We'll be starting our panel on "Centering Transit Equity During the Crisis and Beyond" in a few minutes (2 pm ET/11 am PT) -- still time to RSVP! https://transitcenter.org/event/centering-transit-equity-during-the-crisis-and-beyond/

> @ashleybpee introduces the panel with @TamikaButler, @NadiaOwusu1, and @kdodds, describing how agencies, firms, and non-profits have to do more than just hire equity and inclusion officers - they need to confront racism and bias embedded in the workplace.

@NadiaOwusu1: In conversations with women in diversity and inclusion roles, she consistently encountered a gap between organizations' stated intentions to prioritize equity, and the actual practice. Orgs often want to slow down pace to not make white people uncomfortable.

@TamikaButler: The toll it takes to show up to work every day, and not be your full self, is larger for people of color. The extra mental labor you have to do to come across a certain way, only to still be told you should have handled a situation differently.

... the job of being an equity and inclusion officer adds a whole new layer of difficulty. It's your job to make people uncomfortable.

@Kdodds: Leadership support is important & necessary for centering transportation work on equity, but you also need to get buy-in from others in org who may be resistant.

At same time, many people have been eager for a stronger focus on race and equity, and welcome the change.

@kdodds is on LA Metro's COVID-19 recovery task force, and trying to introduce equity as a consideration for every policy recommendation, accounting for the people who are most affected by decisions. Still need to coordinate more fully with different departments in the agency.

@NadiaOwusu1: refusal to reckon with anti-blackness as a root cause of disparities in COVID-19 impact is inexcusable, and weakens ability to respond to this moment. White comfort cannot take precedent.

@kdodds: how do we adjust our strategies now to address those root causes? If we don't think about the people who are most affected now, during the crisis, the recovery will not address their needs either.

@Kdodds: Who are our essential transit riders - people who continue to ride during the crisis? Are we prioritizing those routes? And the more the agency helps house people who are seeking shelter in the system, the more people who are riding will be able to keep social distance.

@TamikaButler We need to talk to the right people, ask the right questions, to inform an equitable map to recovery. Let's focus on the people who rely on the transit system the most as we formulate these plans.

If you missed the panel, stay tuned -- we'll be posting the video on our site soon. Lots of great insight impossible to convey in a Twitter thread.

Thanks to panelists @TamikaButler, @Kdodds, and @NadiaOwusu1 for sharing your expertise this afternoon!