Create West Virginia

Build pride in West Virginia and Appalachian heritage while modeling and teaching respect and value for other cultures.

Organize trips to civil rights historical sites in West Virginia or other locations.

Partner with a “sister school” in an urban district, either within West Virginia or another state, and participate in student exchange programs.

Sponsor and support student groups that help facilitate cross-cultural understanding.

Commit to building diversity within the faculty and staff of the school; publicize this goal and look to community leaders for support.

Partner with community leaders to develop programs that reach out to diverse communities to increase the percentage of minority students who attend and complete college.

Partner with local business and government leaders to provide mentoring and internship opportunities for diverse students to connect at local levels; encourage local connections between diverse students and the community.

Ensure that the goal of building a diverse student population is clearly communicated in all public materials and communications.

Create a partnership with business, academic and community leaders to promote tolerance and diversity proactively, including a well-understood communications channel for gaining understanding of different communities, reporting abuses, etc.

Hold International Festivals and Culture Days to celebrate different traditions while adding to the list of “things to do” in your town.

Publicly and visibly communicate the region’s commitment to diversity and equality via welcome signs and official communications.

Develop proactive recruiting efforts within diverse communities to fill open positions.

Launch and invest in minority supplier programs.

Tourism – Ensure that advertising and communications include diverse faces and activities appealing to diverse communities.

Tourism – Create incentives for local International and Cultural fairs and festivals, or events that focus on bringing diverse voices and visitors to West Virginia.

Tourism – Partner with local community leaders to fully develop historic civil rights sites and promote them outside the state to diverse communities.

Ensure that a proactive diversity plan is in place internally which includes outreach to diverse communities for recruiting talent to fill open positions.

Identify minority-owned suppliers and proactively reach out to them for bidding on projects.

Invite speakers to Idea Festivals, Chamber of Commerce events, Rotary meetings, etc. who can articulate the value of diversity and how to get there.

Partner with local or state leaders of diverse communities to identify speakers who can engage your leadership team and employee base via speaking engagements or other educational programs.

Participate in International Festivals and Culture Days events; highlight any programs designed to reach out to minority or international communities.