I launched Equity Agenda a little over a year ago to bring together my two central passions: gender equity and local government. It’s been a whirlwind year, and it’s nice to take a break and think about Equity Agenda’s origin story.
I had been working in and with city governments for years. (The picture above is one of my large collection of City Hall selfies, in my home base of Austin. #CityNerd) Simultaneously but separately, I was pursuing gender equity efforts in my outside work time as a volunteer and board member. Over time, I began to realize that I had missed something that was right in front of me. I had never heard anyone in city government discuss or regularly consider gender equity. I realized that every core function of city government could be reworked and improved based on its impacts on different people. Specifically, we needed to be thinking more about how the work we did in city government impacted people differently based on their gender, race, and other identities- we needed an intersectional approach. If we applied this lens to our work, from transportation and housing to public safety, social services, and budgets, more people in our communities could thrive. That’s why Equity Agenda exists.
I also noticed that a lot was being lost in translation when city governments and equity-focused organizations try to work together, including both direct service organizations and advocacy organizations. Better collaboration between these organizations and city governments can really amplify the work of both. With our national network, Equity Agenda has deep experience with both city government and in the nonprofit sector and stands ready to work side by side to take your impact to the next level.
Since the launch, we’ve been lucky to partner with local, regional, and national groups on a wide array of projects. One of our biggest and most rewarding projects has been partnering with the Mayors Innovation Project to launch the extraordinarily successful Women Mayors Network.
With the launch of this new website (thanks Every Word Creative!), I will be using this space to add new policy and program resources for local governments to achieve equity, writing more about introducing an intersectional gender lens to city government, and more. Stay tuned.