Inclusive Civic Engagement Practices

Featuring Seattle, WA; Dubuque, IA; and Lakewood, CO

Learn from Seattle, Washington; Dubuque, Iowa; and Lakewood, Colorado on their strategies for inclusive civic engagement and how you can adapt them for your community.

Presenters:

Teddy McGlynn, City of Seattle Race and Social Justice Initiative

The Race and Social Justice Initiative (RSJI) is the City’s commitment to eliminate racial disparities and achieve racial equity in Seattle.

• Seattle’s Race and Social Justice Initiative
• Seattle 2035 Equity Analysis
• Seattle’s Racial Equity Toolkit

Nikola Pavelic former Engagement Coordinator at Dubuque, Iowa (2007, 2012 and 2013 All-America City winner)

The local government in Dubuque continually attempts to improve their engagement efforts by organizing their civic actions, so that they complement each other and engage people to learn together along the way. Spurred by a depressed economy, Dubuque leveraged partnerships and citizen’s strengths to put the city back on the map. The evolution of their visioning process to address challenges and emphasize partnerships has led to broader engagement and more sustainable solutions for the community at large. Learn more about Dubuque’s Civic Engagement.

Mary Ruther, Strategic Initiatives Manager for the City of Lakewood, Colorado (2011 and 2016 All-America City)

Lakewood Linked

After Lakewood won the All-America City Award in 2011, then Mayor Bob Murphy posed the following question in his 2012 State of the City speech: “What can we all do, together, to make life better for all the residents of this community?” The outcome was Lakewood Linked, an initiative to strengthen community building in the city. The goal was to weave into the fabric of the community sustainable and systemic practices to make collaborative endeavors even more powerful. You can learn more here: https://www.lakewood.org/neighbors/