Diversity & Equity Planning

During my summer as the Initiative on Cities fellow for the City of Providence’s Department of Innovation I worked on researching, writing, and creating a diversity and equity plan for city employees. The fellowship and project gave me the opportunity to apply my skills as a historian to contemporary issues, and to learn more about the city I now call home.

Addressing diversity and equity is not an easy task. Providence is unique in that it is one of the most diverse cities in the United States. However, while diverse, Providence also has some of the highest income inequality, with historic, systemic barriers to greater inclusion creating divisions between residents. White residents fare far better than residents of color, as do men compared to women.

While the history of exclusion and inequalities present a moral obligation for Providence to address diversity and equity, there is also an economic one. As sociologist Richard Florida argues, diversity is an economic engine that fosters creativity, an essential part of the modern economy. Other studies agree, demonstrating how diversity can increase productivity, efficiency, and problem solving. Establishing moral and economic obligations for the city to address diversity and equity helped to form the basis for my work and why a new diversity and equity plan was needed.

Writing and crafting a diversity and equity plan was not an easy task. What presented one of the greatest challenges for my work was the lack of previous action. Although several departments within Providence’s city government had relatively recent action plans to address diversity and equity, there had not been a citywide plan in nearly two decades. This lack of previous work to build from proved difficult, yet it also offered opportunities to start fresh and offer bold actions, strategies, and goals.

Starting from scratch meant that I had to first research what other cities had done in recent years to address diversity and equity, and to also understand the current situation and recent trends in Providence. I discovered numerous municipalities across the United States, and even several outside, that faced similar situations as Providence and presented possible actions to incorporate into the plan. While research continued, I reached out to other people both within Providence city government and outside to explain my findings, brainstorm possible policy solutions, and even to find champions supportive of the plan to help with its implementation and sustainability upon completion.

The data on city employees presented both positive and negative findings. From a representational perspective by race and ethnicity, Providence employees largely reflected the regional workforce, the standard used by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to determine discrimination and unfair hiring practices. While city employment as a whole consisted of proportionate representation, representation across departments ranged widely. Furthermore, pay gaps between gender and race and ethnicity varied greatly from department to department, as well.

Because of disparities between departments, the action plan focused on a department-by-department approach along with larger, institutional changes to promote greater equity for all city employees. Focusing on individual departments allowed for the plan to promote diversity in the broadest sense. For example, while male city employees are overrepresented as a whole, a male employee could increase diversity within a largely female department—and vice versa. Having individual departments set diversity goals also created an approach suited for Providence’s city government structure, where over thirty departments and divisions function relatively independent from one another.

The Boston University Initiative on Cities summer fellowship was a great experience. It offered an opportunity to learn more about city government and challenges facing cities of the twenty-first century. The fellowship also allowed me to make contacts and network with individuals throughout the city, Rhode Island, and even across the United States. As a historian, the fellowship also offered an awarding opportunity to apply research and writing skills to address an important, and difficult, contemporary issue.

About Johnathan: Johnathan is a Ph.D. candidate in History in the College of Arts and Sciences. He received in BA and MA from the University of Northern Iowa, where he focused on the social and cultural movements of the Reagan era.