By Mark Washington
I am honored to serve as chair of MME’s first Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee. The purpose of the DEI Committee is to provide an intentional focus on the presence of DEI issues within MME as an organization and the communities it serves. The committee has had several discussions around the need for DEI and its inherent complexity while understanding that each of our communities has a unique local perspective and challenges. One size doesn’t fit all.
The DEI Committee has also discussed the importance of continuing to educate itself and the MME membership around DEI. To that end we encouraged members to attend ICMA’s Virtual Equity Summit in July where attendees learned more about:
- Equity Mapping and Public Participation: Meeting Residents Where They Are
- Promoting Tribal City/County Relations
- Backed by Budget: Getting Better Budget Proposals to Truly Advance Equity
- ICMA Equity Toolkit Preview
- Partnering for Equitable Economic Development
- Polarity Management
- Defining Equity
- Strength Through Diversity – Promote Equity and Inclusion Through Leadership – Lessons Learned from the Military
- How affinity groups and professional organizations leverage each other’s connections
- Embedding Equity in Your Charter
The DEI Committee has also reviewed best practices within and outside of MME and ICMA to understand opportunities for more learning. After reviewing practices over several months, the DEI Committee was pleased to see that our affiliated professional organization, ICMA, has a robust Equity & Inclusion Toolkit. The committee had a facilitated conversation with the help of Robyn Afrik, DEI director for Ottawa County, and voted to affirm and recommend the ICMA Equity Toolkit as a resource to MME members.
The committee believes the ICMA Equity Toolkit has helpful information for MME members to use in their own unique communities. The toolkit is not comprehensive as the complexity of DEI calls for constant discussion and thoughtfulness, but for those who are ready, there are great practices that can be brought to your communities. I challenge you to read through the ICMA Equity Toolkit and find those pieces that you could implement in your community to provide for more equitable outcomes.
These are challenging times but I know that our collective leadership and professionalism will help us improve the quality of life in our communities, state, and association. The DEI Committee will attempt to gather on-site in October during the MML Convention in Muskegon.
Mark Washington, Grand Rapids City Manager
MME DEI Committee Chair
Mark Washington has served as city manager for Grand Rapids since 2018. He is committed to making Grand Rapids a city that is nationally recognized for being equitable, welcoming, innovative, and collaborative with a robust economy, safe, and healthy community, and the opportunity for a high quality of life for all. Washington has 26 years of experience in public sector service. Previously, he served as assistant city manager for the City of Austin, Texas, and as director of human resources and civil service in Austin. He also worked in Fort Worth, Texas, as assistant director of human resources, and street services operations program manager. He has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Tarleton State University, a master’s degree in business administration from Amberton University, and a master of arts degree and doctorate degree in education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and holds several certifications. Washington is a member of the International City/County Management Association, Grand Valley Metropolitan Council, and serves on the Downtown Grand Rapids Inc. Spectrum Health Community Commitment, National Forum for Black Public Administrators, Tarleton State University College of Business advisory boards, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, and is a Trustee of the Michigan Municipal League Board and at Paul Quinn College.