Equity for All, the video that opened our 2015 Community Meeting last November, recently won a silver medal in the 14th Annual Stevies, an award competition sponsored by the American Business Awards. The purpose of the video was to provide local context for the remarks of the event’s keynote speaker, author and journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates, who spoke about race in America.
Equity for All features eight community members describing inequities they see or have experienced in our community and asking if our community is up for the challenge of addressing them. They include Bob Ells, Tracy Hall, Buddy Hannah, Diana Hernandez, Jay Maddock, Donna Odom, Judge William Schma and the late Dr. Charles Warfield.
A survey we did after the event revealed that 77 percent of those who attended found the video helpful in understanding why equity is important to the Community Foundation and the Kalamazoo community.
The video was produced by Kalamazoo-based Rhino Media and has been viewed more than 1,500 times on our website and social media channels.
"An excellent film that captures the concept of equity extremely well and presents it in a way that would resonate with the audience," said one judge. "It goes a step further because the film can stand by itself. It ‘speaks’ about the issue in such a way that those who were not at the meeting would be able to appreciate the call to action to be ‘up’ for making a difference."
In addition to the silver medal for Equity for All, we also were awarded a bronze medal for our 2014 Annual Report: The Corner of History & Progress, which tells the story of our 90-year history and presents our aspirations for the future of this organization and the Kalamazoo community.
Said one judge, "You can feel the caring and pride for their community."
