Beaverton Wins National Cultural Diversity Award

Email to a friend Permalink

Monday, March 09, 2015

Kirsten Nicolaisen, GoLocalPDX Content Manager

Today, the National League of Cities (NLC) honored Beaverton's cutural inclusion program for enhancing and promoting cultural diversity. Beaverton tied for first place with Cupertino, Calif. in the City Cultural Diversity Awards for cities with populations 25,001 - 100,000. 

"It truly is a shining example of diversity and total community collaboration and partnership," said Priscilla Tyson, program chair of the 2015 City Cultural Diversity Awards. The award was given during the Celebrate Diversity breakfast at the NLC Congressional City Conference in Washington, D.C. 

"Beaverton has made huge strides in supporting diversity, equity and inclusion," said Beaverton Mayor Denny Doyle. "This award honors the guidance and leadership from Beaverton's communities of color. I am so happy to see their hard work recognized." 

The City Cultural Diversity awards program, established in 1995, was developed to showcase how cities achieve excellence in diversity. The awards are given to honor community leadership in developing creative and effective programs to improve cultural diversity. Winning cities are selected by guest judges representative of the NLC's five constituency groups and grouped according to population. 

Beaverton's cultural inclusion program seeks to address racial disparities by "building strategic partnerships to support greater engagement of these communities in city policy, leadership, and initiatives," according to a statement from the city. 

In the past year, Beaverton's program has: 

• Established the Diversity Advisory Board, the first official city board focused on engagement and support of racially and ethnically diverse populations in Beaverton. 
• Developed the city's first Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Plan, a community-led vision of what it will take to build a more inclusive and equitable city. The plan was approved by the Beaverton City Council in January 2015. 
• Partnered with the Center for Intercultural Organizing (CIO) to host the Beaverton Organizing and Leadership Development (BOLD) program, to support emerging immigrant, refugee, and other leaders of color in Beaverton. 
• Worked to develop a Minority, Women, and Emerging Small Business (MWESB) policy for city purchasing, expected to be in place for the new fiscal year in July. 
• Become the first city in Oregon to join the Welcoming Cities and Counties Initiative, a national coalition focused on supporting local immigrant integration. 
• Partnered with counterparts at Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District (THPRD) and the Beaverton School District to organize an equity seminar series, an annual training series for staff on topics related to cultural competence. 

 

Mayor Doyle accepted the award on behalf of the city at the Celebrate Diversity breakfast in D.C. 

Enjoy this post? Share it with others.

Email to a friend Permalink