Meaningful Conversations
Jun 25, 2021
Erica Turner - Bridge the Divide
Meaningful Conversations

We welcome back Erica Turner, recipient of the Paul Harris award and an amazing leader. Erica and co-founder, Heidi Wheeler,  started Bridge the Divide, a grassroot organization in Cedarburg.

Bridge the Divide provides a forum for discussion and action about race and social issues in and around Ozaukee County. The organization’s mission reflects the passion of its advocates for treating all humanity with love and respect and hope that through education, proximity, and discussion, they can help foster empathy and decrease fear.

Erica believes that there has been progress on understanding issues of racism in America. But there are still moments where when racism shows up, and those moments are not fully understood as a problem. That is where her work comes in.

“You have people who still say that racism doesn’t exist,” says Erica. “The people who are talking about changing policies aren’t going to reach this person who doesn’t know how racism shows up in the world. Because I’m a relationship builder, it feels like that’s the place where we start. We start from the beginning, and we layer up.  While these conversations could seem repetitive, Erica says they are still needed. Otherwise, racism might seem like something that happens someplace else.