Envisioning a restorative justice summit experience filled with purpose and action
The Pittsburgh Racial Justice Summit was established in 1996 (then titled the Black and White Reunion) in response to the police killing of a 31-year-old black businessman named Jonny Gammage. Conceived by Tim Stevens, then President of the NAACP, Pittsburgh Chapter as a way to bring light, not heat, to the racial divide in the city, the primary mission of the group is:
to bring together organizations and individuals to do the collective work to dismantle the systems of oppression that impact the basic needs of black and brown people worldwide, and at the same time harms everyone regardless of social identity or socioeconomic status. (Source: www.prjs.org)
Aligning on future vision
Having navigated some alternative event formats resulting from the COVID pandemic, the organizing committee had differing ideas for the future of the summit, hampering event planning. However, the committee did share a desire for a greater bias to action—instead of just information sharing—compared to past events.
The committee invited Zahler Design to lead them in reflection and visioning for the 2025 event (and beyond) driven by the question, “How do we shape the event to build action in community?”
Visual co-creation
Using human-centered design principles and techniques, Zahler Design guided the group in structured discussion and creating visual artifacts to bring visions and ideas to life.
Day 1 Purpose: explore, invite thoughts and perspectives, and collectively envision success and desired outcomes, through:
Vision drawing + starting with the end in mind
Shared definitions and outcomes for “bias to action” and “process of follow-through”
Day 2 Purpose: refine, narrow, and agree on the path forward into planning, using:
Prototyping
Voting
A surprising realization
Through the structured discussion, the committee realized they were closer to each other than they had previously thought. In past meetings, progress had stalled when different members were unwilling to let go of a particular detail or point, because they felt it wasn’t being acknowledged by the rest of the group.
The Elevation Map technique allowed the group to capture details, ideas, and concerns tangential to the topic at hand, providing acknowledgement and awareness for the entire group.
The committee resolved all but two critical decisions before looking for venues and other event planning tasks—an enormous improvement from the general belief at the beginning of the workshop that they weren’t all on the same page.
Together, the committee created:
Three unique concepts for the 2025 event, narrowed through voting on overall concept and specific elements
Multiple possible themes or titles to select from
Impact goals that will be observable to the community
Alignment across key themes, surfacing interesting details from multiple perspectives
ABOUT PITTSBURGH RACIAL JUSTICE SUMMIT
The Racial Justice Summit is a flagship event for Pittsburgh organizers. The Summit creates opportunities for attendees to learn, connect, and act on behalf of racial justice. In partnership with the Black and White Reunion, the work brings diverse communities together to develop alliances for justice and eliminate human oppression.