Eligible to attend: All WRAG Members
The decennial census is a cornerstone of our democracy, determining Congressional districts and driving key decisions made by federal and local government, business, nonprofits, and philanthropy around the allocation of funding and where services are provided. Due to a number of factors, including lack of director-level Census Bureau leadership, the shift to online data collection, and the climate of fear among communities that are traditionally some of the hardest to count, the threat of an inaccurate census in 2020 is very real. When children, people of color, immigrants, low-income families, and other vulnerable populations are undercounted, they are effectively made invisible. The time for action is now.
Funders in this region have an opportunity to increase the likelihood that “everyone counts and everyone is counted." 2019 is a pivotal time for us to coalesce around strategy and resources. WRAG invites members to participate in this working group focused on leveraging the resources of local philanthropy and other stakeholders to ensure an accurate and complete census count in the region.
At the January meeting, we will be joined by two guest speakers:
• Beth Lynk, Census Counts Campaign Director, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
• Melissa Bird, Executive Director, Census 2020, Government of the District of Columbia
To find out more, contact Rebekah Seder, seder(at)washingtongrantmakers.org. An agenda will be circulated prior to the meeting.