Cobb Collaborative Participates in 2023 Juneteenth Events

Juneteenth Feature

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are some of the core values that drive Cobb Collaborative’s Mission of “Engaging, Educating and Empowering the community to improve the well-being of children and families.” We believe that Cobb County is a wonderful place to live, work and play and we work with community partners to create opportunities for all people to thrive.

We were honored to be invited to participate in Juneteenth events in the community this year. Juneteenth is a federal holiday on June 19 which commemorates the emancipation of enslaved people. 

On the evening of Friday, June 16, Cobb Collaborative Executive Director, Irene Barton, attended “Midnight Train Moving Forward” Juneteenth festivities in Austell. 

On Saturday, June 17, the Collaborative had a presence at two local Juneteenth events. Executive Director, Irene Barton, and Director of Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships, Kaitlyn Ball, were at the Marietta Square for Cobb County NAACP’s 20th Annual Juneteenth Celebration. 

Irene (L) and Kaitlyn (R) are pictured here with Marietta City Councilman, Carlyle Kent (center) who is a champion for literacy and early language development.

Also on Saturday, our Program Director, Kaleigh Raulerson, was in Kennesaw for their One Community: A Juneteenth Celebration of Unity event.

Kaleigh is pictured here (right in blue) with the championship tug-of-war team at the Kennesaw Juneteenth event.

On Monday, June 19, Juneteenth, Irene was honored to be a panelist in Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid’s annual African American Policy Forum held at Jim R. Miller Park in Marietta.

This event convened panelists and speakers for community dialogue that addressed the impact of public policy on the lives of Black people. Chairwoman Cupid’s goal for this forum is to foster discussion and explore potential policy initiatives to bring about real change and promote racial justice and equity.

It was a genuine honor for Cobb Collaborative Executive Director, Irene Barton, to be included in this discussion as we continually strive to improve outcomes for ALL children and families in Cobb County.

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