Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger announced Tuesday the impending exit of Tyeastia Green, the city’s first director of racial equity, inclusion and belonging, so she could “pursue other opportunities.”
Green was hired to lead the newly established department after the racial reckoning that followed the murder of George Floyd in summer 2020. As its helm, Green oversaw her division’s growth to 15 full-time employees and the dispensing of special pandemic recovery funds to businesses owned by people of color.
Yet her tenure with the city was also marked by public disagreements with Weinberger over how the city should address systemic racism. At one point, the mayor removed her as leader of a committee examining how the city could institute police reform — a position he had named her to — but then appointed her again after facing blowback.
Green’s departure, first reported by Seven Days, is set to occur March 10, according to a press release from Weinberger’s office.
“I am grateful for Tyeastia’s service to Burlington and her dedication towards making Burlington a more inclusive and equitable city for Black and brown Burlingtonians,” Weinberger said in a statement. “Tyeastia has been a tireless, fearless leader throughout her time in Burlington and I will greatly miss having her perspective and candor on the City’s Leadership Team.”
“We are not going to outlive our efforts towards making society racially just,” Green said in a statement included in the mayor’s press release. “I think the world of the (racial equity, inclusion and belonging) team and am committed to doing all I can during this transition period to see them continue to succeed and make change here in Burlington.”
– Jack Lyons