CRP LEADERSHIP TEAM

The work of the Community Remembrance Project of Greenville County, SC is facilitated by a Leadership Team—volunteers who are passionate about racial justice and restorative truth telling.

Leadership Team Members

 
 

Co-Chair
Ellen Stevenson

Pamela Adams, Co-Chair Monument Committee

Gail Wilson Awan, At-Large Committee Member

Jalen Elrod, Co-Chair Research Committee

Linda Gross, Co-Chair Essay Contest Committee

Lynne Lucas, Co-Chair Research Committee

Charnise Mangle, Co-Chair Essay Contest Committee

Ruth Richburg, At-Large Committee Member

George Singleton, Co-Chair Development Committee

Melissa St. Claire, Co-Chair Events Committee

Kristen Sullivan, Co-Chair Communications/PR Committee

The Leadership Team has established a set of values, goals, and commitments to guide our process.

VALUES:

  • Authenticity. To speak the truth about our nation’s history and recognize that the patterns of discrimination and racism we live with today are a legacy of our nation’s not-so-distant past.

  • Respect. To create a fair and safe environment for everyone to express different perspectives.

  • Courage. To endeavor to stand firm despite fear and resistance.

  • Open-mindedness. To stay free of prejudice and be receptive to all perspectives.

  • Equity. To ensure that everyone has everything they need to be successful.

GOALS:

  • Create a safe environment for community conversation 

  • Facilitate restorative truth-telling

  • Promote healing

  • Educate the community about the history of racial terror

  • Champion change

  • Safeguard the social memory of Robert Williams, Ira Johnson, Tom Keith, George Green; our national history; and our experiences as a coalition. 

  • Bring home the Greenville County monument

  • Work with city, county and state governing bodies to have resolutions passed that acknowledge and apologize for the racial terror that has taken place in our community.

COMMITMENTS:

DECISION-MAKING

  • Make decisions for the CRP based on the overall benefit for everyone. 

  • Employ a combination of methods that will help get the most out of the group and leave people feeling their best about the results.

  • Utilize a consensus model where there is agreement among coalition members.

DIALOGUE:  

  • Draw on collective wisdom

  • Allow others to speak without interruption

  • Invite and encourage diversity of thought

  • Listen to understand

CONFLICT MANAGEMENT: 

  • Encourage giving and receiving honest feedback

  • Communicate concerns with diplomacy and tact

  • View every conflict as an opportunity for all to grow, develop and learn

  • Seek collaborative solutions

COMMUNICATION: The Leadership Team will employ an effective communication strategy through various mediums – email, Google platform, monthly newsletter, minutes for meetings, face-to-face, workshops, subcommittee reports, website, and social media

  • Maintain transparent and open communication to move public conversations toward a collective vision of restorative truth telling and healing.

  • Listen to understand different perspectives and remain open to discussing racial differences in all their complexities, and look for possibilities to create change.

  • Promote goodwill to build relationships that ensure the long-term success of CRP.

  • Send monthly committee updates to the Leadership Team.

  • Pursue opportunities for Leadership Team dialogue and relationship building to operate more effectively.

ATMOSPHERE:  

  • Create an inclusive and respectful work environment

  • Enlist, empower and encourage full participation

  • Focus on what’s going right

  • Promote good will and build trust

  • Raise racial consciousness, understand differences as the center of the coalition, and create a safe space where Blacks and Whites can directly learn about others’ experiences

  • Offer professional development opportunities for all Leadership Team members to create a more harmonious relationship.

ACCOUNTABILITY:  

  • Work closely with EJI’s support team to ensure the Leadership Team meet its goals and stay true to our values.  

  • Monitor CRP efforts by periodically reviewing this Coalition Agreement to ensure we are staying true to our mission.  

  • Seek feedback from the broader coalition/community on the effectiveness of CRP events and make appropriate adjustments as we move forward.

  • Work with the Committees to establish priorities and then empower them to do their work.  Committees will bring recommendations to the Leadership Team for final approval before actions are taken.