July 2 marks the anniversary of the groundbreaking Civil Rights Act of 1964. Signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson, the Civil Rights Act prohibited discrimination in public spaces, provided for the integration of schools and other public facilities, and made employment discrimination illegal in the U.S.

Avid Core is proud to play a role in this landmark legislation’s continuing legacy.

Title VI, enacted as part of the Civil Rights Act, “prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance.”

At the core of Title VI is a sentiment expressed by President John F. Kennedy in 1963:

“Simple justice requires that public funds, to which all taxpayers of all races [colors, and national origins] contribute, not be spent in any fashion which encourages, entrenches, subsidizes or results in racial [color or national origin] discrimination.”

In the decades since Title VI was signed into law, various nondiscrimination laws, regulations, and executive orders expanded its protections, affording further rights and access to legal protection, while ensuring that programs and activities are also free from discrimination on the grounds of sex, age, income-status, Limited English Proficiency (LEP), and disability status.

Avid Core believes the most impactful Title VI programs are directly tied to inclusive community engagement and outreach and have been grateful to put this philosophy into action in our work.

Following direction from the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), PlanRVA and the Richmond Regional Transportation Planning Organization (RRTPO) were required to update their Title VI plan and wanted to ensure it aligned with internal commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Avid Core, in partnership with ONE EIGHTY, led the development and operationalization of the latest update of the Title VI Plan. The final Title VI Plan included Spanish translation and icons for Limited English Proficiency populations. The digital version was designed for Section 508 compliance and offered a mobile-friendly complaint form.

Avid Core also helped PlanRVA operationalize the values and Title VI commitments by developing the agency’s first Inclusive Purchasing Program, Inclusive Recruitment Program, and Equitable Public Meeting Playbook. Avid Core’s work helped PlanRVA lead the way among their planning district peers. PlanRVA has a purchasing power of nearly $2 million annually and the new purchasing program ensures that most of those dollars are spent with local businesses and businesses owned by members of historically marginalized populations. The new recruitment program had an immediate impact on four new positions recently created by the agency. The public meeting playbook will help make PlanRVA’s meetings more accessible to the more than one million people that call the Richmond Region home.

Avid Core, along with our partner KLT Group, is currently leading the development of the first formal Title VI Program for the City of Fairfax, Virginia. The formal Title VI program will expand the City of Fairfax’s commitment to nondiscrimination, increase community involvement, and open doors to more federal funding sources that support the City’s planning and transportation work.

As an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, the City of Fairfax has very unique needs for this program. Avid Core’s approach to its development is rooted in public outreach to ensure the specific needs of the City and its residents are met. Our work is focused on looking beyond baseline compliance to align the new program with Citywide commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The tenets of the Civil Rights Act guide all our engagement and outreach work at Avid Core. We look forward to decades of anniversaries to come as we continue putting it into practice.