Voices for America’s Children Launches Race Matters Partnership

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Voices for America’s Children today announced the launch of its new Race Matters Institute. As part of the Institute’s work, Voices will help policymakers, the general public, nonprofit organizations, and the private sector use the Race Matters Toolkit, a guide to policies and practices that promote racial equity.

“Racial injustice hurts far too many of the children we are dedicated to helping,” said Bill Bentley, president and CEO of Voices for America’s Children. “A focus on racial equity informs all our efforts to foster better policies that affect children. We see the Institute as an important step forward in reducing racial disparities in public, private, and community based organizations.”

The Annie E. Casey Foundation, a private charitable organization dedicated to helping build better futures for disadvantaged children in the United States, invested in the development of the Race Matters Toolkit. “The Casey Foundation is pleased that through this new Institute, vital resources will be shared to help ensure all children and families have equal opportunities to succeed,” said Patrick T. McCarthy, president and chief executive officer of The Annie E. Casey Foundation.

Delia Carmen, an executive-on-loan from the Casey Foundation to Voices for America’s Children, will serve as director for the Race Matters Institute. Other partner organizations providing technical assistance for the Race Matters Toolkit include the Association of Black Foundation Executives; Just Partners Inc.; Community Development Associates; and Phoenix Cultural Resources, LLC.

The Race Matters Toolkit is available at www.aecf.org/racematters.aspx. For more information about the Race Matters Institute or Toolkit, contact Delia Carmen at carmen@voices.org or (202) 380-1801.

Voices for America’s Children (Voices) is the nation’s largest network of multi-issue child advocacy organizations. Voices and its national advocacy network of 62 prominent state and local organizations work on behalf of all children, particularly those most vulnerable. The Voices network has been at the forefront of every major child policy victory for the past quarter-century. To learn more, visit www.voices.org. Voices is a founding member of the Children’s Leadership Council, a coalition of more than 50 leading national policy and advocacy groups: www.childrensleadershipcouncil.org.

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