ELAINE GROSS
President, ERASE Racism

From many corners of Long Island, leaders in business, government and higher education are pursuing a reshaping of the region into a new kind of suburbia that is modern, accessible and inclusive. Elaine Gross, who grew up in Port Washington, is lending a helping hand in undoing what she believes is one of Long Island's most challenging knots: the inequities inherent in some policies and procedures followed by the region's institutions and society.

As president of ERASE Racism (Education, Research, Advocacy and Support to Eliminate Racism), Gross has designed a program that is studying three priority issues: housing, education and healthcare. While she acknowledges the great strides that were put on the books over the past half century, like civil rights amendments, federal and state policies on fair housing, the Brown vs. Board of Education decision, and the establishment of ethical requirements in business, she informs people that these benchmarks did not make all the problems disappear.

"We're not just promoting human rights," says Gross. "We're pointing out shortfalls and advocating for specific ways to make improvements." She adds, "A formula for success doesn't guarantee success. It takes hard work, research, analysis and advocacy for change." Sharing her view and understanding her commitment, ERASE Racism's Board President Dr. Al Jordan, a 2007 David Award honoree, remarks that the organization's dedication to research is the key to its efforts, and allows regional leaders to act upon real information, not hearsay or guesswork.

In 2001, when the Long Island Community Foundation and some of its supporters began to incubate the idea of addressing inequities among the segments of Long Island society, Executive Director Suzy Sonenberg invited Gross to attend a workshop and suggest a focus for consideration. After an initial investigation, Gross says she "saw an opportunity to introduce the concept of institutional racism," the scope of which goes beyond individual human prejudices to deep-rooted institutional and structural policy flaws that perpetuate inequities in society along racial and ethnic lines. Gross then agreed to serve as project director for the new initiative, ERASE Racism.

"I had an affinity for that idea because of the work I had been doing in the Boston area during college and the years following," comments Gross. "Actually, I had been dancing around the edges of it, dealing with the results of institutional and structural racism Ñ communities of color that had schools that didn't work, housing that was substandard, people who were being kept out of certain neighborhoods."

Gross points out that according to science there are no biological human types to which "race" validly refers, and the term describes socially constructed categories that have become very real in terms of impact when used.

While completing undergraduate studies in Business Administration at Boston College, Gross served as a volunteer working with people contemplating suicide, and she began to develop an interest in social work. Moving on to Boston University's School of Social Work, she says, "Almost immediately, I was taken in by the policy, management and planning aspects of the profession, rather than the clinical side." After receiving a Master of Social Work degree in the early 1980s, she took a position with the embattled Boston Housing Authority, facilitating human services like childcare, elderly services, job training and employment.

"My job entailed making sure the brick-and-mortar housing developments really lasted," notes Gross, "but my responsibilities also included getting residents engaged in the process of building community, taking ownership. It was exciting work," she adds, "helping residents think about organizing themselves and hiring a staff person to assist them in bringing about improvements."

In 1988, Gross joined the staff of the Boston Housing Partnership, a premier public/private partnership, which supported community development and affordable housing in fragile inner-city neighborhoods by working collaboratively with Community Development Corporations and local banking institutions.

Some of her early work included seeking and providing grant funds for tenants' groups. Moving back to Long Island in the 1990s, Gross applied those skills as a program officer for the Unitarian Universalist Veatch Program at Shelter Rock. Heading a special initiative in the Southeastern section of the country, she focused on issues of civil rights, and nationally, she was reviewing grant proposals for industry retention and renewal. Recognizing that many of the grantees that received funding were not from the Long Island area, Gross teamed with Suzy Sonenberg and initiated a Long Island Unitarian Universalist Fund within the Community Foundation, which sought to bring more funding to the Island and encourage social justice work.

Attuned to the "growing conversation about sustainable development that encompasses protecting the environment, economic development and social justice," Gross took a leave from Veatch to become the founding Director of Sustainable America, a non-governmental organization that promoted sustainable development throughout the country. "Sustainable America became the catalyst," says Gross, where she helped focus attention in these three areas and nurture regional groups. She says, "At that time, I was able to help a group of Long Island funders and other leaders who were developing a promising new organization called Sustainable Long Island."

In 2001, Gross redirected her skills and talents to launch ERASE Racism, and by 2004, had brought ERASE Racism into its own, becoming an independent New York State not-for-profit corporation. In April 2005, ERASE Racism released a report, "Long Island Fair Housing: A State of Inequity," highlighting the need for effective fair housing enforcement on Long Island. By June 2005, ERASE Racism staff began working with the Nassau and Suffolk County Executives on landmark fair housing legislation. Before year's end 2006, both County Executives had signed the bills into law, effective in January 2007.

Gross comments that she's been told that her organization "moved at record speed" in nudging the Counties to bring fair housing bills to fruition.

When North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health Systems took the lead in developing the Nassau Partnership for Healthy Communities, the healthcare giant approached ERASE Racism to collaborate on the project by facilitating the creation of a self-assessment tool for healthcare providers. Seven institutions volunteered to use the tool to "look at themselves." One of the successful objectives of the project was to initiate a dialogue within the healthcare institutions, especially among Human Resources' personnel, providers, and nurses and develop cross-department approaches to improvement in the delivery of services to culturally diverse clients.

"ERASE Racism is at the early stage in figuring out what's the right healthcare niche for our organization," notes Gross. "We're always weighing what issues need our attention."

In 2004, marking the 50th anniversary of Brown v. the Board of Education, Gross remarked, "This didn't seems like a time to celebrate, but rather a good time to get people together to think about schools and what the current problems are." ERASE Racism organized a conference in collaboration with local universities that attracted 600 participants to do just that. Gross adds that her organization will be "expanding its work in the area of public education" through research and advocacy, and "we hope our recommendations can make a difference."

Building upon a diverse Board of Directors, Gross is expanding ERASE Racism's leadership team by developing a College of Advisors. She has also initiated the Partnership for Racial Equity to attract people who support the organization's mission. "Partners" can determine the degree to which they wish to become involved, from choosing to attend public hearings or write letters to elected officials, to lending their name in support of the organization. ERASE Racism continues its signature education effort, "Unraveling Racism Training," a two-day workshop, which Gross says is "a transformative experience." Further explanation of these and all of ERASE Racism's programs can be found on its website: www.eraseracismny.org.

Three years ago, ERASE Racism held its first annual spring benefit, "A Common Thread: Celebrating People of the African Diaspora." Last year, to honor one of its founding board members, the organization bestowed its Abraham Krasnoff Courage and Commitment Award to Mr. Krasnoff, its first recipient. On June 6, ERASE Racism's third event at the Carlyle on the Green in Bethpage will honor the Honorable Basil A. Paterson, who through his career in law and government, has furthered racial justice.

In addition to her work at ERASE Racism, Gross is a member of the Executive Committee of Sustainable Long Island's Board of Directors and a member of the board of the Health and Welfare Council of Long Island. She serves on the Advisory Boards of the Long Island Index; Adelphi University's Vital Signs, an initiative looking into the region's delivery of healthcare services; and Energeia, a partnership academy for regional stewardship at Molloy College.

Appointed by Nassau County Executive Suozzi, Gross serves on the newly reorganized, six-member Long Island Regional Planning Board, which, she says, is serious about tackling regional problems and finding regional solutions. "I'm excited about diving into this work," she says. "It's not just about what we do, but what we can encourage others to do."

Huntington residents of 15 years, Gross and her husband Jess have a son, Alex. A one-time voice major, Gross says music, from opera to jazz, is very big in her life. While she has enjoyed all of her work experiences, she still loves the outdoors, especially walks in nearby Caumsett State Park, where she feels the peace that allows reflection.