Speakers: Cultural dialogue takes effort

Deliberate approach, new inclusion plan may help lead to change

FAYETTEVILLE — Conversations and forums about the value of diversity in Northwest Arkansas haven’t led to many concrete actions in recent years, speakers at the Northwest Arkansas Young Professionals Summit said Friday.

But a more deliberate approach and a recently released inclusion plan for the region could help change that, several said.

The annual conference offered sessions on entrepreneurship, communication and other topics at the Walton Arts Center. At a morning session about creating dialogue among cultures, several people called on the area’s white residents to do more of the necessary work for that dialogue — research, curiosity, one-on-one conversation.

“We keep on bringing people together to have this discussion, and then nothing happens,” Yvette Davis, a senior manager in marketing for Sam’s Club who is black, told the audience.

Growing diversity has gone hand-in-hand with Northwest Arkansas’ speedy population growth in recent years, according to the census and University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. More than 80,000 Hispanic people and more than 10,000 Marshall Islanders call the region home, along with thousands more African and Native Americans and other minorities.

A panel of speakers including Davis suggested several ways for the majority white population to build bridges with these groups, such as attending festivals, establishing relationships and friendships with people in other communities and simply asking questions.

Xong Lor, a master’s student at the University of Arkansas, said everyone’s welcome at New Year’s celebrations among the Hmong community, an ethnic group from southeast Asia with members who own several local produce farms.

“Just educate yourselves,” said Blanca Estevez, a refugee from El Salvador and community activist who criticized local corporations and political leaders for harming or failing to help low-income and minority people. “And then get out of your own heads and talk to people.”

Todd Jenkins, an area diversity and leadership consultant who moderated the session, pointed to the

Engage NWA initiative, whose four-year strategic plan was unveiled about two weeks ago, as an example of the tangible steps being taken to welcome diversity.

Engage NWA is an initiative of the Northwest Arkansas Council that’s meant to make sure people from all backgrounds and places of birth can succeed in the area.

Its plan includes about 100 specific goals, such as starting civics academies to help under-represented groups to participate in and join local government, offering more government and social services in multiple

languages and encouraging voter turnout.

Engage NWA director Margot Lemaster also attended the session and asked anyone interested to get involved with the group’s work.

“There’s always going to be ways to improve that plan,” she said.

Lemaster last month also pointed to diversitynwa.org, which includes information about where to find groceries for certain cultures, hair care products for African Americans and other needs of specific groups of people. Davis told the Friday session she’d had trouble finding the hair products she needs in her two years living here.

“There are specific things I need to maintain my locks,” she said with a laugh.

Local Rotary Clubs, Rotary International and a Rogers-Lowell Chamber of Commerce leadership-development program began the conference in 2016 to help connect and kickstart the budding careers of young professionals.