On July 10, the following message was shared with employees regarding the progress of the County's workforce equity efforts :
Dismantling systems and changing policies that perpetuate oppression is challenging, scary and painful work. No one wants to say the wrong thing. No one wants to do the wrong thing.
Organizations across our nation have long wrestled with the best way to root out racist practices that have plagued our society for centuries. And now, at Multnomah County, we can count ourselves among them.
As part of our ongoing efforts to address workforce inequities, several key groups have come together to ensure the County stays on track to reach the goals identified in the
Each of the groups — the Workforce Equity Strategic Plan Steering Committee, the Leading with Race Design Team subcommittee, the Shared Language Guide workgroup, and the Leadership, Expectation, and Accountability Plan (LEAP) subcommittee — are made up of County employees who represent the breadth of our work. They also represent the diverse lived experience each of us brings to the workplace every day.
Members of these committees and workgroups work across departments, serve on Employee Resource Groups, or work in Human Resources, elected officials’ offices, in management and more. Some are frontline workers, while others work behind the scenes. Some employees are represented, others are non-represented. Some of their offices are located in East County, others in downtown Portland. But they are all united in their commitment to making Multnomah County a better place to work.
The Workforce Equity Strategic Plan Steering Committee and each of the subcommittees and workgroups have been assigned tasks to meet the strategic plan’s specific goals. And though they have a foundational document (the strategic plan) to guide them in their respective undertakings, these groups will undoubtedly face challenges inherent to racial equity work.
Our workforce equity committees and workgroups are deeply considering how seemingly vague concepts can be transformed into a universally understood practice in which all County employees interact with each other — as well as members of the public — in a manner that fosters safety, trust, and belonging.
This is a tall order and the process will undoubtedly be imperfect. But these committees are populated with talented, brave and generous County employees who are dedicated to improving the experiences of our entire workforce and making meaningful organizational changes. Read on to learn about the work of the workforce equity committees, subcommittees, and workgroups.
Workforce Equity Strategic Plan Steering Committee
The Workforce Equity Strategic Plan Steering Committee was created by charter and speaks to Focus Area 5 of the
This committee’s role is to track the progress of the goals identified in the Workforce Equity Strategic Plan and give feedback to executive leadership, departments, and others who are affected by the County’s workforce equity efforts.
Some of the Workforce Equity Strategic Plan Steering Committee’s key responsibilities include:
Helping departments create custom approaches that will allow them to meet the demands outlined in the Workforce Equity Strategic Plan.
Continuous connection and communication with people affected by the County’s workforce equity efforts, both inside and outside this organization.
Creating an annual report to the Chair that reflects the County’s progress in implementing the Workforce Equity Strategic Plan. This report will identify the committee’s findings, recommendations, and updates to the Strategic Plan.
Establishing a Countywide baseline for diversity, equity and inclusion definitions, values, and frameworks, including an evaluation methodology.
Creating subcommittees tasked with defining best practices and making recommendations to the steering committee.
Leading With Race Design Team
One such subcommittee is the Leading With Race Design Team, as required by the “Clarifying and Communicating our Vision” portion of Focus Area 5 of the
"Adopted in April 2018, the Workforce Equity Strategic Plan acknowledged that racial inequities were built into institutions and systems of government, that racialized outcomes have been pervasive within Multnomah County and a racial equity lens must inform the way strategies and solutions are developed."
Facilitated by the MIL (Multnomah Idea lab) and using a Human/Equity-Centered/Collaborative Design approach, team members are working to create the following products:
Make the case as to why the County is committed to Leading with Race, through data and stories of resistance.
Define what Leading with Race is and how that will show up in our organization.
Shared Language Guide workgroup
The Shared Language Guide workgroup, led by the Office of Diversity and Equity, was also convened in response to the “Clarifying and Communicating our Vision” portion of Focus Area 5 of the
Because there are multiple and sometimes contradictory ways of understanding and using equity-related terms, the Shared Language Guide will offer definitions for concepts often associated with equity — and the Workforce Equity Strategic Plan — that can be used across the organization, thus providing shared understanding and use of the terms. Having Countywide consistency with how we use and understand our workforce equity terms is key to setting a strong foundation for our work together.
In addition, because language and meaning evolve and because fully considering how these terms apply to our workplace is such a large undertaking, the creation and revision of this guide will be an ongoing process.
The evolution of the Shared Language Guide will allow employees to give feedback and potentially have those suggestions incorporated in future versions of the guide.
As a starting point, the workgroup selected 10 workforce equity terms as priority terms. The results and lessons learned from their first workgroup meetings are being shared with the other subcommittee and workgroups to ensure the work is aligned.
The Leadership, Expectation, and Accountability Plan (LEAP) subcommittee
The Leadership, Expectation, and Accountability Plan (LEAP) subcommittee was created in direct response to the “Improving Practice” portion of the Focus Area 5 in the
This subcommittee is creating a plan that will not only define what accountability really means in the context of workforce equity but also illustrate how that accountability shows up in the workplace.
As part of that process, the group is grappling with larger questions:
What does accountability look like at the County?
How do we define accountability?
How do we measure accountability?
How will accountability look in the future?
The LEAP subcommittee is also deeply invested in creating a foundation of trust among its members. This investment has fostered open and honest conversations, which will ultimately help the group create a leadership accountability model that is robust, meaningful and makes an impact.
Additionally, the group is defining accountability as it relates to recruitment, retention and relationships, and defining how we will measure and implement accountability at the County within these themes.
The subcommittee will create a set of recommendations to ensure expectations for management and leadership that is not only clear, but also reflects key values around safety, trust, belonging and equity. Those values include:
Self-awareness and growth
Transparency
Organizational culture shifts
Supporting an inclusive environment
This group will examine what the County has in place that can help achieve this goal, as well as identify also what other support, training, and resources the County will need.
Workforce Equity Strategic Plan Steering Committee
Mohammad Bader, Department of County Human Services
Kim Peoples, Department of Community Services
Ebony Clarke, Health Department
Maria Lisa Johnson, Health Department
Kim Garcia, Department of County Assets
Erika Preuitt, Department of Community Justice
Patricia Rojas, Joint Office of Homeless Services
Travis Graves, Human Resources
Percy Winters Jr., Local 88 representative
Raymond DeSilva, Local 88 representative
Leticia Sainz, Managers of Color
Jill Jessee, IDEA (Including Disability in Equity and Access)
Steve Joiner, Vital Aging Network
Veronica Lopez Ericksen, Family Advocates of MultCo
Victoria Cross, Immigrants and Refugees Employee Resource Group
Larry Turner, Employees of Color Employee Resource Group
Deandre Kenyanjui, Employees of Color Employee Resource Group
Akilah Powell, PRISM
Katie Sawicki and Zeenia Junkeer, Oregon Health Equity Alliance (Representatives from Community-Based Organizations)
Hannah Hollaway, Urban League (Representative from Community-Based Organizations)
Micaela Shapiro Shellaby, AFSCME (Representative from Community-Based Organizations)
Dion Jordan, Department of County Human Services
Hun Taing, Health Department
Kory Murphy, Department of County Assets
Casey Layton, Department of County Management
Andrea Archuleta, Department of Community Justice
Jamie Waltz, Department of Community Services: Jamie Waltz
Sonja Ervin, Library
Layan Ammouri, District 4
Tia Williams, District 3
Katie Shriver, District 2
Kim Melton, Chair's Office
Sara Ryan, District 2
Katherin Flower, Research and Evaluation Representative
Jacob Farkas, Workday/IT Representative
Holly Calhoun, Talent Development/Training Representatives
Mike Jaspin, Budget Liaison
Steve Herron, Labor Relations Representative
Leading with Race Design Team subcommittee
Aimeera Flint, Chair’s Office
Alejandro Juarez, Health Department
Anabertha Owusu Bempah, Employees of Color Employee Resource Group
Andrea Coghlan, Communications
Andrew Campbell, Employees of Color Employee Resource Group
Benjamin Escalante-Cruz, Vital Aging Network Employee Resource Group
Brie Murphy, Department of Community Justice
Casey Layton, Department of County Management
Jade Dodge, Immigrants and Refugees Employee Resource Group
Joshua Bates, Joint Office of Homeless Services
Julia Brown, IDEA Employee Resource Group
Dion Jordan, Department of County Human Services
Julie Latimer, MIL
Katherin Flower, Office of Diversity and Equity
Kory Murphy, Department of County Assets
Lauren Aguilar Castillo, Health Department
Mary Li, MIL
Molly Franks, Prism Employee Resource Group
Raymond De Silva, Employees of Color Employee Resource Group
Roy Iwai, Department of Community Services
Steve Van Eck, MIL
Tamyka Miles, Library
Sulma Flores, Health Department
Tawnya Baer, Vital Aging Network Employee Resource Group
Tony Gaines, Health Department
Tyra Lovato, IDEA Employee Resource Group
Veronica Lopez Ericksen, Family Advocates of MultCo
Wendy Lin-Kelly, Immigrants and Refugees Employee Resource Group
Shared Language Guide workgroup
Andrea Archuleta, Employees of Color Employee Resource Group
Andrea Coghlan, Communications
Carribean Lampkin, Employees of Color Employee Resource Group
Charmaine Kinney, Health Department
Debi Smith, Health Department
Isaura Ascensio, Department of County Human Services
Jennifer Parise, Department of County Human Services
Joshua Bates, Joint Office of Homeless Services
Katherin Flower, Office of Diversity and Equity
Kelley Tralle, Talent Development
Maria Lisa Johnson, Health Department
Mason Berry, VERG Employee Resource Group
Sinead de Beauvoir, Prism Employee Resource Group
Stefany Newman, Department of County Human Resources
Steve Herron, Labor Relations
Tawnya Baer, Vital Aging Network Employee Resource Group
The Leadership, Expectation, and Accountability Plan (LEAP) subcommittee
Aimeera Flint, Chair’s Office
John Ashford, Employees of Color Employee Resource Group
Jacob Mestman, Mental Health and Addictions Services Division
Jillian Girard, Evaluation and Research
Jackie Tate, Employees of Color Employee Resource Group
Cedric White, Employees of Color Employee Resource Group
Lisa Alfano, Department of Community Justice
Anthony Jordan, Talent Development
Raymond DeSilva, Local 88 and Employees of Color Employee Resource Group
Dion Jordan, Department of County Human Services
Irma Jiminez, Managers of Color Employee Resource Group
Ben Duncan, Office of Diversity and Equity
Joslyn Baker, Project manager
Yvette Davis, Employees of Color Employee Resource Group
Holly Calhoun, Central Human Services
