Inclusive Dubuque Quarterly Update Copyright 2014
City of Dubuque Action Items # 2.
ITEM TITLE: Inclusive Dubuque Quarterly Update
SUMMARY: Inclusive Dubuque Network partners will make a
presentation on Inclusive Dubuque's accomplishments
since April 2016.
SUGGESTED DISPOSITION: Suggested Disposition: Receive and File; Presentation
ATTACHMENTS:
Description Type
Inclusive Dubuque Quarterly Update-MVM Memo City Manager Memo
Inclusive Dubuque Quarterly Update Staff Memo
THE CITY OF Dubuque
DUB E i"
Masterpiece on the Mississippi 2007.2012.2013
TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
SUBJECT: Inclusive Dubuque Quarterly Update
DATE: August 8, 2016
Human Rights Department Director Kelly Larson is transmitting background information
on Inclusive Dubuque accomplishments since April 2016, and serves as a supplement
to a presentation that will be given by Inclusive Dubuque Network partners.
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Mic ael C. Van Milligen
MCVM:jh
Attachment
cc: Barry Lindahl, City Attorney
Cindy Steinhauser, Assistant City Manager
Teri Goodmann, Assistant City Manager
Kelly Larson, Human Rights Department Director
THE CITY OF Dubuque
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Masterpiece on the Mississippi 2009.2012.2013
TO: Mike Van Milligan, City Manager
FROM: Kelly Larson, Human Rights Department Director
DATE: August 5, 2016
RE: Inclusive Dubuque Quarterly Update
This memo provides a written background of Inclusive Dubuque accomplishments since
April 2016, and serves as a supplement to a presentation that will be offered by
Inclusive Dubuque network partners at the August 15 City Council meeting.
Background
Launched in 2013, Inclusive Dubuque is a local network of leaders from faith, labor,
education, business, nonprofit, and government committed to a common cause: a
community where all people feel respected, valued, and engaged. The network began
informally in early 2012 with less than a dozen community organizations and
businesses beginning a conversation about the need for a collaborative effort around
inclusion and equity in Dubuque. Today, the network consists of over 60 organizations
and individual community members. Partners gather monthly to share their
perspectives on diversity, equity, and inclusion in Dubuque, to learn from one another,
and to connect with each other on projects. The network also works to identify
opportunities through data collection and dialogue, and to take action on those
opportunities.
The Inclusive Dubuque vision is to have a community where people feel respected,
valued, and engaged. Partners are committed to supporting an equitable and inclusive
culture to meet the economic and cultural needs of our diverse community. As a
network, Inclusive Dubuque organizes people around the vision, identifies opportunities,
and takes action to move us closer to our vision.
Inclusive Dubuque strives to operate using the concept of collective impact. Partners
within the network come together around a common agenda, identify a set of shared
measures, continuously communicate with one another, identify a backbone
organization to keep everyone organized, and then each contribute what they do best in
the form of mutually reinforcing activities designed to move the needle on the shared
measures.
One of the first major projects undertaken by Inclusive Dubuque over the past year has
been the development of an equity profile - an extensive process to discover how
diverse groups are affected by various systems in our community that impact economic
wellbeing, housing, education, health, safe neighborhoods, transportation, and arts &
culture.
The process of developing a community equity profile included numerous components
and spanned February through October 2015. While a portion of the process involved
gathering readily available quantitative data from sources such as the U.S. Census, we
intentionally supplemented this with community surveys, community dialogue sessions,
and facilitator training. Inclusive Dubuque also implemented a thorough marketing &
communication plan. The surveys, dialogue sessions, facilitator training, and
associated marketing have served a purpose beyond data collected, as they have
helped to catalyze a larger community conversation about equity issues that extends
beyond those of us working in a professional capacity. The hope is that this will
encourage ongoing input and actions by community members.
Working groups have been established around each of the core areas of the equity
profile: economic wellbeing, housing, health, education, neighborhood safety, Arts &
Culture, and transportation. Over 90 community members are participating in these
groups. In November and December, the Government Alliance on Race and Equity, the
Campaign for Grade Level Reading, and the City of Dubuque partnered to bring Dan
Duncan with Clear Impact (formerly Results Leadership Group) to Dubuque to work with
City and community partners to begin applying results based accountability thinking to
equity profile action planning efforts. Since that time, each working group has applied
Results Based Accountability (RBA) to identify a community-wide result (or outcome) for
their focus area and key indicators that can assist us in tracking our progress over time.
Inclusive Dubuque Network — Accomplishments this Quarter:
Seven sector groups, a Peer Learning Council, a Network Impact Council, and the full
Inclusive Dubuque Network continued to meet once per month to refine the strategic
focus for each group and identify shared performance measures for that focus using
Results Based Accountability. Short term efforts across groups will focus heavily on
education, training, and tools to establish a foundation for the long term work of
advancing equity and opportunity.
All groups will apply an equity lens to the work in their sector and will be disaggregating
data in order to do so. In addition:
The Peer Learning Council is developing a two to five year plan consisting of two
focus areas: 1) learning opportunities for Network Partners and Sector Groups
and 2) learning opportunities for the community at large. Opportunities with
sector groups will focus on adopting and rolling out equity tools by sector and
providing different levels of tools and support based on the needs of the sector
group. Opportunities with the community will focus on community conversations
around the video "Race: the Power of an Illusion."
2
• The Arts & Culture Sector Group gathered ideas at Juneteenth regarding gaps in
arts programming in Dubuque and is also looking at ways to use the arts to
support the work of the other sector groups. They have discussed adopting an
equity toolkit at venues, tracking demographic participation, and taking steps to
determine how welcoming the arts scene is in Dubuque.
• The Housing Sector Group is narrowing in on developing financial literacy and
increasing the availability of quality, affordable housing throughout
neighborhoods, which includes increasing availability of units that accept
Housing Choice Vouchers and decreasing the number of units with housing
quality problems.
• The Education Sector Group is focusing in on graduation rate and educational
attainment. They have also discussed improving staff/student relations,
developing intercultural skills of staff, increasing parent engagement, increasing
engagement and participation in education opportunities, improving home access
to learning resources, and increasing the use of representative course materials.
• The Health Sector Group is sharing information and resources in ways that help
them to collaboratively address barriers to healthcare access, and is beginning to
discuss developing a comprehensive mental health plan as a focus area. They
have also discussed decreasing the obesity rate, lowering smoking rates,
increasing availability and affordability of fresh healthy foods.
• The Safe Neighborhoods Sector Group has identified many options and is
beginning to focus in on perceptions of neighborhoods. They have also
discussed door to door neighborhood engagement and measuring the number of
residents who know their neighbors in the Jackson Park neighborhood.
• The Economic Wellbeing Sector Group has not yet determined one strategic
focus area. Two discussions that continue to arise include supporting small,
women and minority owned businesses and supporting ex-offender re-entry
initiatives.
• The Transportation Sector Group has only had one meeting and recognizes that
transportation is likely to be crucial to the work of many of the other sector
groups.
Detailed information on working group progress is available on-line at
http://inclusivedbg.org/working-groups/.
City as a Network Partner— Accomplishments this Quarter:
Intentional efforts have been made inside the organization to engage City staff in the
Inclusive Dubuque efforts. The monthly newsletters, snapshots, and weekly e-mails to
network partners are shared throughout City departments, and several City staff are
serving on Inclusive Dubuque Working groups. In addition,
The Equity Core Team continued to meet monthly, finalizing goal areas and
performance measures for department equity plans and creating a template for
strategic thinking and measuring progress using Results Scorecard. Human
Rights staff began gathering data and creating department level scorecards for
3
the following departments so that each department's equity plans will be data
informed: Human Rights Department, Police Department, Housing Department,
Planning Department, and Public Works Department.
• Kelly Larson was invited to present on the work of the core team at the regional
convening for the Government Alliance on Race & Equity, and the Equity Team's
scorecard was used as a model at the National convening for the Government
Alliance on Race & Equity.
• Each department contributes to advancing equity and inclusion through the work
within their department. Individual Human Rights Department actions have
included:
o Analyzing data from the Rental Property Survey conducted by the Source
of Income Working Group
o Creating materials for dialogue sessions on Source of Income
o Implementing community based research with the Marshallese community
and analyzing results
o Orienting new Human Rights Commission members and facilitating goal
setting
o Completing the four-day community workshop for leaders integrating
intercultural approaches into diversity and inclusion work
o Visiting with the Iowa Department of Human Rights and Des Moines
Human Rights Commission to investigate collaboration opportunities
related to advancing equity and inclusion in communities.
Actions by Other Network Partners
Each network partner determines how they can contribute to the Inclusive Dubuque
vision by "doing what they do best." Individual Network Partner actions that have
occurred over the past several months include:
• The Dubuque Museum of Art introduced DuMA Second Saturdays, a new free,
family-focused event combining hand-on art activities that are thoughtfully
chosen to demonstrate a culturally and ethnically diverse view of the arts. They
also held a multi-day training with museum staff and partners on how adults
afflicted by memory loss and their caregivers can connect using works of art.
• The Multicultural Family Center sponsored Road to Success for Teens, working
directly with impacted teens and focusing on teen empowerment and
employment skills.
• Children of Abraham invited Network Partners to attend the Tri-State Islamic
Center groundbreaking in a show of solidarity and support for our Muslim
community members.
• Clarke University hosted Implicit Bias Training: Challenges and Implications of
Rapidly Changing Demographics.
• Project Concern hosted Changing Minds: Free Community Mental Health
Resource Fair.
• Network staff hosted idea exchanges on arts & culture and on mental health.
4
When the community experienced a hate/bias incident in April the following
network partners took visible community action through public statements:
Children of Abraham, City of Dubuque, Clarke University, Community Foundation
of Greater Dubuque, Dubuque Area Congregations United, Inclusive Dubuque
Network, Loras College, Northeast Iowa Community College, NAACP — Dubuque
Branch, University of Dubuque. In addition, Network Member 4 the People, Inc.,
organized a public Hate Crimes Forum.
Action Requested
This memo is background for the presentation that will be offered to the City Council by
Inclusive Dubuque network partners on August 15 and is being provided for your
information. No action is requested.
cc: Eric Dregne, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives, Community Foundation
Katrina Farren-Eller, Inclusive Dubuque Coordinator, Community Foundation
5
ADVANCING EQUITY
Community Efforts and Outcomes 2016
INCLUSIVE dubuque
Connecting People • Strengthening Community
OVERVIEW
Since 2012, Inclusive Dubuque has been convening
a network of community members and leaders
from business, nonprofit, education, government,
philanthropy and the faith community to achieve the
vision of an informed community in which all people
feel respected, valued and engaged. In Fall 2015, the
network released the Community Equity Profile that
helped discover how diverse groups are affected by
various systems in the community. These efforts have
not only led to a greater awareness of disparities that
exist in our community, but have also sparked a desire
for change within individuals and organizations — in
the Inclusive Dubuque network and beyond. This
report highlights how our community is working to help
reduce disparities that exist among diverse groups.
This list is not complete and represents a small
snapshot of the initiatives, programs and changes
that have been implemented in our community. We
created this report in an effort to acknowledge and
applaud the efforts of those working to make Dubuque
a more equitable and inclusive place for all residents,
regardless of race, age, gender, sexual orientation,
disability, nationality or socioeconomic status.
Our hope is that this list will continue to grow and
expand each year and that it will serve as a useful
tool to: track progress as a community; identify areas
that need further attention; and hold the community
accountable for making sustained progress towards
becoming a more equitable and inclusive community.
COMMUNITY IMPACT REPORT: EQUITY AND INCLUSION - INCLUSIVE DUBUQUE 1
GOVERNMENT
2014
• Juvenile Court Services continues ongoing efforts to implement initiatives to address racial disparities
including: programming for youth, increase diversion, training and meetings with stakeholders of JCS practices
to promote juvenile justice.
The City Clerk creates a new brochure for the community on actions residents can take to make events
accessible for people with disabilities.
Mayor Roy D. Buol accepts the My Brother's Keeper challenge.
Housing, Planning, Human Rights and City Manager Departments in the City of Dubuque receive training on
the basics of fair housing and the city's obligation to take steps to affirmatively further fair housing.
The city's Human Rights Department facilitates a conversation between the Dubuque Community School
District and Transgender Duubque to increase the knowledge and awareness of school counselors and
nurses on transgender youth in schools.
The city's Human Rights Department hosts a conversation with Cultural Voices to help English Language
Learner teachers, Police Department staff and Housing Department staff better understand the experiences
of immigrant community members.
The City of Dubuque joins the Government Alliance on Race and Equity to increase its knowledge and
awareness of innovative local government approaches to advancing racial equity.
The city's Health Department partners with a Chinese health inspector in Linn County to address language
barriers during interactions with Chinese restaurant owners. The partnership allows Chinese restaurant
owners to receive compliance information and take the licensing course in Chinese.
AmeriCorps Partners in Learning changes its focus to support grade -level reading. They partner with the
Dubuque Community School District to place AmeriCorps members in the schools to work one-on-one with
students who are struggling readers.
• Leisure Services adjusts its summer park program to focus on preventing summer learning loss.
• The Jule bus route is redesigned to serve the city's most diverse neighborhoods and individuals who are
transit -dependent.
• The Multicultural Family Center develops an inclusive environments policy.
2015
• The City Council passes a resolution affirming its commitment to diverse membership on boards and
commissions.
2 COMMUNITY IMPACT REPORT: EQUITY AND INCLUSION - INCLUSIVE DUBUQUE
• City staff receive training on institutional and structural bias and are introduced to an equity toolkit to increase
knowledge of the ways in which analysis using an equity tool can help interrupt or reduce biased outcomes.
The City of Dubuque Finance Department develops a tool allowing city vendors to self -identify as female -
and/or minority-owned so managers can analyze the diversity of their vendors.
The Multicultural Family Center offers a "Difficult Differences" program, which teaches skills in navigating
difficult conversations involving aspects of social identity.
• Safe Zone Training is offered by the Multicultural Family Center to increase awareness of how to create
a safe and inclusive environment for people who identify as gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, transgendered, or are
questioning.
Training on effective recruitment practices for managers and supervisory staff at the City of Dubuque
increases knowledge on how to recruit and retain a workforce reflective of the community.
The Police Department participates in a racial profiling panel discussion to bring increased awareness of
concerns and policies.
• The Human Rights Department paticipates in a LGBTQ panel discussion to bring increased awareness of the
LGBTQ community in Dubuque.
• The city's Intercultural Communications (ICC) team develops presentations and video refreshers of ICC tips
and presents to the Library staff.
• Human Rights Department staff participates in a LGBTQ panel discussion at the University of Dubuque.
• City of Dubuque staff actively participates in Inclusive Dubuque's Community Equity Profile by assisting with
dialogue facilitation, data collection, and community engagement planning and implementation.
The City of Dubuque carries out community engagement sessions to address the accessibility of City
infrastructure for people with disabilities.
The City of Dubuque's Public Information Office changes its communication tactics in order to reach a
younger, more diverse audience. Increased use of social media and the addition of the MyDbq application
helps reach more community members.
• The Leisure Services Department takes action to install a new play component at Marshall Park that will
increase access and service for the visually impaired.
The Economic Development Department changes its hiring policy so applicants who do not have their CDL
can earn it while working on the job.
2016
• Juvenile Court Services plans the implementation of a detention screening tool, which will focus on reducing
the disproprtionate placement of minority youth in detention facilities.
COMMUNITY IMPACT REPORT: EQUITY AND INCLUSION - INCLUSIVE DUBUQUE 3
• The City and 4 The People, Inc., hosts a hate crime response and forum to increase public awareness of what
constitutes a hate crime, and the community's role in responding and preventing these types of crimes.
• The Human Rights Department redesigns its four-day workshop, Developing Intercultural Skills for Diversity
and Inclusion work. This workshop is designed to increase knowledge and awareness about the tools
available to those who are working to take an intercultural approach to diversity and inclusion in their
organization.
• The Human Rights Department changes its human relations specialist position to equity outreach
coordinator, with a specific focus on connecting people to opportunities designed to address inequities.
• Four Mounds Day Camp changes the hours and bus transportation options to expand availability to working
parents and those who are reliant on public transportation.
• The Police Department establishes a Chief's Forum that includes diverse community members to act as an
advisory group to the Chief of Police.
• The Multicultural Family Center develops transgender restroom signage, along with education for staff on
accommodating people with diverse cultural or religious beliefs.
• The Human Rights Department partners with Mercy Dubuque, Crescent Community Health Center and
community members from the Marshall Islands to develop a model to improve healthcare access.
• Sustainable Dubuque community grants are available for community members who want to lead
sustainability efforts in the community. In 2015-2016, 70% of the Sustainable Dubuque community grants
are awarded to organizations and residents addressing social/cultural vibrancy issues in the community,
including the My Brother's Keeper collaborative, educational events, and programs that provide food and
transportation access to those in need.
NONPROFITS
2014
• The Dubuque Area Convention Er Visitors Bureau implements CSI: Dubuque, a customer service intel program
that trains area businesses on how to provide positive experiences for Dubuque's visitors. This program
features inclusivity components from Inclusive Dubuque and Proudly Accessible Dubuque.
• The East Central Iowa Association of REALTORS starts reviewing fair housing laws and practices during
orientation with all new members through a video developed by the National Association of REALTORS.
• Sisters of Charity, BVM adjusts wage/benefits to achieve a minimum of $10.10/hour, and increases access to
more educational benefits. The organization also starts to focus on employee needs including food, water,
shelter and more.
• St. Mark Youth Enrichment joins the My Brother's Keeper initiative to make a concious effort to impact the
lives of young, black men.
4 COMMUNITY IMPACT REPORT: EQUITY AND INCLUSION - INCLUSIVE DUBUQUE
St. Mark Youth Enrichment prioritizes diversification of its board of directors in its strategic plan.
Project Concern takes over scheduling for Volunteer Income Tax Assistance/Earned Income Tax Credit with the
American Association of Retired People and Operation: New View. These organizations share a document to
coordinate tax appointments for seniors and low-income households.
Parkin Advisors, a business advisor and coach, volunteers at a women's shelter to provide free job interview
coaching for its residents.
Hillcrest Family Services adds diversity training to its requirements for new staff orientation.
Hillcrest WIC creates a designated breastfeeding room, which is available to staff and the public.
Mercy Medical Center incorporates the use of iPads in their interpretation services for more effective
communication with patients who are hearing impaired or whose preferred language is not English.
2015
• Sisters of Charity, BVM forms the Working Unitedly employee committee to enhance connections with
Dubuque nonprofit organizations in an effort to develop employee consciousness of community needs,
project, efforts and volunteerism.
• The Substance Abuse Services Center works with Clare Forstie, Ph.D. candidate, to provide training to its staff
on serving the LGBTQ community.
• The DubuqueFest Fine Arts Festival engages new talent to make its music performances more diverse
including the Multicultural Family Center hip hop dancers and young emerging artists.
• The DubuqueFest Fine Arts Festival implements a bike valet to promote non -automobile transport.
• Project Concern's VISTA attends Safe Zone Training at the Multicultural Family Center in an effort to share that
information with Project Concern staff and promote equity and inclusion.
• Sisters of Charity, BVM changes definition of "family" to "household" and "spouse" to "domestic partner" for
benefits purposes and to make its handbook and job application more inclusive.
• Parkin Advisors creates the "Women's Business Collective" to encourage entrepreneurship among women in
Dubuque.
• The Dubuque Chamber of Commerce creates a Minority Business Council with a mission to guide minority
and under -represented business owners toward local resources.
• Mercy Medical Center, in collaboration with the University of Dubuque, launches a community -wide task
force to improve the health of the Marshallese population in Dubuque. A registered nurse and healthcare
workers from within the Marshallese community are recruited to support residents in accessing resources
and navigating the health care system.
COMMUNITY IMPACT REPORT: EQUITY AND INCLUSION - INCLUSIVE DUBUQUE 5
• Hillcrest Family Services requires staff to participate in diversity training every two years as a refresher and it
appears on employee evaluations.
• Hillcrest Family Services hosts monthly speakers on topics including Brazil, Congo, Japan, Being a Woman
in the Navy, a transgender panel, a mental health panel, human trafficking and Communicating Generational
Gaps. These speakers are free and open to the public.
2016
• A home buying resource booklet is developed by the East Central Iowa Association of REALTORS to distribute
to low -to moderate -income individuals and families.
• A mentoring program and more robust employee assistance program is established at Sisters of Charity,
BVM.
• Sisters of Charity, BVM starts to work with Marshall Islanders to assist in securing citizenship.
• St. Mark Youth Enrichment partners with the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque and Fulton
Elementary to implement a Getting Ahead Class.
The Dubuque Museum of Art partners with the National Alliance on Mental Illness to bring an exhibit of
Cuban artists with mental illness to Dubuque in summer.
The Dubuque Museum of Art partners with St. Mark Youth Enrichment to provide programming to the
Summer Heroes Academy.
• The Grand Opera House presents La Cage aux Folles, a play about a gay couple with a message that it is
love, not biology, that makes a family. One night of the performance is designated as LGBTQ night and the
Grand Opera House provides complimentary tickets to the Dubuque LGBTQ Youth Network.
Greater Dubuque Development Corporation hosts a Leaders Luncheon to connect students at six local higher
education institutions to workforce leaders through a lunch and panel discussion. In 2016, this long-time evnet
is changed from a CEO Luncheon to the Leaders Luncheon in an effort to increase the diversity of panelists.
The Dubuque Community YMCA/YWCA partners with Inclusive Dubuque to host an educational session on
Restorative Strategies with Robert Spicer.
Hillcrest Family Services partners with the Multicultural Family Center and The Smokestack to offer safe
places for the LGBTQ community to come together at events such as Alphabet Soup Game Night.
The Dubuque Community YMCA/YWCA forms an Empowering Women task force and an Eliminating Racism
task force.
The Dubuque Community YMCA/YWCA revises its membership application to include more inclusive
language regarding household members.
A Restorative Strategies train the trainer program will be held in September for the Dubuque Community
YMCA/YWCA before and after school program staff.
6 COMMUNITY IMPACT REPORT: EQUITY AND INCLUSION - INCLUSIVE DUBUQUE
Mercy Medical Center has long promoted principles of caring, which include knowing a patient/family by
asking them questions about their preferences, rather than making assumptions based on one's own view of
the world. With this principle as the backdrop, Mercy provides Safe Zone educational sessions to interested
colleagues with the goal of increasing awareness and understanding related to the care of the LGBTQ patient
population.
EDUCATION
2014
An intensive course addressing multiculturalism, anti -racism and sexism is required for all first-year students
at Wartburg Theological Seminary.
• Students and faculty at Wartburg Theological Seminary can participate annually in January Term immersion
trips in U.S. and international contexts to promote global awareness and understanding.
• A lactation room is created for students and faculty at the University of Dubuque who may not have had the
desired level of privacy available to them.
• Space is dedicated at the University of Dubuque for a prayer room for its Muslim students.
• Elements of "bystander intervention" techniques are infused in several areas of the curriculum and residence
life training at University of Dubuque.
• UW -Platteville revises its general education curriculum to require that 25% of the learning objectives directly
relate to helping students develop international and cultural awareness.
• The Patricia A. Doyle Center for Gender and Sexuality launches at UW -Platteville to provide a supportive,
equitable and safe environment for all persons on campus with relation to gender and sexuality. The Center
offers resources, programming and information on issues and challenges facing women and the LGBTQ
community.
• UW -Platteville, in partnership with the Platteville Chamber of Commerce, launches a "Welcoming Campaign"
throughout the city. Door signs saying "We Welcome Diversity" and "Welcome" in 10 different languages are
distributed to businesses for display.
• A partnership with the National Alliance for Partnerships and Equity enables Northeast Iowa Community
College to strengthen its culture of diversity, equity and inclusion.
• UW -Platteville launches an English Language Program, which offers year-round English immersion courses
to non-native English speakers. Upon completion of the program, students should be prepared to continue
their education in their academic field of choice.
COMMUNITY IMPACT REPORT: EQUITY AND INCLUSION - INCLUSIVE DUBUQUE 7
• Clarke University translates admission documents and information into Spanish and hires Spanish-speaking
tour guides.
Strategies are developed at Clarke University to recruit underserved student populations to the university.
• A Loras College professor works with City of Dubuque staff to provide Intercultural Communication training to
faculty at Hempstead High School as a voluntary professional development opportunity.
2015
A series of events are held at Wartburg Theological Seminary that are open to the seminary community on
addressing matters of racism.
• UW -Platteville sees a 47% increase in international student enrollment since 2011 due to increased strategic
international student marketing, recruitment and retention efforts.
• Northeast Iowa Commmunity College, in partnership with Greater Dubuque Development Corporation,
creates a community outreach coach position focused on recruiting in the downtown Dubuque
neighborhoods.
A three-year plan is developed by the Northeast Iowa Community College Dubuque Center to train staff and
faculty on cultural diversity, micromessaging, poverty and more.
• Clarke University offers faculty workshops on creating an inclusive classroom environment.
• Clarke University implements COMPASS, a required program for students with an intercultural engagement
outcome.
• Clarke University pilots a minority student mentoring program with Dubuque Senior High School.
• The Dubuque Community School District begins disaggregating data regarding grade -level reading,
attendance and graduation rates to help improve outcomes for all students.
• Loras College implements cultural competency training as part of the Honors Student Program curriculum.
2016
• Staff in the Physician Assistant program at the University of Dubuque attend Intercultural Communication
training.
8 COMMUNITY IMPACT REPORT: EQUITY AND INCLUSION - INCLUSIVE DUBUQUE
PRIVATE SECTOR
2014
• Black Hills Energy launches ASPIRE — a corporate initiative to promote diversity and inclusion.
2015
• Black Hills Energy provides unconscious bias training to its employees.
• The Smokestack makes a commitment to hiring and maintaining a diverse staff, both on payroll and
independent contractors.
• The Smokestack works to create an accepting environment where staff and patrons feel respected and can
be their authentic selves.
• The Smokestack works to empower staff and patrons who are among the traditionally disempowered.
FAITH-BAESED ORGANIZATIONS
2015
• Dubuque Area Congregations United hosts an interfaith Thanksgiving service at Resurrection Catholic, which
attracts more than 300 attendees.
2016
• Dubuque Area Congregations United hosts monthly programs for community members on justice topics
including homelessness in Dubuque, becoming a green community, affordable housing in an equitable
community, and responding to mental illness in our community.
COMMUNITY IMPACT REPORT: EQUITY AND INCLUSION - INCLUSIVE DUBUQUE 9