MVFREE and Mill Valley Parks and Rec form Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee

Newsletter Post, June 2022

In December of 2021, Sean McGrew, Director of the MV Parks and Rec Department, invited MVFREE’s Parks and Rec Team to help form the Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee (JEDI). The JEDI group has been meeting monthly to advise the Parks and Rec Department and Commission on DEI issues related to the Mill Valley programs and operations. The group consists of the Director of Parks and Rec, one current and one former member of the Parks and Rec Commission, two Parks and Rec staff members, one member of the city’s CORE DEI Team, and two members of MVFREE.

JEDI has committed to taking a deeper dive behind the DEI issues related to the Parks and Rec programming and operations. We grapple with the underlying systemic reasons for racial and social inequities in Mill Valley and look for ways to introduce change.

Currently, JEDI is advising Parks and Rec on the roll out of the mandatory DEI training for all sports coaches of the sports clubs that rent fields from the city. (See April Newsletter for more information on coach DEI training). A couple of months ago we started conversations about the Parks and Rec scholarship program and about how to institute more inclusive approaches to address financial need to support a more diverse community taking advantage of all the recreation programs in Mill Valley. For the past several months we have participated in the planning of the first Juneteenth event in Mill Valley, an event that we hope will become an annual Mill Valley celebration of African American Independence Day for years to come. Please see the Juneteenth flier at the beginning of this newsletter for details.