The Spartanburg Racial Equity Collaborative

The Spartanburg Racial Equity Collaborative (SREC) formed after over 18 months of discovery and learning. Two simultaneous events in summer 2018 served as the primary catalysts for the formation of SREC: the release of the Spartanburg Racial Equity Index (commissioned by the Spartanburg Community Indicators Project) and attendance in the Racial Equity Institute Phase 1 workshop by four members of the Road to Better Health coalition.

Since then, over 300 people have participated in the Racial Equity Institute’s Groundwater workshop, 125 people have attended the two-day Phase 1 workshop, and hundreds of Spartanburg’s community members have read the Racial Equity Index. This deepening of understanding and connection led to a desire to bring more people along on the journey.

In January 2020, representatives of the following organizations began meeting to discuss how they could help achieve racial equity in Spartanburg County:

  • Chapman Cultural Center
  • City of Spartanburg
  • First Presbyterian Church
  • Mary Black Foundation
  • One Spartanburg, Inc.
  • ReGenesis Healthcare
  • DHEC Upstate Region
  • Spartanburg Academic Movement
  • Spartanburg County
  • Spartanburg Housing
  • Spartanburg Regional Foundation
  • Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System
  • Spartanburg School District 7
  • The Spartanburg County Foundation
  • United Way of the Piedmont
  • University of South Carolina Upstate
  • Wofford College

Literature Downloads

SREC Strategic Plan Summary
SECF Equity Framework
SECF Equity Framework Summary
Spartanburg Racial Equity Index Report

Our Mission

Eliminate racial inequities in Spartanburg County through racial healing and systems change.

Our Imperatives

  1. Advance Awareness, Education, and Training
  2. Foster a Culture that Allows for Authentic & Transparent Dialogue
  3. Advocate for Equitable Policy and Systems Change
  4. Enhance Equity-Stratified Data and Evaluation
  5. Ensure Equitable Response to the Global Pandemic

Racial Equity 2030

On behalf of the Spartanburg Racial Equity Collaborative, The Spartanburg County Foundation has applied to be part of W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s Call for Bold Solutions to Drive an Equitable Future.

If selected, it will deepen the local work of our Collaborative to transform perceptions, beliefs and behavior so that a community-driven value of racial equity is commonplace. Additionally, we will partner with Clemson University and the Southeastern Council on Foundations to evaluate and scale our place-based model throughout the American South.

We want to thank the following people for their involvement in the application process:

Mary L. Thomas
COO, The Spartanburg County Foundation;
Executive Director of The Robert Hett Chapman III Center for Philanthropy		 Mitch Kennedy
Assistant City Manager,
City of Spartanburg
Molly Talbot Metz
President & CEO, The Mary Black Foundation		 Jessalyn Wynn Story
Wofford College
Janine Lee
President & CEO, Southeastern Council of Foundations		 Dr. Mark Small
Clemson University
Dr. Russell Booker
Executive Director, Spartanburg Academic Movement		 James Cheek
Public Defender, Spartanburg County