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Office on African American Affairs

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Our History

 

2015 

 

The Milwaukee County Office on African American Affairs (OAAA) was created to lead the county's efforts to improve equitable service delivery, promote equal opportunity, reduce racial disparities, and tackle issues central to the rights and needs of African American residents. Members of the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors passed the resolution to create the office:  


Khalif Rainey, Marina Dimitrijevic, Peggy West, Supreme Moore Omokunde, Martin Weddle, Gerry Broderick, Willie Johnson, Jr., Jason Haas, and Patricia Jursik. 

2017 

  • Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele appoints Nicole Brookshire as the first director of the Milwaukee County Office on African American Affairs, and the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors confirms her. A top priority of the office is increasing access to good-paying jobs and addressing racial inequities in the community. 

2018 

  • OAAA also provided racial equity training to Milwaukee County leaders, people managers, and Racial Equity Ambassadors to strengthen internal racial equity awareness, understanding, and capacity. 

 

  • OAAA became an official member of the Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE). GARE is a national network of government jurisdictions that collectively work to achieve racial equity and advance opportunities for all. GARE supported OAAA in the development of racial equity tools, guides, and in designing a Racial Equity Plan. 

2019  

  • OAAA designed and launched the Racial Equity Ambassador Program in February 2019 and 50 ambassadors received training. This was followed by the design and launch of the Racial Equity Budget Tool (for Operations & Capital Improvements) in April 2019. 

  • Through OAAA, approximately 160+ leaders received 16 hours of Racial Equity Leadership Training across Milwaukee County Departments and Divisions.  

  • On May 19, 2019, Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele declared racism a public health crisis – the first county in the nation to do so. There are now 265 such declarations “made by local jurisdictions (city councils, county commissions, state legislatures, other bodies) across 42 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.  

  • OAAA launched Mandatory Manager RE Training in August 2019, 80% of Milwaukee County managers (defined as those who have a supervisory role) received 7.5 hours of training.  

  • In addition to the above training OAAA launched Mandatory All County RE Training during this period: 85% of Milwaukee County employees who were assigned the training received 90 minutes of training.  

2020 

 

  • On April 29, 2020, Milwaukee County Executive Abele, Milwaukee County Board Chairwoman Marcelia Nicholson, County Executive-elect David Crowley, and former Executive Director Nicole Brookshire announced the signing of an ordinance promoting racial equity and eliminating health disparities. The ordinance, which the County Board passed unanimously, supports Milwaukee County's vision of becoming the healthiest county in Wisconsin, with a focus on racial equity. 

 

  • OAAA established WE Care Crew on June 16, 2020 in collaboration with DHHS, Parks, and several community groups around Milwaukee County. The goal was to reduce the social and economic stressors caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and other systemic issues by improving the conditions that people live and work within, also called the Social Determinants of Health. 

 

  • Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley appoints Jeff Roman as chief equity officer and executive director of the Milwaukee County Office on African American Affairs in September 2020.  The Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors confirms him. 

2021 

  • OAAA led the County’s Racial Equity Lens Strategy Team, tasked with defining terms and framing context for racial equity work within the County and developing tools and processes to apply a racial equity lens to all County decision-making.  

2022 

  • Milwaukee County Office of African American Affairs is renamed Office of Equity (OOE).   The expanded focus ensures OOE is uplifting more people, not less. This is done by ensuring the needs of people who live across our County are met, including older adults, Veterans, people with disabilities, and other dimensions of identity like race, gender, religion, income, and geography. 

 

2023  

  • Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley appoints Sumaiyah Clark as chief equity officer and executive director of the Office of Equity. The Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors confirmed her on December 5, 2023. 

2024 

2025 

  • The Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund (CFE Fund) selected Milwaukee County to take part in its CityStart initiative. Through the CityStart initiative, Milwaukee County will receive intensive technical assistance and a $100,000 planning grant via its Office of Equity (OOE) for its Economic Empowerment Blueprint. The CFE Fund will partner with OOE to help craft this innovative, actionable plan tailored to local needs and to foster financial stability across generations.  

Contact Us

Technical Assistance Request

For all county departments and community organizations looking for technical assistance or capacity building support from the Office of Equity, use our technical assistance request form. 

 

Language Access Translation Request 

For all county departments and community organizations looking for translation services support from Office of Equity, use our language access translation request form. 

 

Collaborative Sponsorship/ Partnership Request

For all county departments and community organizations looking to have the Office of Equity sponsor or partner for their event, use our sponsorship/ partnership request form.