2019 Annual WASLA Conference

Greater Tacoma Convention Center, March 22, 2019

10:15 - 11:15 am
One City's Experience Addressing Equity: What Landscape Architects Should Know

Description:

In 2014 the City of Tacoma established equity as a key driver of policy, programs and projects. Tacoma is one of the most racially diverse cities in Washington State: nearly 40 percent of people living in Tacoma are Latino, African American, Asian and Pacific Islander, Multiracial or Native American. However, communities of color in the city experience stark inequities, such as significantly higher rates of unemployment and poverty and poorer health outcomes. Tacoma’s communities of color live strikingly different lives than their White neighbors and have far different outcomes. What does this mean for landscape architects doing work in Tacoma and how can equitable design practices inform work throughout the region and the nation? The moderator will provide a brief overview to ground the topic of equity. Four panelists will address a series of questions each answering in their own context and then the moderator will conduct a discussion among panelists before opening it up to the audience for questions. The audience will participate in an anti-bias exercise to kick off the session and to end the session.

Speaker Bios:

Abigail Vizcarra Perez, Diversity Outreach Specialist, Metro Parks Tacoma

Abigail Vizcarra Perez worked for 12 years as a credentialed educator and community organizer for private and public organizations in San Francisco, Washington DC, Seattle and Chicago before moving to Tacoma in 2014. She is the Diversity Outreach Specialist for the Planning and Development team at Metro Parks Tacoma.

Alicia Lawver, Strategic Planning & Policy Manager

Alicia Lawver works to connect people, policy, and ideals with strategic action. Alicia has worked on community initiatives and public relations for the City of Tacoma, Puget Sound Partnership, and is currently the Strategic Planning & Policy Manager for Tacoma Public Schools, where she manages the district's community inclusion program.

Christopher Paul Jordan, Artist, Fab-5

As an artist and community organizer Christopher Paul Jordan integrates virtual and physical public space to form infrastructures for dialogue and self-determination among dislocated people. Jordan co-directs Fab-5, a grassroots youth empowerment organization based in Hilltop, Tacoma. Jordan specializes in activating communities through innovative partnerships to disrupt exogenous approaches to development and strengthen communities' capacities to shape their own futures.

Deb Guenther, Partner, Mithun

Deb is a design partner at Mithun, an interdisciplinary firm with offices in Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Her work includes a focus on equitable design practices with communities. In Tacoma t    Understand the definition of equity
    Assess what institutional barriers to full participation may exist in a design process
    Become aware of unconscious biases that affect design outcomes
    Learn ways to develop a design process that supports self-determination of neighborhoods

Learning Objectives:

  • Understand the definition of equity
  • Assess what institutional barriers to full participation may exist in a design process
  • Become aware of unconscious biases that affect design outcomes
  • Learn ways to develop a design process that supports self-determination of neighborhoods