The Dr. Laura Banks-Reed Center

for Gender & Racial Equity

Dr. Laura Banks-Reed

Dr. Laura Banks-Reed is one of the mothers of our movement, and served as President of the YWCA Southern Arizona board from 1963 to 1965. In 1965 she was the first Black woman elected to the YWCA USA National Board, where she served until 1976. Along with a group of other Black women representing YWCAs from across the nation, Dr. Banks-Reed successfully advocated for the adoption of “eliminating racism” as the priority central to YWCA’s mission. At that convening, YWCA adopted the following as its “One Imperative”: To thrust our collective power toward the elimination of racism wherever it exists.

In honor of Dr. Laura Banks-Reed, and thanks to the David & Lura Lovell Foundation, we are launching the Dr. Laura Banks-Reed Center for Gender and Racial Equity in 2024, which will allow us to expand our Racial Justice Center to include gender equity and will increase our impact in three key areas  – Training & Education, Policy & Advocacy, and Community Engagement. This will allow us to make real strides towards our mission of eliminating racism and empowering women while acknowledging what Dr. Banks-Reed has seen all along: the intersectionality of race and gender, along with so many other identities that can create, uphold, or eliminate systems of oppression, and the impossibility of achieving equity for one group without working on behalf of equity for all.

A partnership with Pima County Justice Services and the MacArthur Foundation, focused on reducing racial and ethnic disparities in our local criminal legal system.

YWCA Southern Arizona Racial Justice Mini Grants is an initiative of the ReRoot Network. The YWCA Racial Justice Mini Grants have been established to support grass roots organizations advancing racial equity and racial justice in Pima County. This grant opportunity seeks to support efforts to transform systems that support racist norms and that produce outcomes that oppress and undermine the success of BIPOC communities. This grant opportunity opens July 17, 2023 and applications closes August 28, 2023. Information sessions for Racial Justice Mini Grants will be held on July 11, 2023, at 6:00 p.m. Please visit the ReRoot Network page to learn more.

A youth-led diversion and restorative justice program, in which teens serve as jurors, attorneys, bailiffs, and clerks in hearings for their peers who have admitted guilt for an arrestable offense.

An annual 21-Day challenge to learn more about and reflect on racial justice. Each week focuses on a new topic intersecting with racism and racialization, and folks who register will get an email each day with new podcasts, videos and articles to engage with.