equitable application and selection • Countywide Racial Equity Training Team
process for advertisement and appointment to boards • Human Resources
and commissions • Performance Management
• Equity & Inclusion Workgroup
2. Revise and expand communication methods and
channels regarding boards and commissions to increase,
and sustain maximum levels of diverse community
participation

3. Improve access to board meetings (e.g. time of

meetings, transportation to meetings, child care,
translated announcements/materials) and publish
meeting minutes and recordings

4. Align board and commission processes with an

equity-based approach

5. Develop racial equity training for boards and

commissions including orientation to equity action plan
and annual survey of demographic makeup

6. Conduct annual survey of boards and commissions

7. Create process for engaging residents in county

government to form a pool for potential applicants for
boards and commissions 7
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COMMUNITY

F
COMMUNICATION & ENGAGEMENT

A
PROVIDE RACIAL EQUITY EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATION TO THE COMMUNITY

Create authentic, honest,

R
transparent communication
around racial equity

D
Accountability
1. Create dialogue to advance racial justice through a multi-media • Clerk’s Office
campaign to foster public engagement • Communications
& Public Engagement
2. Utilize asset-based language/framing in our data • Election Services
communications • Public Libraries

3. Transform county archives – Special Collections at Pack

Memorial Library – to be more inclusive & welcoming with a focus
on local Black history

4. Improve language access for all non-English and English as a

Second Language community members

5. Increase the BIPOC community's awareness of and opportunity

to engage in the democratic process

6. Update tools to better connect with today’s community

demographics

7. Ensure internal and local capacity development and investment

in equity-based communications to include inclusive imagery in
our assets

8. Enhance access and transparency for all public meetings,

including boards and commissions 8
Create authentic, honest, Accountability
transparent community
engagement around racial • Communications & Public Engagement
• Countywide Racial Equity Training Team
equity • Human Resources
• Information Technology
1. Create an equity landing page on county website to • Performance Management
promote data transparency and accountability and solicit • Public Libraries
community feedback • Strategic Partnerships

2. Increase and maintain information on community

initiatives engaged in racial equity work

3. Host trainings for community and stakeholders

4. Develop an outreach plan to get community input on

county initiatives

5. Move from iterative, project-based outreach to ongoing

engagement

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COMMUNITY

QUALITY OF LIFE
IMPROVE QUALITY OF LIFE OUTCOMES THROUGH RACIAL EQUITY INITIATIVES

Improve housing outcomes for Accountability

the most impacted communities • Health & Human Services
• Planning
1. Target funding to address specific affordable housing needs
• Performance Management
for BIPOC populations, ensuring geographic regions and specific
• Sustainability
populations receive the appropriate housing intervention
• Tax Collections
2. Revise the County’s affordable housing strategy in light of
changing housing needs to address BIPOC population needs
across all age groups

3. Recommend strategies to address any gaps in service in meeting

the needs of the chronically homeless and those experiencing
mental health conditions in BIPOC populations

4. Review developmental ordinances to determine if BIPOC

populations are disproportionately and harmfully impacted by their
application

5. Collaborate with local, state and federal entities, as well as

community partners, to create affordable housing for BIPOC
populations and eliminate barriers to fair housing

6. Provide BIPOC populations with access to home repair and

energy efficiency services

7. Sustain and expand rates of BIPOC homeownership

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Enhance equitable Accountability
economic drivers • Economic Development
1. Expand Black business ownership in the community • Health & Human Services
• Strategic Partnerships
2. Support workforce development initiatives that
address earnings and wealth gap

3. Support developmental programs that increase

graduation rates

4. Expand enrollment opportunities and participation in

early childhood education

5. Strengthen education partnerships to reduce college

and career readiness gaps

Improve justice outcomes

for the most impacted
communities
1. Partner with community, schools and justice system
Accountability
to end the school-to-prison pipeline and prevent youth
from entering the criminal justice system • Emergency Services
• Health & Human Services
2. Work with justice stakeholders and community • Justice Services
partners to develop and implement a plan to reduce • Performance Management
community violence and increase community safety • Sheriff’s Office

3. Enhance community safety by providing trauma-

informed criminal justice responses for the Black
community

4. Develop crisis response plan and initiative that

reduces arrest rates for low-level offenses

5. Provide opportunities for culturally competent

and diverse programming/service options for BIPOC
communities served by the Family Justice Center and
the Coordinated Community Response to Domestic and
Sexual Violence; for both survivors and individuals using
harm (offenders)

6. Coordinate with justice and community partners

to reduce adult and juvenile recidivism and enhance
reentry planning and programming

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Improve wellness and Accountability
recreation outcomes • Agriculture & Land Resources
for the most impacted • Communications & Public Engagement
communities • Planning
• Recreation Services
• Tax Assessment
1. Develop and invest in programs and marketing to
encourage BIPOC communities to recreate outside

2. Consider cultural differences in how people use

open and public space when developing or improving
recreational amenities

3. Strive to partner with local outdoor industry partners

on the expansion and diversification of the outdoor
recreation industry

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Improve health and human Accountability
service outcomes for most
impacted communities • Health & Human Services
• Emergency Services
• Planning
1. Support new Black parents, families, and caregivers through
community-based programs, peer support, and home visiting

2. Cultivate caregiver knowledge, develop outreach resources

and referral, and provide information on healthy child
development to parents and caregivers

3. Build culturally focused programming that builds resilience

of youth and reduce negative risky behaviors

4. Increase trust and promote healing of BIPOC communities

through public health initiatives

5. Expand access to behavioral health services in Buncombe

County and reduce the stigma of behavioral health-related
conditions in BIPOC communities
6. Implement strategies to reduce racial disparity in infant
mortality and birth outcomes

7. Provide culturally aligned and racially equitable practices,

responses, and interventions for all communities served by
Child Protective Services

8. Improve support, training and resources geared towards

maintaining and strengthening family units

9. Increase median household income for STEP graduates

10. Ensure residents can receive needed services and actively

age in place, including guardianship for adult services

11. Assess participant data for overall Health & Human Service
programs to ensure access and representation for BIPOC
populations

Improve transportation
outcomes for the most Accountability
impacted communities • Planning
• Recreation Services
1. Evaluate access to education, jobs, social services, • Economic Development
health care, and healthy food by location and, when • Health & Human Services
modifying or expanding public transportation services, • Agriculture and Land Resources
use that information to increase access for currently and • Communications and Public Engagement
historically disadvantaged populations

2. Promote development along existing public

transportation routes, through land use regulations and
development incentives

3. Evaluate public transit accessibility to government

facilities offering social service and other public services

4. Work with smaller employers to expand rideshare

distribution to BIPOC workers through outreach and
incentive programs
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FOUNDATIONAL

EQUITY LEARNING AND SUPPORT

CULTIVATE A THRIVING WORKFORCE WITHIN BUNCOMBE COUNTY THAT
ENSURES RACIAL EQUITY

Implement and provide Accountability

ongoing racial equity • Communications & Public Engagement
learning and support for • Countywide Racial Equity Training Team
staff • Human Resources
• Equity & Inclusion Workgroup
1. Perform an institutional needs assessment using
Government Alliance on Race and Equity’s Racial Equity
Assessment Tool

2. Provide diversity, equity, and inclusion professional

development sessions for all staff

3. Establish and support the work of employee affinity

groups that are aligned to the county’s mission and
values

4. Develop and communicate racial equity values for

Buncombe County staff

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Recruit, engage, and retain Accountability
a workforce for Buncombe
County in ways that ensure • Human Resources
• Economic Development
equitable opportunities • Communications & Public Engagement
• Equity & Inclusion Workgroup

1. Implement equitable hiring and recruitment practices

2. Create equity lens tools and other resources for all

staff

3. Create Equal Employment Opportunity statement

and plan for Buncombe County Human Resources, and
ensure it is communicated to staff and the public

4. Ensure race/ethnicity and gender makeup matches

demographic data (of Census and/or population served)
at every level and department of the organization

5. Apply Government Alliance on Race and Equity racial

equity tools to all Human Resource practices, including
compensation, advancement opportunities, disciplinary
actions and employee engagement

6. Create internal hiring and advancement opportunities

via training opportunities

Create internal racial equity Accountability

training for Buncombe • Clerk to the Board
County Commissioners • Countywide Racial Equity Training Team
• Human Resources
1. Develop training around culture, norms, and equity,
diversity, and inclusion specific to Buncombe County
Commissioners

2. Provide commissioners with tools for interviewing and

selecting boards and committees based on best practice

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FOUNDATIONAL

EQUITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY

INSTITUTE ORGANIZATIONAL POLICIES AND PROCESSES TO ENSURE EQUITY
AND ACCOUNTABILITY

Establish organizational Accountability

equity and accountability • Countywide Racial Equity Training Team
processes to increase • Equity Data Support Team
capacity to make data • Information Technology
• Performance Management
informed decisions • Equity & Inclusion Workgroup

1. Ensure responsive, inclusive, participatory and

representative decision-making in the development of
management recommendations

2. Establish a methodology for equity-focused data

review

3. Create a transparent data system that reports and

analyzes all equity, diversity, and inclusion progress/
regression

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Develop equitable policies Accountability
and procedures for
Buncombe County • Clerk’s Office
• Human Resources
• Legal
1. Work with Commissioners & County leadership to • Performance Management
implement and revise policies that have been vetted • Policy Management Team
with an equity lens

2. Actively participate in legislative agenda to advance

racial equity outcomes for Buncombe County

3. Ensure policies and procedures are transparent and

easily accessible to all staff

4. Review County Personnel Ordinance through an

equity lens to ensure that there is an appropriate level
of non-discrimination and harassment protections
for employees and sufficient consequences for
non-compliance

5. Review County ordinances with an equity lens

and present recommended changes to County
Commissioners

6. Implement structures for adherence to Buncombe

County's non-discriminzation ordinance

7. Ensure the Buncombe County Comprehensive Plan's

long-term goals uphold the County’s commitment to
dismantling racist and discriminatory land use and
transportation systems

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 FOUNDATIONAL

EQUITY-INFORMED DECISION MAKING

ESTABLISH BUNCOMBE COUNTY AS AN EQUITY INCLUSION MODEL

Support and encourage Accountability

supplier diversity • Communications & Public Engagement
• Countywide Racial Equity Training Team
1. Create a procurement program and tools that ensure • Finance
underrepresented groups are solicited and represented, • Human Resources
with emphasis on local suppliers • Information Technology
2. Review and audit contract terms and language using
equity lens

3. Explore expanded sub-contracting opportunities

4. Provide racial equity training for vendors

5. Teach minority business owners about the vendor

application process

6. Maintain a database of available businesses owned by

BIPOC individuals and use in procurement, training, and
networking outreach opportunities

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Increase equity-based Accountability
County budgeting
decisions • Budget
• Finance
• Performance Management
1. Assess all fee structures to identify opportunities to
create a more equitable structure

2. Demonstrate inclusion of historically

underrepresented communities in program and budget
planning

3. Implement the use of an equity impact analysis tool

for county department budget requests and identify
where budget changes impact communities of color,
low income residents, and limited-English speaking
populations; and, if the impacts are negative, identify
ways to address and mitigate those impacts

4. Ensure budgetary decisions align with the County’s

strategic plan and incorporate the actions of this equity
action plan

Assess and identify Accountability

opportunities to ensure • Communications & Public Engagement
minimized barriers • Economic Development
to technology and • Information Technology

communication
1. Identify and pilot public/private partnerships
that increase the delivery of broadband services to
underserved communities, especially low-income
qualifying residents

2. Assess the County's digital equity baseline & develop

a digital equity vision along with goals, strategies,
approaches, and initiatives that comprise an action plan
for Buncombe County

3. Audit County webpages to ensure culturally sensitive

language and information and accessibility; document
and recommend revisions or deletions

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EQUITY CONCEPTS & TERMS
BIPOC INCLUSION
BIPOC is an acronym for ‘Black, Indigenous, Inclusion is the action or state of including or being
People of Color,’ and it is meant to unite all included within a group or structure. More than simply
people of color in the work for liberation diversity or numerical representation, inclusion often
while intentionally acknowledging that not involves authentic and empowered participation and a
all people of color face the same levels of true sense of belonging.
injustice.
INSTITUTIONAL RACISM
EQUITY Institutional racism occurs within and between
Equity is defined as the state of being just, institutions (schools, mass media, etc.). Includes
impartial and fair. Racial equity is achieved discriminatory treatment, unfair policies, and
when race can no longer be used to predict inequitable opportunities and impacts, based on race.
life outcomes, and outcomes for all groups Individuals within institutions take on the power of the
are improved. institution when they act in ways that advantage and
disadvantage people, based on race.
IMPLICIT OR UNCONSCIOUS BIAS
This refers to the unconscious attribution MICROAGGRESSION
of particular qualities to a member of a Microaggression is a term that describes daily
certain social group. Shaped by experience behavior (verbal or nonverbal) that communicates
and based on learned associations between hostile or negative insults towards a group, either
particular qualities and social categories, intentionally or unintentionally, particularly culturally
including race and/or gender. Individuals’ marginalized groups. The three sub-types of
perceptions and behaviors can be influenced Microagressions include: Microassaults, Microinsults,
by the implicit stereotypes they hold, even if and Microinvalidtions. Microassaults are conscious
they are unaware/unintentionally hold such and intentional actions or slurs, such as using
stereotypes. racial epithets. Microinsults include both verbal
and nonverbal communications that subtly convey
rudeness and insensitivity and demean a person's
racial heritage or identity. Microinvalidations in
communications subtly exclude, negate or nullify the
thoughts, feelings or experiential reality of a person of
color.
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STRUCTURAL RACISM SYSTEMS OF OPPRESSION
This kind of racism lies underneath, all around and This refers to discriminatory institutions,
across society. It encompasses (1) history, providing structures, norms, to name a few, that are
the foundation for white supremacy; (2) culture, embedded in the fabric of our society. Upheld
providing the normalization and replication of by the various societal institutions such as
racism, and (3) interconnected institutions and culture, government, education, etc., are all
policies providing the legitimacy and reinforcements complicit in the oppression of marginalized
to maintain and perpetuate racism. social groups while elevating dominant social
groups.
SYSTEMIC RACISM
Systemic racism includes the policies and practices WHITE FRAGILITY
entrenched in established institutions, which result in Coined in 2011 by Robin DiAngelo, author of
the exclusion or promotion of designated groups. No “White Fragility; Why it’s so hard for white
individual intent is necessary. people to talk about racism,” white fragility is
defined as “discomfort and defensiveness on
the part of a white person when confronted
by information about racial inequality and
injustice.”

Source: Equality vs. Equity and Other Racial Justice Definitions, Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2021

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Buncombe County Board of
Commissioners:

Brownie Newman, Chair

Al Whitesides, Vice Chair
Terri Wells
Jasmine Beach-Ferrara
Amanda Edwards
Parker Sloan
Robert Pressley

Buncombe County Manager’s Office:

Avril Pinder, County Manager

Sybil Tate, Assistant County Manager
DK Wesley, Assistant County Manager

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Buncombe County 2021 Equity & Ron Venturella
Inclusion Workgroup: Rusty Mau
DK Wesley, Executive Sponsor Tiffany Iheanacho
Sharon Burke, Executive Consultant
Rachael Nygaard, Team Lead Buncombe County Communications
Zo Mpofu, Team Lead and Public Engagement Team
Lynn Smith, Team Lead
Alex McKnight
Alexandra Duncan
Becky Kessel
Carolina Siliceo Perez
Cattleya Gaines
Chris Bubenik
Haylee Madfis
Jacqueline Brannon
Kristin Wilson
Lee Crayton
Leonard Jones
Merry Michalsen
Rasheeda McDaniels
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