On April 23, The Community Foundation and the Partnership for Prince George's held the first of three convenings around "An Agenda for Economic Justice in Prince George's County". The event brought together community and cross-sector leaders for the purpose of shaping a new narrative focused on economic justice and a vision for shared prosperity in Prince George’s County.
“Now more than ever, it’s essential that we come together as a community to discuss how we can build the future that we all want for Prince George’s County,” shared Tonia Wellons, President & CEO of The Community Foundation and a long-time resident of Prince George’s County.
Wellons is one of the prominent leaders that make up the Partnership for Prince George’s – a collaboration of philanthropic and corporate funders who are committed to promoting economic justice, economic mobility and more equitable strategic investment in Prince George’s County. The Partnership recently collaborated with PG Suite Magazine to produce a special edition of “Prince George’s County Dialogue – A Conversation and Exchange of Ideas around the Case for Economic Justice in Prince George’s”. The goal of the publication is to grow public will and momentum in the pursuit of economic justice in the county and to spark community conversations that to seed visionary ideas and strategic solutions.
Ronnie Galvin outlines data from the Urban Institute highlighting the disparities in economic investment across the region. Prince George's County receives less than half of the level of investment compared to other jurisdictions.
“Prince George’s County can no longer make the claim of being the highest income and wealthiest African-American majority county in the nation,” Ronnie Galvin, Senior Fellow at The Community Foundation and moderator for the event pointed out. “We’re in a moment of tremendous opportunity where we get to reimagine who we are and who we want to become—with economic justice as our frame. “
“There are many avenues that we can take to achieve economic justice in the County, none perhaps as important though as underinvestment of public and private resources that have contributed to persistent racial investment gap.”
“We’re tired of being ‘by-passed’,” Bishop Anthony Maclin of Sanctuary of Kingdom Square shared, speaking of the disparity and challenges of obtaining economic investment in the county compared to other jurisdictions. “Why can we not have the same opportunity for investment in our community amongst our people?”
“The story of us is the story that we will craft ourselves,” he continued. “Others may think that we are not capable of handling this kind of development, but if we have the same resources that other communities are receiving, we will leave our legacy – not only for ourselves, but for future generations to follow.
“The story of us means we have good jobs, good public schools that everyone wants to send their children to, exceptional medical care, safe communities in affordable homes and opportunities for small businesses,” shared Jennifer Epps, Executive Director of the LIFT Fund. “That should be our story, because that is what we as a county deserve.”
“African Americans and Latinos make up 91% of the population in Prince George’s County,” Former Prince George’s County Councilmember Derrick Leon Davis, shared. “And that number is still going up!”
“As a minority-majority community, there’s so much we can gain if we band together as Black and Brown folks to build a stronger Prince George’s County.”
Participants also heard from Dr. George L. Askew, President & CEO of the Meyer Foundation.
As the former Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for Health, Human Services, and Education in Prince George’s County and a long-time Prince Georgian, Dr. Askew shared his experience serving in the Alsobrooks administration, watching as county officials fought “tooth and nail” for federal resources necessary to help the county succeed in the aftermath of the pandemic. Dr. Askew shared that leaders in the County all too often were contending with racist undertones and outright structural and systemic racism in pursuit of health and human services resources for the County.
He also acknowledged the role that philanthropy has played in underinvesting in the county, historically, and shared his commitment to working alongside The Community Foundation and other funders to collaborate to bring Prince George’s forward, as part of The Partnership for Prince George’s.
After Dr. Askew, Ronnie Galvin opened the floor to questions and comments from the audience, which sparked conversation on a range of topics from the importance of a cohesive investment strategy to the need for more investment in nonprofit organizations and reforms to public policy and tax code.
“If you aren’t in the room, you aren’t in the conversation,” Artis Hampshire-Cowan, Advisory Board member for The Community Foundation in Prince George’s County added. “Part of our purpose in having this event is to open a dialogue so that you all can be a part of the conversation.”
“We need this conversation, so we can continue to carry it forward and move this dialogue into action,” Tonia Wellons concluded. “Action that will build a stronger Prince George’s County for everyone.”
The next convening of An Agenda for Economic Justice in Prince George’s County will take place on June 13, 2024 from 10 a.m. to noon. To register for this event, please contact Eliza Tolbert-Howard at etolbert-howard@thecommunityfoundation.org.
For more information, please read the special edition of Prince George’s County Dialogue – A Conversation and Exchange of Ideas around the Case for Economic Justice in Prince George’s.