How to get started in diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB)

Creating a clear vision for DEIB practices in cities.

The exciting news is that across Washington state, cities and towns are intentionally and strategically making diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging a priority in their local policies, planning, procedures, and programs. At AWC, we frequently receive inquiries about how to get started and how to sustain those efforts and initiatives.

There is no perfect formula for getting started, but we can learn a lot from those already on this journey and what’s working for them. I have gathered some examples and lessons learned from my experience and observations. Key actions that can be taken include the following:

• Creating a clear vision
• Developing goals and outcomes
• Incorporating vision and goals into work and business plans
• Providing training for all stakeholders
• Developing a means to assess progress
• Continually engaging your community on progress
• Requesting feedback

The most critical of all these action items is creating a clear vision for your DEIB program. A DEIB vision serves as a frame and guide for your goals, strategies, outcomes and indicators of success.

“The most critical of all these action items is creating a clear vision for your DEIB program.”

How to do it

The first step is for stakeholders to discuss, articulate, and document a vision for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. The focus must be relevant to your community—this is your “North Star,” the overarching vision that will guide your actions over years. 

Once you have a vision, it will be important to align understanding and support of the vision or initiative. Hold conversations or dialogue sessions to build alignment among stakeholders at all levels of staff and in the community. Work to achieve a meaningful and shared understanding of each word in your vision. The outcome to work toward is agreement around what these terms mean for your community—not a glossary.

For example, many vision statements use words such as diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging and try to address how we will know they are a reality in our community. What do these terms mean to you? To quote a ubiquitous poster: “Diversity is a fact, Equity is a choice, Inclusion is an action, Belonging is an outcome.”

Tapping my experience in working with various cities, here are a few ideas that often come up in these conversations. This is intended to help jump-start your discussions.

• Diversity: The state of being different. Specifically, how a group of people differs from one another. Individuals in groups can vary from one another in terms of race, age, ethnicity, nationality, language, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, physical/mental ability, socioeconomic status, and more. There are no diverse people, but there are diverse groups of people—we cannot differ from ourselves.
• Equity: Focused on fairness. The process of developing, strengthening, and supporting policies and procedures that distribute and prioritize resources to those who are or have been historically marginalized.
• Inclusion: Building an environment where everyone’s thoughts, ideas, and perspectives matter and are heard and used appropriately, regardless of a person’s background.
• Belonging: Each individual feels accepted, valued, and connected to the organization.
• Racial equity: Racial equity is realized when race can no longer be used to predict life outcomes and outcomes for all groups are improved.
• Other terms: What other terms are meaningful and relevant for the vision in your city?

Initiate conversations among leadership, staff, and community members to clarify and envision what you want to see in your community, what the impact will be, and how you will know you are on the right path.

City examples

Here are examples of statements some cities have included in their vision, mission, initiatives, or goals:

City of Yakima vision & mission:

• To create a culturally diverse, economically vibrant, safe, and strong Yakima community.
• To provide outstanding services that meet the community’s needs.
• To govern responsibly by effectively managing and protecting public resources.
• To build trust in government through openness, diverse leadership, and communication.
• To strategically focus on enhancing Yakima’s quality of life.

City of Tacoma equity and empowerment framework goals:
(adopted by City Council in 2014)

• The city of Tacoma workforce reflects the community it serves.
• Purposeful community outreach and engagement.
• Equity service delivery to residents and visitors.
• Support human rights and opportunities for everyone to achieve their full potential.
• Commitment to equity in policy decision-making.

City of Bellevue vision:

• Bellevue welcomes the world. Our diversity is our strength.

City of Sammamish DEIB goal:

• Advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in a measurable way throughout the community and in the city government’s policies, projects, and services.

DEIB resources

Keep in mind that many cities in our state have intentionally set themselves on a path toward DEIB. Those who have will likely be more than happy to discuss the lessons they have learned, share documents and resources, and answer your questions.

To this end, AWC has created a series of offerings related to DEIB work in cities:

• Equity officer roundtables: Regular online gatherings for city staff with responsibilities related to DEIB to share information. To register, email us at onlineeducation@awcnet.org.
• DEIB Forums for elected officials: Regular online gatherings where elected officials can share best practices and seek support and guidance from AWC and their peers. Watch the AWC events page to register.
• AWC DEIB Cabinet: This cabinet consists of 18 elected officials committed to the principles of DEIB and advises AWC on how to provide member cities and towns with the tools and support they need to advance DEIB efforts in local government. Find out who is on the cabinet.
• AWC Equity Resource Guide: A publication that provides select tools and resources to inspire all communities—including those that may not otherwise know where to begin. Read it here.

A future topic in our series of DEIB articles will focus on creating a DEIB workplan.