At-Large Candidate Yvette Townsend-Ingram

What steps will you take (or have you taken) to ensure LGBTQ+ people are included in decision-making, including on advisory boards and commissions?

As an African-American female, I understand how critically important representation is in every aspect of protecting our Democracy and our human rights. I have worked intentionally to appoint LGBTQ+ representatives to boards such as the Community Relations Committee (CRC). I ensure that the community is aware of dangerous legislation that specifically targets LGBTQ+ youth like the Parent's Bill of Rights. As well, my employer, JCSU has a program for young adults who have aged out of the foster care system. Many of these young adults identify as LGBTQ+ and thus we work closely with community organizations to protect and educate these young adults to give them better opportunities, job training, degrees, and employment. Representation takes many forms in our community and I will always ensure that our community operates with equity for LGBTQ+ people.

How would you rate the County's efforts in addressing rising cases of HIV/AIDS in Mecklenburg County? Please provide a rating of "Very Poor", "Below Average", "Average", "Above Average" or "Excellent", and why you provided this rating.
Do you support expanding the"Getting to Zero" Campaign for Mecklenburg County?

I would rate Mecklenburg County's efforts as Average. There are several contributing factors for my rating of "Average". The county's Getting to Zero campaign planning stage began during an unfortunate time--the COVID 19 pandemic. Despite that fact, I believe the county did an admirable job of pivoting to Zoom meetings to keep conversations about the strategy from being dormant. However, it does not appear from current reporting, which I believe is lacking in transparency, that the county is on track to hit their self-imposed goals of the four key indicators by 2025. There should be clearly communicated benchmarks for each of the goals in the key indicators to diagnose, treat, prevent, and respond to the HIV pandemic. I do support the Getting to Zero campaign, but a good strategy is always flexible enough to pivot on areas where forward progress is not being made. In this case, I do not believe there is enough data to support whether the strategy has made forward progress.

What actions do you support (or have you supported) to ensure people have equitable access (including transportation and housing) to jobs that provide a living wage, including supporting minority-owned businesses? How are you addressing the Leandro ruling to ensure equitable access to education?

I would rate Mecklenburg County's efforts as Average. There are several contributing factors for my rating of "Average". The county's Getting to Zero campaign planning stage began during an unfortunate time--the COVID 19 pandemic. Despite that fact, I believe the county did an admirable job of pivoting to Zoom meetings to keep conversations about the strategy from being dormant. However, it does not appear from current reporting, which I believe is lacking in transparency, that the county is on track to hit their self-imposed goals of the four key indicators by 2025. There should be clearly communicated benchmarks for each of the goals in the key indicators to diagnose, treat, prevent, and respond to the HIV pandemic. I do support the Getting to Zero campaign, but a good strategy is always flexible enough to pivot on areas where forward progress is not being made. In this case, I do not believe there is enough data to support whether the strategy has made forward progress.

What will you do (or have you done) to maintain equitable access to green spaces and parks in Mecklenburg County? What plans do you have to ensure affordable housing is accessible to Mecklenburg County residents?

During 2022, I was selected as co-lead of a new county project called PB Meck or Participatory Budgeting Mecklenburg. I, along with several other community leaders, were given the opportunity to decide how $6 million would be spent from the county budget on our six districts. As co-lead of my county commission D2, I helped propose a significant number of green space and park improvement projects that were later voted on and approved by the county for implementation. You can see a full list of both the projects and the implementation status here https://budget.mecknc.gov/budget-engagement/participatory-budgeting-projects. In order to ensure access to equitable, diverse price-point housing (since affordable is relevant to many factors), I will continue working with community organizations and other governmental entities of the city/county to propose ways to advocate for a "living wage", negotiate better terms for construction of housing, and consult with the community on needed wrap-around services to support all of their overlapping needs.

What actions do you
support (or have you supported) to ensure people have equitable access to jobs that provide a living wage, including supporting minority-owned businesses? How are you addressing racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities to ensure equitable outcomes for students in our public schools, including through adequate funding?

There are several areas of support services that contribute to equitable access to healthcare, to education, and minority-owned businesses that I will continue if elected to the BOCC. As the Director of Foundation Relations for a minority-serving institution (MSI), I combine research with community outreach and engagement. In February 2023, I wrote a grant that was funded by Mecklenburg County ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) and awarded to JCSU in the amount of $943,000. The grant funds will be used to train more Black women to become birthing professionals such as Certified Lactation Consultant Specialists, Birth Doulas and Childbirth Educators to specifically address the birth mortality rate of Black women giving birth, which is the highest of any developed county. Research shows that Black pregnant women fair better when cared for by other Black women with whom they identify. Any woman who is at least 18 years old and lives in Mecklenburg County can attend JCSU tuition-free and will also pay for all books, materials and to sit for the certification exam. There is a benchmark of recruiting at least one CMS student for the program.

There are several programs that Mecklenburg County uses to improve socioeconomic and racial disparities in the community, but the community is unaware of these services and programs. One of my listed priorities is to improve communication modes and methods of county services to residents. I also proposed a communication project in my PB Meck project to better communicate services.

In 2020, the County Commission declared racism a public health crisis. What steps do you support (or have you supported) to address the racial inequities that exist in Mecklenburg County? These include but are not limited to environmental racism, overpolicing, and healthcare access.

I support the funding of organizations that use community violence interrupters, led by those who live in that community. I also support and attend functions that raise awareness around improving relationships with CMPD through community policing. I participated and was certified for clean air advocacy in collaboration with West End Partners in order to both advocate for and educate the community about how air quality affects health disparities in minority communities. I have also committed to the organization called Healthcare Justice NC which advocates for Medicare for all in addition Medicaid Expansion.

Any other accomplishments or priorities you'd like our Scorecard Committee to consider?

I was inducted into Who's Who In Black Charlotte, edition 8 during 2023 for my community advocacy work. I also co-authored a research paper on experiential learning and was invited to present my research findings during the UNCF Unite Conference in June 2023.