Ann Arbor Equitable Engagement Steering Committee

September 18, 2021 News

Last month I was chosen to serve as a volunteer on the City of Ann Arbor’s new Equitable Engagement Steering Committee. In sum, 30 local residents were selected to “help Ann Arbor become the inclusive and just community it desires to be.” Four goals guide our work, which include working to develop:

  1. A deeper understanding of what equity and equitable engagement means and could look like in Ann Arbor.  
  2. Policy recommendations  for Council consideration and adoption . 
  3. Staff guidelines based on the policy recommendations. 
  4. A set of tools that helps ensure the city’s Community Engagement Toolkit is equity-focused and city staff is practicing equitable engagement.  ​

We’ll be meeting monthly to advance our collective mission. I’m looking forward to this important and timely work!

An excerpt from a recent article in The Ann Arbor News.

From a pool of about 80 applicants, the city of Ann Arbor has chosen 30 people to serve on a new committee focused on equity and inclusion.

The city this week announced the Ann Arbor Equitable Engagement Steering Committee, which is intended to help the city function in a more inclusive manner and find ways to bring a greater diversity of voices into local processes — everything from city planning initiatives to consideration of new laws.

The goal of the equity initiative is to develop new community engagement policies and practices “that can be a part of moving the community forward to overcome Ann Arbor’s history with racism and prejudices that have caused important local perspectives to be marginalized from community conversations and decision-making processes,” the city website states.

[email protected], Ryan Stanton |. “Ann Arbor LAUNCHES 30-Member Committee Focused on Equity and Inclusion.” Mlive, 5 Aug. 2021, www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2021/08/ann-arbor-launches-30-member-committee-focused-on-equity-and-inclusion.html.