Mebane Rash: My name is Mebane Rash, and I'm the CEO and Editor-In-Chief of EducationNC. Tracey Greene-Washington and I first got to know each other in her work through philanthropy, but for the last five years, she has served on our Board of directors, including as our chair, and also as a consultant in our work, where she brings invaluable expertise on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in the journalism industry. Tracey helped us craft an equity statement first; a community informed equity statement. She then helped us think about how to embed equity across four dimensions, the interpersonal organizational community and systems change in our work. She helped us think about how to build and sustain an ongoing equity audit. She helped us think about how to map ripple effects and the impact of our work in 100 counties across North Carolina. She helped us think about choice points in our articles, from inception, to publication, to distribution. And on the hardest days when we didn't even live up to our own expectations around diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, she figured out how to help us keep going. Perhaps the greatest way to highlight the impact of her leadership with our organization is a quote from Felicia Henderson, who's with the Maynard Institute. Maynard Institute was founded in 1977 to promote diversity and anti-racism in the news media through improved coverage, hiring and business practices, and Henderson says, "most news organizations are at the beginning stages of recognizing they need to be diverse and inclusive, much less equitable. There are a few that are moving toward mission statements and trying to create an inclusive and equitable environment, but none have done the work to the level and degree of EdNC, the work is hard. The audit reveals the level of difficulty and EdNC is committed to getting it right." Tracey, our work would not be the same without you, and I can't thank you enough for your leadership, and if you haven't read her book on purposeful alignment, it's a must read for anyone wanting to lead in today's world. Thank you, Tracey.
