Public Invited to Attend Info Session on DNR’s Pro Equity Anti Racism (PEAR) Plan, Virtual

News Date:

July 24, 2024

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The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) invites the public to review its Pro-Equity Anti-Racism (PEAR) Plan. Beginning the review process, DNR is hosting a virtual informational session to provide background details on the plan. To read the plan, please visit our website: https://www.dnr.wa.gov/EnvironmentalJustice. Comments and feedback can be shared using DNR's SmartComment tool found here: https://wadnr.commentinput.com/?id=aMCHtQPN4.

Public Invited to Attend Virtual Info Session on DNR's Pro-Equity Anti-Racism (PEAR) Plan

When: July 29^th, 2024

6:00pm - 7:00pm

Location: Virtual (Zoom)

Join us online: https://dnr-wa-gov.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_VM0Dh8VZRYy67iANdKGmEw

Register in advance for the webinar at the link above. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Interpreters will be available in American Sign Language, Spanish, Mandarin, Vietnamese, Russian, Tagalog, and Korean. Please email [email protected]in advance if you need additional accommodations to participate.

Translated versions of this release are available here in Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Vietnamese, Russian, Tagalog, and Korean.

What is PEAR?

The Pro-Equity Anti-Racism (PEAR) Plan supports DNR's mission, values, and goals for developing, implementing, and embedding PEAR into every action across the agency. DNR's Plan will incorporate diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) as well as environmental justice (EJ) initiatives under a single equity framework. The Plan reflects how we do our daily work and who we are at our core - public servants with a shared desire for promoting equity, justice, access, and belonging for the people we serve and the staff who serve them.

Why is DNR creating a PEAR Plan?

DNR recognizes that to achieve its mission and vision in service of Washingtonians, the agency must embrace the values of diversity, pro-equity, anti-racism, inclusion, and belonging in all aspects of its work. The state of Washington is diverse, and the agency should reflect that diversity. DNR can better address the outcomes for marginalized and underrepresented communities through purposeful, conscious, and -equitable use of resources and programs.

How is DNR engaging in PEAR?

To accomplish these goals, DNR is examining current DEIB and EJ work and initiatives within the agency using a pro-equity anti-racism approach that fits within the PEAR framework. The agency is determining which areas DNR can better support and expand. Furthermore, this work will uncover and address any existing systemic inequities. Active pro-equity anti-racism initiatives are essential as an agency to continue confronting the discrimination and bias that exists within broader society.

Engaging in PEAR initiatives helps to ensure that systemic issues do not impede the agency's mission. Much remains to dismantle past systems and practices that perpetuate inequity. DNR will do our part to create an equitable and just agency for our employees and the communities we serve.

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MEDIA CONTACT

Zoe Love

Communications Consultant

Cell: 360-790-1886

[email protected]