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Introduction
Purpose of this Guide
Document Existing Efforts
Internal Efforts
External Efforts/Community Engagement
Data/Review
Partners
Resource Organizations

Introduction

Cities have various approaches for how they advance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in their workplaces and communities. The League of Minnesota’s Cities’ goal is to meet cities’ unique needs and assist in fostering this work.

Purpose of this Guide

This guide is meant to be used after the review of our guide for Facilitating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Conversations with City Council and Staff. However, it could be used on its own if your city is already in a place to start outlining a DEI plan.

Once you have a good understanding of your city’s vision for DEI, and you are ready to plan for next steps, consider the questions below. These questions can help inform the creation of a DEI plan and what DEI efforts could look like in your city.

Document Existing Efforts

An important first step is to compile any questions answered when working through the Facilitating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Conversations with City Council and Staff guide in a central document and any other existing documentation of efforts, programs, or approaches to work that demonstrate DEI efforts already underway or implemented in your city. This step is important because it will help you understand areas your city is already working on, can provide a starting point to build on as efforts continue, and help share the ‘why’ behind formalizing DEI efforts.

Internal Efforts

Focusing first on internal DEI efforts can establish a solid foundation. Recommendations for internal efforts might be brought to the city council first and then to staff for feedback.

  • Where is council and staff at with DEI?
    • Is there buy-in? Are there shared definitions of key terms? Are there clear goals?
  • Was there an incident in the city that sparked the start of DEI efforts?
  • Are there trainings on specific topics that would help council and staff gain a better understanding of the work?
  • What kind of resources would be helpful for council and staff?
  • Has there been a review of your city’s policies, practices, and procedures through a DEI lens?
    • This might be an opportunity to consult with a professional for a DEI assessment.
  • What other DEI work has already taken place in you city?

External Efforts / Community Engagement

Community engagement and DEI work overlap in many ways. Embedding DEI strategies in existing community engagement work will help ensure your city is serving all residents equitably. If your city has a dedicated community engagement employee, they will likely be able to provide valuable insight. If your city does not have a community engagement employee, consider connecting with other public-facing roles such as the city administrator/manager and other roles with the administration department. Working in collaboration with colleagues and residents is important for planning for community engagement efforts with a DEI lens.

  • Who does the city struggle to engage with? How can the city relate DEI goals to engaging with those groups?
  • How much of the work will focus on DEI in the workplace versus in the community?
    • Typically, the city should have some internal efforts in place before focusing on community goals.
  • What does the community want/need?
    • Consider where and how various groups can be reached and ensure there are opportunities for all community voices to be heard and be partners in this work (e.g., small business owners, faith groups, group homes, senior living homes, mobile home parks).
  • How does the city define belonging in the community, and what conditions allow for wellbeing?
    • Do those conditions exist equally for all community members? Who is missing?
  • Who will you need to build authentic relationships with?
    • There may be individuals or groups in your community who are already doing something related to DEI. This could include small business owners, faith groups, non-profit organizations or other residents. Consider who can be helpful to provide insight from the community while also being careful not to tokenize people. (Tokenizing means to put a person from an underrepresented community in a position to do work for you or to create a public view of ‘diversity’). Building authentic relationships takes time and trust.
  • Ensure that comments from community members widely reflect the views of the community and that all community members have a chance to weigh in.
    • Consider the ways your city does intentional outreach. Are opportunities to weigh in on city efforts accessible to all community members?
  • What resources will support the work?
    • Examples of resources to support this work include equitable community engagement toolkits.
  • Be concise and realistic with any goals or strategies so both the city and community members have clear expectations.

Data/Review

Using data to inform DEI goals and outcomes is crucial. It is important to understand where the data will come from and how it will be used. Be careful not to use data as a way to tokenize people and diminish the authenticity of the work.

An example of this could be only using quantitative data to inform efforts and failing to use qualitative data. Quantitative focuses on numerical and measurable data whereas qualitative focuses on personal experiences. For example, quantitative data can tell you the percentages of various age groups in your city, but it will not tell you if various age groups feel a sense of belonging in the community. Focusing on both can help you understand how to equitably serve all residents.

  • What data does your city have?
    • It is likely your city has some demographic data of the community (e.g., race/ethnicity, age, ability, languages spoken).
    • Consider disaggregating the data or breaking the data up into groups or sub-categories, to see what might be occurring with specific communities.
  • What data gaps does your city have?
    • What kind of data does your city need to collect to help you see the whole picture of the community (e.g., a community belonging survey, community conversations on DEI topics, ways to capture various groups’ experiences)?
  • How will your city track and monitor the impact of changes made to address data gaps?
  • What are other cities and organizations using for their metrics?
    • What methods are they using to evaluate themselves?
  • What resources will support the work?
    • Examples of resources to support the data/review stage include organizations that have demographic information such as the state demographer or the Metropolitan Council.

Partners

  • Who are partners that your city can work with to advance DEI work?
    • This could include various community groups such as faith groups, business owners, and non-profit organizations, or finding cultural events to attend and support in your community.
  • Who will your city need to build relationships with?
    • Gain valuable insights by learning from cities with similar efforts, and leverage the League’s expertise to connect you with relevant partners.
  • Does your city need to bring in a third party?
    • An assessment by a neutral third party can provide insight into your city’s current DEI efforts and recommend next steps. For a list of consultants that work with cities in this area please contact Arianna Lee.

Resource Organizations

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