Introduction

An Equity Advisory Committee was formed by Affordable Central Texas (ACT) to assist in reviewing practices, policies and procedures at ACT and its investment fund, the Austin Housing Conservancy Fund (the “Fund”). The meeting was held by Zoom conference call on July 16, 2020 and participants included a variety of stakeholders including community members, ACT board members, a resident, investors and staff.

Participants, firms, roles and titles:

• Marianne Dwight - Of Counsel, Michael Best and Board Member, Affordable Central Texas/Austin Housing Conservancy
• Robert Burford - Veteran, student, resident in an ACT property
• John McInernney - investor, Capital Hill Partners
• Ray Owens - former Chief Investment Officer, Piedmont Realty Trust
• Ashley Hunter - Managing Director, HM Risk Group and Board Member, Affordable Central Texas/Austin Housing Conservancy
• Ashley Phillips - Managing Partner, Impact Hub/Vuka
• Amanda Masino, Ph.D. - Associate Professor of Biology, Huston-Tillotson University
• Tam Hawkins - President and CEO, Greater Austin Black Chamber of Commerce, facilitator for session
• Christopher Rios - investor, Assistant Vice President, Texas Capital Bank
• David Steinwedell - CEO, Affordable Central Texas/Austin Housing Conservancy
• Yael Ouzillou - Strategy and Development Consultant
• Brian Strickland - CFO, Affordable Central Texas/Austin Housing Conservancy
• Amy Barbee - VP, Affordable Central Texas/Austin Housing Conservancy
• Kathy Denny - Asset Management, Affordable Central Texas/Austin Housing Conservancy

The goal of the task force is to do a thorough examination of ACT as a non-profit and AHC as a social impact fund with a lens to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). The organization wants help identifying blind spots and concrete actions to address issues and discuss timelines for taking those actions and mechanisms for tracking, measuring and reporting on the work done.

Equity

Since equity can mean different things to different people based on lived experiences, background and other factors, it was important to level-set on the definition of equity. The definition under which the taskforce operated was:

Racial equity is the condition that would be achieved if one’s racial identity no longer predicted statistical outcomes. Equity is that whatever your circumstance that you can’t control doesn’t determine your outcomes.

Equity Frameworks

There are five items to consider within an equity framework when considering past, current or future programs and initiatives.

1. What is the policy, program, practice or budget decision under consideration? What are the desired results and outcomes?
2. Data: What’s the data? What does the data tell us?
3. Community engagement: How have communities been engaged? Are there opportunities to expand engagement?
4. Analysis and strategies: Who will benefit from or be burdened by your proposal? What are your strategies for advancing racial equity or mitigating unintended consequences?
5. Implementation: What is your plan for implementation?

This equity framework was then applied to multiple facets of ACT/AHC’s work and organization from outreach to prospective residents, programs for residents, marketing to potential investors, board and staff recruitment and more. To deepen the conversation, the group was asked to consider three questions.

1. Diversity: Are the diverse identities and perspectives of our stakeholders reflected in the demographics of those impacted by decisions?
2. Equity: Are the outcomes and results of this decision predictable by demographics or identity-markers?
3. Inclusion: Are the diverse identities and perspectives of stakeholders included in this decision making process that will impact their lives?

The conversation focused on the first and third questions because the organization, as a young organization, is still working on how to measure outcomes. These questions are to be applied to all aspects of the business and non-profit, from a resident perspective, to vendors, suppliers, and other business aspects.

Programs at properties:

There are several factors ACT needs to evaluate as it creates and provides programs for residents at different properties. Recommendations:

1. Continue to utilize surveys with questions that ask what services and programs residents desire.
2. Ensure the language around program offerings and the programs themselves reflect awareness of the ethnicity of the residents and don’t imply a standard of worthiness or requirement to participate.

Community engagement for attracting new residents:

Currently, ACT properties are at 94% occupancy. As units become available, what can ACT do to broaden its outreach efforts to engage more diverse communities as potential residents? Recommendation:

1. Create marketing programs targeted toward a variety of ethnicities and backgrounds.

Engagement within ACT/AHC communities and building trust:

One of the taskforce members flagged that we were evaluating tactics but not addressing the softer, and overarching issues, like the culture we are building. Specifically, the taskforce member asked ACT/AHC to consider that the organization “might get everything correct but what is the step further that creates sustainable community building? Recommendations:

1. There are opportunities to start building this relationship with the onboarding process of new residents.
2. Residents should be asked what kind of programs they want or need and provide programming based on their needs rather than what the organization thinks they need.
3. Interactions with residents - from the onboarding process to on-site programming should be measured through surveys. The fundamental questions being asked are: “Have we met your expectations? Are there other things you need?”
4. Creating “agents of trust” on properties. Perhaps identify residents who can act as trust agents on property.
5. When crafting materials, consider the audience those materials are directed to and the language used.

Vendors/suppliers:

There is an opportunity to bring diversity into the vendor and supplier list for the non-profit and business side. Overall, the organization needs to be more intentional and prioritize bringing diversity into the vendor/supplier list and working with the partners in property management to make this a priority. Recommendations:

1. This is an opportunity to partner with the Multi-Ethnic Chamber Alliance (MECA) and its member chambers.
2. Create a property preferred vendors list as well as a corporate vendor list.
3. Educate and invest our property manager partners so they embrace the concept. Create goals, a plan and timelines for achieving those goals with property management partners.
4. Set goals throughout the organization for diversity in supplier, vendor and contractor list. Create a plan with benchmarks and ability to measure outcomes so the organization can report out to the taskforce and other stakeholders.

Investors:

The taskforce encouraged the team to look at the demographics of the investors and think about opportunities to expand the investor portfolio. Overall, AHC needs to make a concerted effort to do a deeper dive into diverse communities and broaden the scope of who the organization is presenting investment opportunities to. Recommendations:

1. Create partnerships with MECA Chambers to present in front of their membership who could be potential investors.
2. Broaden scope of research and other tools used to identify prospects.
3. Try to create public/private partnerships which can attract institutional investors.

Staffing and Board diversity:

While the Board is diverse, the challenge has been in staff diversity. The staff has gender diversity but not racial diversity. This is part of a larger problem within the real-estate developer/investment profession. The taskforce was asked to provide recommendations on how ACT/AHC can do a better job given the resources and growth trajectory of the organization. As of right now, ACT/AHC has 2 full time employees and 3 part-time employees. ACT/AHC is still an early stage organization with limited resources. As the organization grows, a road-map is needed for building a diverse staff and ensuring that staff is supported in their success. Recommendations:

1. ACT/AHC is currently working with Huston-Tillotson University to recruit interns. Part of the scope of work for the internship is data-collection and how to create more culturally competent data collection working on “soft” indicators.
2. ACT/AHC needs to continue tapping into the wide range of institutions that have internship programs from Huston-Tillotson, St. Edwards, Texas State to ACC.
3. Create mentorship opportunities for soon-to-be or recent graduates.
4. As ACT/AHC has job opportunities available, look to minority recruiting firms to assist in filling the position and post the job with organizations or in outlets that have access to a diverse pool of candidates.

Next steps and planning

Three next major steps that the organization will take in this process with timeframes and ACT staff lead.

1. Review racial equity definitions and how those definitions apply to ACT and the fund, AHC – Complete by 3rd Quarter 2020.
2. The ACT team will set goals for ACT and AHC. The goals include:
   1. Lookingk of ACT and AHC’s work and mission – 3rd Quarter 2020
   2. Treating racial equity and inclusion as a core competency skill-set – 3rd Quarter 2020
   3. Provide resources and training so teams, including property managers and others involved in ACT/AHC, can be effective on communicating about DEI – 4th Quarter 2020
3. ACT will create an action plan with benchmarks.
   1. Goals, plans, executive summary, and timelines will be completed by August 30, 2020
   2. Plan will address the following components that were discussed:
      1. Communicate to various stakeholders on equity plan including putting executive summary and timeline on website – 3rd Quarter 2020
      2. How to create “trust agents” and a program around those “trust agents” on property – 1st Quarter 2021
      3. How to better target marketing for potential residents, onboarding process and current residents – 4th Quarter 2020
      4. Explore partnerships with MECA chambers and other organizations to diversify the vendor programs and investor diversity – 3rd Quarter 2020
      5. How to increase investor diversity – 4th Quarter 2020
      6. Create a staffing plan that includes increasing staffing diversity – 4th Quarter 2020
      7. How to address softer metrics like culture, trust, worthiness and sustainable community building – First Quarter 2021.
   3. How to measure outcomes, benchmarks and report– 3rd Quarter 2020.

   Reporting to Equity Advisory Committee

   ACT/AHC is committed to bringing actions forward that are informed by the conversation with the task-force, residents and other stakeholders. ACT/AHC wants to ensure that there is a conversion from conversation to actionable plan. ACT/AHC is also committed to making goals and how those goals are being acted upon and presented to the public. And, as an organization, ACT/AHC is committed to a continued learning process and creating a feed-back loop between the organization, residents, investors and other stakeholders.

   The task force will be reconvened in six to twelve months for an assessment of the work accomplished and goal setting for the next phase. Communication will continue in the interim with members of the task force that include reporting on progress to date and discussions around any blind spots or obstacles being faced.