South Street Partners Announces Advance Kiawah

KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C., March 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In the wake of George Floyd's death, and the mass protests that followed - bringing the issue of racial and systemic injustice front and center to the American consciousness – South Street Partners created "Advance Kiawah", a multifaceted initiative charged with charting a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive future for Kiawah Island. Established with a simple mission of striving to eliminate systemic and institutional racism and promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion, Advance Kiawah's vision is to enable racial, social, and economic progress that outlives this moment in time and transforms Kiawah Island into a community that leads both locally as well as across its state and nation.

Hoping to create a comprehensive, informed, and lasting strategy—an initiative that could catalyze real change and eventually take on a life of its own— South Street Partners understood that fundamental to this goal was to establish a deep and honest understanding of the inherent biases and inequities that exist within the community as a whole. They created an external and internal committee made up of property owners, club members, and staff to take a deeper look - and they interviewed homeowners - all in an effort to develop goals, and a plan to accomplish them, for Advance Kiawah.

Ultimately, Advance Kiawah has put forward a four-part initiative based on four foundational pillars: Staff and Culture (creating greater opportunities for employment for people of color, a speaker series program and changing golf, hospitality and culinary internship programs to focus on recruiting from  HBCU's in the hope of fostering diverse talent within the organization at every level), Home Ownership (aiming to attract a more diverse homeowner and club member demographic to Kiawah), Supplier Diversity (expansion of supplier and vendor relationships to include more Black-owned businesses and institutions while helping to equip and educate these vendors on how to do business on Kiawah), Community Outreach (connecting Kiawah Island with the greater Lowcountry community focusing on outreach, service, and philanthropy).

"As more diverse families consider property here, we want them to have an opportunity to see Kiawah for what Kiawah truly is—a community that's open and welcoming to all," said Chris Randolph, partner at South Street Partners. "It is important that our community be more representative of our nation, our world."

"We know authentic change doesn't happen overnight," said Jordan Phillips, partner at South Street Partners. "But we are reaching for the stars, for big things that can affect the entire community. We encourage everyone to participate and be the cause."

Longtime Kiawah resident, Chery Love, said she decided to join the Advance Kiawah advisory committees because this initiative is "an opportunity to unite as a community to enhance the experience here."

To date, the South Street Partners' leadership teams have been professionally trained on diversity, equity and inclusion and this training will soon be rolled out to all 500 employees. There have been tremendous strides on recruiting talent as well as vendors in a more inclusive and equitable manner. In November 2020, the Kiawah Island Club launched a new employee initiative, Kiawah in the Community — under the Advance Kiawah umbrella — a program designed to engage their employees in volunteer opportunities in an effort to serve the greater Sea Islands community in a more targeted and effective way than previous employee volunteer programs. As part of this program, the Kiawah Island Club staff renovated the outdoor facilities at Angel Oak Elementary School on Johns Island, providing more space and support for learning opportunities outside the classroom, including the construction of an outdoor classroom and the donation of a new greenhouse. Kiawah in the Community also hosted a fundraiser which raised over $100,000 for the Barrier Islands Free Medical Clinic which provides free health care for low income, uninsured adults who live or work on Johns, James and Wadmalaw Islands or Folly Beach. 

South Street Partners believe that these efforts are the first step in an ongoing evolution that is deeper and more essential than just programming and outreach but also a reshaping of the Island's culture and identity. Learn more at AdvanceKiawah.com.

About South Street Partners

South Street Partners is a private equity real estate investment firm headquartered in Charlotte, NC and Charleston, SC whose subsidiaries include Kiawah Partners, Kiawah Island Club & Real Estate and The Cliffs, as well as Southeast Land Management, one of the largest privately-owned land portfolios in the Southeast. South Street acts as a principal investment platform and master developer, specializing in the development and management of luxury residential private club communities. The company has over $1 billion of assets under management. SouthStreetPartners.com

SOURCE South Street Partners