Creating Meaningful 
Collaborations Between 
Mainstream and Culturally
-
Specific Organizations 


Z. Ruby White Starr, President


Latinos United for Peace & Equity 


Caminar
Latino



Goals and Objectives


By the end of this
webinar
participants will: 


•
Explore power
-
sharing and equity frameworks that can 
either cause harm or elevate underserved 
communities
. 
•
Be able to describe ways to counteract inequalities
. 
•
Recognize components of equitable, mutually 
beneficial and meaningful collaboration. 



Harmful Views of Culture


Cultural Destruction


Cultural Incapacity


Cultural Blindness


Eliminates differences


Demeans difference


Dismisses differences


Represented by policies or 
practices that are destructive 
to cultures; most extreme 
being genocide. Purposeful 
destruction of a culture.


Doesn’t intentionally seek to 
be culturally destructive, but 
lacks capacity to help 
minority clients. May 
perpetuate bias, support 
discriminatory practices, or 
send subtle messages that 
others are not valued or 
welcome


Provides services with 
expressed philosophy of 
being unbiased, functions 
with belief that culture or 
color make no difference, 
believes that helping 
approaches used by 
dominant culture can be 
universally applied. 
Encourages assimilation. 





Favorable Views of Culture


Cultural Pre
-
competence


Cultural Capacity


Acknowledges & responds to differences


Learns and grows because of differences


Accepts and respects difference, engages in 
continuous self
-
assessment, attention to the 
dynamics of difference, expansion of cultural 
knowledge and resources
to better meet the 
needs of marginalized populations. Works to 
hire unbiased employees, seeks advice and 
consultation from the community served, and 
actively decides what it is and is not capable 
of providing. 


Holds culture in high esteem. Commits 
resources to develop cultural capacity. Adds 
to the knowledge base of culturally 
competent practice by conducting research, 
developing culturally based therapeutic 
approaches, and implementing, publishing 
and disseminating the results of demo 
projects. Hires staff who are 
oppression/equity specialists. Advocates for 
equity in systems and throughout society. 





Institutional Racism


Refers to the policies and practices within and 
across institutions that, intentionally or not, 
produce outcomes that chronically favor, or 
put a racial group at a disadvantage. 



Systemic/Structural Racism


•
A system in which public policies, institutional 
practices, cultural representations, and other 
norms work in various, often reinforcing ways to 
perpetuate racial group inequity. 
•
Structural racism is not something that a few 
people or institutions choose to practice. Instead it 
has been a feature of the social, economic and 
political systems in which we all exist. 



Institutional & Systemic Racism


Power is the ability to decide what a
problem is, to decide what needs to be 
done about it, to decide who will be 
included to solve it, in what capacity, and 
with what resources. 



Concerns in Communities of Color


•
Institutional racism and systemic bias in the delivery of 
serv
i
ces by the criminal justice system
& helping 
services
•
Mistrust of mainstream formal systems
•
The under
-
representation of people of color among 
service providers and in positions of leadership
•
Formal systems that do not include relevant or 
alternative resources 



Language Access Practices that 
Harm Latino Families


•
Using non
-
certified interpreters solely based on limited Spanish 
speaking ability 
•
Using immigration enforcement officials as interpreters 
•
Using interpreters as advocates even though they lack any 
advocacy background
•
Discouraging people from seeking help except during limited 
hours when a Spanish speaker is available. 
•
Failing to listen to and work with community members and 
organizations.



•
Respeto
refers to the important value of respect for others and 
for social customs
•
Familismo
refers to the importance of family closeness/unity 
and getting along with and contributing to the well
-
being of the 
family and the extended family.
•
Personalismo
influences parents’ expectations of the parent
–
worker relationship. It is a cultural expectation for mutual, 
caring, respectful engagement as a foundation for building trust 
and rapport 


Latin@ Cultural Values



Increasing Cultural Capacity


Includes:


•
Being aware of one’s own biases, prejudices
,
knowledge
, 
limitations, etc.
•
Recognizing professional power and avoiding the imposition of 
those values
•
Gathering information. 
Listening
/
asking questions
•
Negotiating the acceptance of a different set of values
•
Developing linkages and collaborating with culturally specific 
community groups



Types of Partnerships


•
Networking
is 
exchanging information 
for mutual benefit. 
•
Coordination
is 
exchanging information 
and 
altering activities 
for mutual benefit and to achieve a common purpose. 
•
Cooperation
includes 
exchanging information
, 
altering 
activities
, and 
sharing resources 
for mutual benefit and to 
achieve a common purpose. 
•
Collaboration 
includes 
all of the above
, 
plus enhancing the 
capacity of another organization 
to achieve a common 
purpose. 



COC Barriers to Collaborations


•
Asked to provide training or participate on an advisory 
meeting because issues are important, but required to cover 
our own expenses
•
Asked to review a tool or product after it’s in its final stages 
to “infuse” cultural competence. 
•
Asked to “collaborate” after everything is already decided 
and with little info except a request for a budget covering XX 
number of days to contribute to what the greater “they” 
come up with
. 



Result of Barriers 


•
Become undervalued: Organize trainings, sign on to coalitions 
late in the process without being included in its formation or 
priority setting, and conduct outreach and translation for free. 
•
Become stretched beyond their capacity (making them appear 
inept or unreliable).
•
Lack a knowledge of unwritten rules designed and navigated 
by mainstream organizations. 
•
Are unable to build their capacity. 



Identification & Assessment 
Domains of Institutional Bias


•
Values and Attitudes
•
Communication
•
Community/Consumer Participation
•
The Physical Environment, Materials, and Resources 
Available
•
Policies and Procedures
•
Culturally
-
specific based Practice
•
Training and Competency Standards



Doing Our Own Work


•
Deepen your understanding of the impacts of racism 
•
Study feminist work by women of color to deepen your 
understanding of the intersections of oppression/liberation; 
•
Question frames of reference that: 
•
elevate sexism as a primary issues and others as auxiliary, 
•
create qualifications for jobs based on historical assumptions 
•
question different communication styles, attitudes toward conflict, 
and approaches to completing tasks;


•
Learn from your mistakes with humble and honest reflection. 



Doing the Organizational Work


•
Work with culturally specific TA providers and communities 
that work from an anti
-
racist foundation
•
Put important issues on the table, frame issues around the 
most marginalized, and put them to work in different 
situations when examining a problem, developing 
approaches, or considering policy. 
•
Use a
n Intersectional/
Multilayered Approach Right from the 
Start (not as something extra). 



Use an Intersectional
/Multilayered
Approach


Access to Meaningful Education


•
resources and supports to cultivate, retain, 
and nurture good teachers and 
administrators; 
•
specialized curriculums; and 
•
increasing standards 



Access to Meaningful Education 
for the most marginalized


•
Resources and supports to cultivate, retain, and nurture good 
teachers and administrators, specialized curriculums, and 
increasing standards; 
•
Nutritious meals, stable housing, and access to health care; 
•
Curriculum and pedagogical approaches that teach relevant 
history and counter unconscious impact of pervasive negative 
stereotypes; and 
•
English language supports, First language supports, and 
interpretation and outreach in parent’s first language.



How 
C
an 
Y
ou 
Counteract Inequalities
?


•
Assess current strategies.
•
Learn about your community.
•
Document racist activities. 
•
Make translation points between your experiences with 
sexism and try to get a picture of parallels between racism, 
ethnocentrism, etc.
•
Identify policies that need to be challenged.
•
Determine short
-
term and long
-
term goals. 
•
Consider existing and needed resources.



How Can You Counteract Inequalities? 
(2)


Tell stories about the racism in your lives and assist one 
another to release the intense feelings that underlie 
these stories. 


These stories can include experiences with racism, the 
racist lies we were told, the times we acted out racism, 
and the racist attitudes that were held by people 
around us, as well as the successes we’ve had in 
fighting racism.



Organizational 
Strateg
y
to Reduce 
Prejudice and Oppression


Create a committee 
representing all levels in your 
organization. Such a committee 
can establish & facilitate the 
following steps:


•
Develop support for change 
throughout the 
organization/community.
•
Identify the cultural groups to be 
involved.


•
Identify barriers to working with the 
community.
•
Assess the current level of cultural 
capacity.
•
Identify the leadership and 
resources needed to change.
•
Develop goals & implementation 
steps & deadlines to achieve them.
•
Commit to an ongoing evaluation of 
progress (measuring outcomes) and 
be willing to respond to change.



Meaningful Collaborations


•
Effectively engage diverse communities through 
intentional, fully equitable, and reciprocal partnerships. 
•
Do not frame the issue, decide what the problem is, 
and develop tools to respond without including those 
most effected. 
•
Seek congruence with the most marginalized to 
develop models, approaches, and research to respond 
to domestic violence, sexual assault, etc.



Meaningful Collaborations
(2)


•
Review your budgets for an equitable distribution of 
resources.
•
Examine the role you play to perpetuate trickle down. 
•
Identify the culturally specific community based nonprofits 
that should tackle the issues. 
•
Mentor them through strategic partnerships. 
•
Adequately resource them to participate fully, build their 
own capacity, and design strategies from the inception of an 
idea to implementation. 



Contact Information


Caminar Latino Logo with a sun shining over a river
Ruby White Starr


President


Latinos United for Peace & Equity


Caminar
Latino


rwhitestarr@caminarlatino.org