WHY IS DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION SO IMPORTANT TO ME?   ... So that the first problem is how to control that rage so that it won’t destroy you. (James Baldwin from “The Negro in American Culture”) No, my resume does not reflect 10+ years of successfully leading racial equity and healing work at either local or systems levels, but what I do have is 33 years of personal experiences that speak to the effects of race and racism on individuals, communities, institutions, and systems. I bring the experience of moving into a Polish neighborhood on the east side of Cleveland (Slavic Village) when I was 10-years-old. My mother, entering into a first-time home buyers program for low-income families, had to explain to her four children and elderly mother, why “KKK” was spray painted eight feet off the ground, in gold letters onto the front exterior of our new country-blue painted home. I recall it making national news in 1995. I bring the experience of feeling fearful,