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Intercultural Competency Report 2008-2009Cit of Dubu•ue • 1 II. City Manager's Message On behalf of the City of Dubuque Intercultural Competency (ICC) Steering Dommittee, I am pleased to present this update on our ICC efforts. Our goal is t ,reate an organization that recognizes the value in developing skills to adapt to lifferences in order to more effectively serve the public and each other. Ne have just completed our third year of our multi -year commitment, and based eedback received from city staff, I believe the training and information we have )rovided to staff are yielding results and benefits to the community and City ) rganization. They better understand how differences in culture can create )FJFJUr Willll S 10 tlI UlIVeiy in1erac1 WWI cif U Serve ptupie irr Ult UOrrrrrruniIy. Training & programs to the public; it also affects our role as a part Success of the greater community. We understand tha liverse and the importance of our ICC efforts will only _Mork of the ICC Committee and how the City employe( Workforce Development 1 In Fiscal Year 2009 , the City ( creating the position of Trainin, Development Coordinator. In F\ Andre Lessears was hired fort For the better part of the year! Mr. Lessears was hired, the IC focused their energy on the d( position description, creating a planning the interview and selE and interviewin candidates fo Andre Lessears 9 r the Training and Workforce Development Coordinator position. ;ouncil approved j & Workforce larch of 2009 his position. )efore C Steering Team velopment of a work plan, and a ction processes, O O O s the hiring of Mr. Lessears is the culmination of that work. Jne of Mr. Lessears' responsibilities includes coordinating the mplementation of the City's ICC Strategic Plan in collaboration with the CC Steering and Training Teams. 0 Jur work in intercultural competence not only impacts how we deliver services and on Mike Van Milligen ner in the growth and t our community will continue to become more continue to grow. I could not be more proud of the )s have embraced the process. :oordinator Hired pecial Points of Interest: The Steering Team prepared a booth for City Expo 2009. Key City brochures are now available in Spanish. ICC Tips continue to be included in the bi- weekly City employee publication, Spirit Times ©28, 000 copies of the 2007 -2008 Annual Report were printed and distributed to nearly 24, 000 households More information is available at www.citvofdubuque.orq/ diversedubuque Is Intercultural Competency Annual Report Management Team The Steering Team has started to regularly present ICC tips at monthly Management Team meetings. This is one way the Team provides ongoing support to management as they integrate ICC skills personally and into the cultures of their individual departments. It is also a method to practice and strengthen the ICC skills that management has already learned. The Training and Workforce Development Coordinator (TWDC) has also offered support to management by meeting with each department manager one -on -one. The TWDC has used these meeting times to update managers about the ICC training efforts, to talk about ICC related topics and issues that managers have experienced in their departments, and to discuss recruitment, retention, and succession planning, among other things. The Steering Team recently had a strategic planning session at which they identified ways to better support management in their efforts to set and implement ICC goals in their individual departments. Also, in sustained efforts to keep lines of communication open between the ICC Teams and unions, Randy Peck sent a letter to leadership of the bargaining units in January 2009 to update them about the progress of our ICC efforts and to request feedback. Training Updates ICC Training The Intercultural Competency (ICC) Training Team has created a third ICC training for City staff. This is the first training designed entirely by the Training Team. Part III focuses on intercultural conflict styles. The Team chose ICC conflict styles as the next training topic based on feedback received from City employees and management. Part III was administered to nearly half of the City's workforce during the week of September 21, 2009. Remaining City employees will participate in Part III in March 2010. The team continues to offer Parts I & II, for new City employees on a yearly basis. Seven new trainers have also been added to the ICC Training Team. The new trainers include five additional City staff (Nancy Knipper, Jackie Vanek, Mike McMahon, Renee Duncan, and Andre Lessears) and two community members (Tina Sio, Dana Livingston). The trainers were selected by soliciting applications from manager- recommended employees and from community members who are already involved in ICC work in the community. The new training team members attended a "train- the - trainer" workshop hosted by One Ummah Consulting in St. Paul, MN from June 11- 13, 2009. Page 2 Intercultural Competency Annual Report Policy Review Dubuque All- America City 2007 Training is obviously an important element of our ICC efforts. However, it is not the only element. Organizational change is an equally important aspect of this work. One step in the process of becoming a more interculturally competent organization is the critical evaluation of systemic barriers that prevent individuals from underrepresented groups from joining our organization and being successful in it. Consequently, the ICC Steering Team has begun a review of the City's Administrative Policies (APs). The Steering team's goal is to provide policies that are clear, transparent, and accessible. The first policy identified as a priority was the Post Offer of Employment (a.k.a. background check) policy. The Steering team used a variety of examples of interculturally competent background check policies from other cities and organizations to create a policy that meets the needs of our organization. The updated policy can be viewed on the City of Dubuque web site, www.citvofdubuque.orq. Reference to the policy will also be stated on the employment application as new applications are printed. Summer Institute For Intercultural Communication Aft In July 2009, ICC Training and Steering Team members Kelly Larson, Molly Menster, and Andre Lessears attended the Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication (SIIC) for one week in Portland, Oregon. SIIC afforded an opportunity for the team members to immerse themselves into specific ICC topics. Team members chose different sessions in order to make the most of their time at SIIC. As a result, Kelly Larson attended the session called, Why It Works: Intercultural Theory for Practitioners; Molly Menster completed, Advanced Experiential Tools for IC Learning; and Andre Lessears attended, Training Design for Intercultural Learning. The sessions enhanced Team members' knowledge and skill pertaining to effective training design, different learning styles, and the theory behind ICC work from a systems perspective. In addition to the classroom learning, the week at SIIC also allowed Team members to network with ICC practitioners from around the world. Volume 1, Issue 1 Page 3 Community Resources Community members featured in Diverse Dubuque Video The Dubuque Human Rights Commission's National Origin Sub - committee created the video, Diverse Dubuque: A Focus on National Origin, which won an "Iowa Oscar" and can be viewed on- line at www.citvofdubuque.orq/humanriqhts. On September 19, 2009, the Multicultural Family Center (MFC) celebrated the grand opening of its newly renovated location, made possible through Community Development Block Grant Funding. The Center moved from a 600 square feet to a 6,000 square feet facility, providing even more opportunity to satisfy its mission of empowering families to reach their potential and build unity through diversity. In addition to the new facilities, Tara Velez was hired as the full time Director of the Multicultural Family Center. Multicultural Family Center 1157 Central Ave Intercultural Competency Committees Steering Team Committee: Cori Burbach, cburbach@cityofdubuque.org Carroll Clark, cclark@cityofdubuque.org Mark Da!sing, mdalsing@cityofdubuque.org Kelly Larson, klarson@cityofdubuque.org Andre Lessears, alessear@cityofdubuque.org Molly Menster, mmenster@cityofdubuque.org Randy Peck, rpeck@cityofdubuque.org Cindy Steinhauser, csteinha(d cityofdubuque.org Tips Subcommittee: Nancy Knipper, nknipper@cityofdubuque.org Kevin Firnstahl, kfimsta@cityofdubuque.org Erich Moeller, emoeller@cityofdubuque.org Denette Kellogg, dkellogg@cityofdubuque.org Andre Lessears, alessear@cityofdubuque.org Molly Menster mmenster@cityofdubuque.org Website Subcommittee: Craig Nowak, cnowak@cityofdubuque.org Wayne Dow, wdow@cityofdubuque.org Jessica Kurt, jkurt@cityofdubuque.org Nikki Breitsprecker nbreitsp@cityofdubuque.org THE CITY OF Dui Masterpiece on the Mississippi Volume 1, Issue 1 Page 4