Advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Union City
By: City Of Union City
Tags: Local Government, Dei, Diversity And Inclusion, Equity, Community Engagement

by Emma Tozer, Communications Coordinator

For the newly-formed Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion subcommittee, ‘Diversity’ means all of us — women, LGBTQ, all ethnicities, the disabled population, and more.

Over the course of the last year, Union City has experienced several racially- and culturally-motivated incidents, mirroring the events that we have seen unfolding across the nation. There was a racial slur spray painted on the side of a resident’s car last summer; several acts of hate against the AAPI community; and a “White Lives Matter” banner was posted at a busy intersection on the weekend leading up to Martin Luther King, Jr Day.

When events like these happen, the City has been steadfast and proactive in their efforts to step up and address them. Two virtual community events this year — one about equity in the African American community and another geared towards recent events against the AAPI community — revealed a need for a programmatic approach towards studying areas of diversity, equity and inclusion in the city.

This led to the establishment of a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee in April 2021. Three residents and members of the City’s Human Relations Commission — Kashmir Singh Shahi, Ann Yap and Dr. Jonathan Pettey — comprise the committee. The committee is tasked with engaging the community more extensively about how to resolve inequities in the community and enhance the community’s sense of belonging for people of all backgrounds.

The City has routinely engaged community members in listening sessions to understand the perspectives and concerns of residents

But, first, process.

As the committee outlines in its mission statement, the results of this research will provide tangible ways to build diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging among the city organization and the community. The team of three will then use the data from this research to develop a set of policy recommendations which will be considered by the City Council in the coming months.

The first months of the committee’s work focused on laying a contextual foundation to guide the data collection process. Today, the team is preparing to move forward on engaging the community, with the goal of understanding what matters to residents, what an inclusive Union City looks like, and what metrics the City will use to continuously measure — and report to the public — about the progress made in the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) space.

What does DEI mean for Union City?

The committee is approaching its work through a ‘systems’ lens, where it goes below the surface to understand if there are any latent problems, barriers, and perspectives in the City.

In order to focus its efforts, the committee went through several months of training and background research to understand what DEI is and how it could be improved upon in the City. During the training — which was hosted by the City’s HR consultant Jacques Whitfield — the committee began to address the overarching questions about DEI in the City: Where are the inequities and how can the City address them?

“If you could wave a magic wand, how would the City begin to address DEI?”, Jacques Whitfield asked of the committee members during their introductory training on DEI

Based on the training that the subcommittee received, its work will be approached with the understanding that:

Cultural intelligence is the philosophical underpinning of DEI; it is how different groups of people work and communicate effectively with other groups of people. It requires understanding that there is no one dominant worldview.

is the philosophical underpinning of DEI; it is how different groups of people work and communicate effectively with other groups of people. It requires understanding that there is no one dominant worldview. Diversity means all of us . It includes women, LGBTQ, Latino/Chicano, all ethnicities, the disabled population, and more. When we talk about diversity, we do so in a comprehensive and holistic sense.

. It includes women, LGBTQ, Latino/Chicano, all ethnicities, the disabled population, and more. When we talk about diversity, we do so in a comprehensive and holistic sense. DEI work is not an overnight job. It’s a multi-generational marathon and it will take time to normalize the difficult conversations that we need to have in order to make progress.

Share your perspectives and ideas with us.

Read more about the committee, member bios, and how you can engage with the committee as a resident. The committee wants to hear from you about how to make the City a more equitable place! — Visit the website: www.unioncity.org/dei