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The City of Grand Rapids: Community Diversity & Inclusion Program

CASE STUDY IN THE GOVERNMENT SECTOR
Grand Rapids, MI

Opportunity: The City of Grand Rapids sought to provide an opportunity for city residents to learn more about diversity and inclusion.

Harriet Speaks partnered with the City of Grand Rapids Office of Equity and Engagement to create what we believe is the first program of its kind in the country. The Community Diversity & Inclusion program was a five-month program with a curated curriculum by Harriet Speaks founder, Jyarland Daniels, that was shared among two groups -- a community-wide group and a selected group of 35 fellows.

The Fellows engaged in dialogue and reflection exercises, as well as readings on the topic of race, diversity, and inclusion via a private Slack channel. The Fellows also received 1:1 coaching from Daniels that helped them identify how they could be more effective in advancing diversity and inclusion in their jobs, neighborhoods, and community. In addition, there was a monthly (Zoom) meeting where Fellows could share learnings and further the discussion that had taken place via Slack.

Following the fellowship cohort meeting, a monthly community dialogue took place via Facebook Live. This session was open to the public. Each session featured the same topic that was covered that month by the Fellows, and also consisted of panelists from the City of Grand Rapids who had particular expertise in the topic. The community discussions were facilitated by Daniels.

The topics covered with both the Fellows and the Community included:

1) Bridging Our Differences: How to Have Impossible Conversations

2) Othering & Belonging: Tribalism

3) Personal Narratives on Race & Ethnicity

4) Debiasing: Implicit Bias, Microaggressions, and Stereotypes

5) Institutional Racism

Impact: As a result of this foundational program, 35 individuals and hundreds of people from Grand Rapids, and other states (and a few countries too) are better prepared to have dialogue across differences related to race, diversity, and inclusion