As our county responds to COVID-19 and begins the journey to recovery, we see the convergence of a public health crisis and an economic crisis, and with recent national and racial unrest, are confronted by the realities of injustice and systemic racism. Our community is looking to local government for leadership, and it has never been more important for us to maximize our resources to meet the immediate and long-term needs of our residents and to understand what is driving these challenges. 

These challenging circumstances, however, give us a transformative opportunity as local government to form and change policy and to align and leverage our investments to shape the structure of opportunity across the county, strategically and intentionally. But this is not just a process to reveal what the government should do – we must also leverage the insights, experiences, professional networks, and industry and institutional understanding that exists within our community to develop the big ideas and compelling frames that will shape a vision for an equitable future.  

With a focus on understanding the county’s past and looking toward the future, Chairman McKay has convened the Chairman’s Task Force on Equity and Opportunity to consider:

• The circumstances and systems that have made certain places and populations vulnerable. And specifically, how institutional and structural racism have contributed to these situations and conditions.
• The voices that must be lifted to better understand and address these issues.
• The actions that can be taken to reshape Fairfax County into a place where all can thrive; including, what might accelerate or facilitate progress and what stands in the way of progress.

The Task Force is comprised of 43 members representing the diversity of Fairfax County and bringing a range of experiences and perspectives, including residents, institutional leaders and subject matter experts. People who are interested in providing input should email chairman@fairfaxcounty.gov or call 703-324-2321. The Task Force is organized into four committees:

• Cradle to Career Success
• Community Health
• Community Safety and Justice
• Equitable Communities

The Task Force kicked off on September 11 and their meetings will conclude with a presentation of the recommendations to Chairman McKay on December 4. The recommendations of the Task Force will then be shared with the public and presented to the Board of Supervisors at a meeting to be scheduled in January 2021, though strategies may be identified and forwarded for consideration for implementation throughout the process. From January to June 2021, plans for implementation will be developed for accepted recommendations in alignment with the Countywide Strategic Planning process.

Members:

• Andres Jimenez - Climate change advocate

• Steve Woolf- Virginia Commonwealth University

• Gina Wood - National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Inc., Northern VA Chapter

• Jennifer Siciliano - INOVA 

• Ron Kuley - Fairfax County Labor Coalition

• Saud Hasan Shah - Community activist

• Sookyung Oh - National Korean American Service & Education Consortium

• Sylisa Lambert-Woodard - Pathway Homes

• Patricia Mathews - Northern Virginia Health Foundation

• Adrian Steel, Jr. - Resident

• Eduardo Conde - Hope Lutheran Church, Annandale

• Harold Pyon - Asian American and Pacific Islander community activist

• Insaaf Mohamed - Office of Senator Mark Warner

• Kofi Annan - Northern Virginia Equity Coalition

• Prince Howard - Mt. Olive Baptist Church, Army Veteran, Small business owner

• Sean Perryman - NAACP

• Shirley Ginwright - Communities of Trust

• Jennifer Lockwood-Shabat - The Women’s Foundation

• Vernon Walton - First Baptist Church of Vienna

• Anne Kress - Northern Virginia Community College

• Cathy Lange - Fairfax Futures

• Cypriana McCray - National Council of Negro Women, Reston-Dulles Chapter

• Flordelisa Perez Dolan - Latin American Youth Center

• Kelly Ego-Osuala - Community activist

• Mustafa Akpinar  - American Turkish Friendship Association

• Dustin Berlack Sullivan - Heritage Fellowship Church & National Urban League

• Tammie Wondong - SEIU Virginia 512

• Victor Hoskins - Fairfax County Economic Development Authority

• Aaliyah Samuel - Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University

• Pradeep Ganguly -Business and IT consultant

• Alison DeCourcey - United Community

• Bill Bouie - Fairfax County Park Authority

• Danny Vargas -  President of VARCom Solutions

• Eileen Ellsworth - Northern Virginia Community Foundation

• Julie Coons - Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce

• Luis Aguilar -CASA Virginia

• Marlon Dubuisson - Community activist; Office of Congressman Gerry Connolly

• Brian Brown - Woodlawn Faith United Methodist Church

• Roberto Quinones - Resident

• Sindy Benavides - League of United Latin American Citizens

• Thomas Goodwin - Thomas Goodwin Communications

• Amanda Andere -Funders Together to End Homelessness

• Alyia Gaskins - Center for Community Investment