In conversations with key communities of color and racial justice organizations and with key policy leaders, OAP is hearing a consistent call to convene the growing informal racial justice network in order to build a proactive racial equity policy aqenda at the state and key community levels. Both organizing leaders and policy leaders have said that the time for this next stage of racial justice organizing is now and that OAP is the right convener for this process. This call has come from groups involved in the OAP Racial Justice Learning Cohort Initiative and the Education Equity Organizing Collaborative, from interviews with policy and media leaders conducted as part of our communications strategy, from inyterviews with key leaders in communities of color around a new racial equity research strategy and from preliminary issue convenings conducted last fall pior to the release of the 2009 OAP Legislative Report Card on Race Equity. This next step is particularly important now because of the political and economic challenges we face. We are still in the middle of an economic downturn that is clearly widening racial disparities and leading to increased scapegoating and marginalizing of communities of color and most recently immigrant communities. Economic challenges also threaten public funding for the kinds of infrastructure and investments that create bridges to opportunity for marginalized communities including communities of color. Tough decisions may of course be necesary - but without a real commitment and attention to impact of decisions on racial disparity, the more fundamental economic, political and social challenge of racial disparities will grow even worse. It is critically important to build the voice, power , tools and alignment of communities of color and other supporters of racial justice to continue and in fact increase the call for real action for racial equity over the next two years. Partners who have worked with OAP are ready to move forward.