Reports
The Citywide Equitable Engagement Cohort: Portland, Oregon
May 11th, 2023
Citywide Equitable Engagement Cohort
Working with Portland, Oregon’s Office of Community and Civic Life to codesign an innovative, equitable, and responsive community engagement structure that supports flourishing for all Portlanders.
About the Citywide Equitable Engagement Cohort
The Citywide Equitable Engagement Cohort was a space for community engagement practitioners across different City of Portland bureaus to share tools to earn government legitimacy, create cross-bureau relationships, and share methods of equitable engagement to empower historically marginalized residents.
The Citywide Equitable Engagement Cohort was delivered through modules focused on understanding and historical analysis, cocreating equitable engagement tools with residents, and using storytelling to gain leadership and community support for engagement efforts. Participants merged their existing knowledge and cohort learnings to provide recommendations for changes to the community engagement structure and practices in the City of Portland.
Impact
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Community engagement practitioners from 13 bureaus
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25 community engagement practitioners
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12 community learning partners engaged
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On average, 93% would recommend the sessions to a peer/colleague
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On average, 92% learned useful information from each discussion session.
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On average, 100% have or plan to use information from CEEC to improve projects, practices, and/or policies.
Testimonials
“The dedicated practitioners in this group know that the people closest to a problem are also closest to the solution and their experiences must be taken into account. We are grateful to CPI for guiding the group to build trust with community and create authentic, people-centered, equitable community engagement practices at the City of Portland.”
“Due to this program, I will start listening more, asking more questions, and looking for invitations for deeper understanding and engagement.”
“Working with people across city bureaus was powerful. The impact of the program’s cross-bureau pollination indicated there is an even greater need for it post-program."
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