11. Community Participation

The Statewide Equity Office (SEO) is dedicated to fostering equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility through active engagement with both State of Colorado employees and community members. To further this commitment, the SEO launched five distinct Statewide Communities of Practice in June 2024: Accessibility, External Strategy, Internal Strategy, Supplier Diversity: Construction, and Supplier Diversity: Goods & Services. These groups, composed of individuals with professional and lived experience in overcoming disparities, guide the SEO’s strategic directions to ensure that our initiatives resonate effectively with the diverse communities we serve.

The Statewide Equity Office is committed to leading engagement with populations experiencing disparities. The Statewide Equity Office distributes resources and efforts across various initiatives. Among these, a key aspect of our work involves actively collaborating with both internal and external stakeholders to address and engage with communities experiencing disparate outcomes.

Connecticut’s newly established Office of Opportunity, created by executive order, is tasked with embedding inclusion and access across all state government operations. The office’s mission is to eliminate systemic barriers and ensure that state services are efficiently and effectively delivered and  accessible to all Connecticut residents regardless of socio-economic status. The Chief Opportunity Officer will lead efforts to assess agency policies, develop and publish Opportunity Plans, integrate efficiency and effectiveness into budgeting, and promote inclusive communication and contracting practices. All state agencies are required to collaborate with the office to implement sustainable, opportunity-driven strategies statewide.

In addition, Connecticut’s Office of Early Childhood (OEC) has community engagement initiatives and policies. The CT OEC Parent Cabinet is a diverse, parent-led 15 member statutory statewide advisory committee to OEC (P.A. 23-160, Sec. 40). It meets regularly to help advise the agency on how to make improvements in the lives of children and families across the state. And in 2015, Connecticut state law created a Two-Generational (2Gen) Initiative, which works to put the whole family, both children and their caregivers, on a path to economic stability.  The 2Gen approach works to empower parents as civic leaders and partners in our work.

The Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs was established as a separate state agency by the state legislature. The OCRA’s Executive Director is appointed by the Lt. Governor, who also serves as the Secretary of Rural Development. OCRA works with local, state and national partners to provide resources and technical assistance to aid communities in shaping and achieving their vision for community and economic development. A privilege of our agency is to award grants to fund public gathering places, fix water/sewer infrastructures, restore historic structures, build community facilities and revitalize commercial districts. These funds help communities improve their quality of life and ensure the health and safety of their citizens.

In June 2024, Governor Moore and Bloomberg Philanthropies announced a new partnership to promote public sector innovation in the State of Maryland. Together they established the first-ever Bloomberg Philanthropies-supported state Innovation Team. Under the leadership of a chief innovation officer, the team is charged with identifying, testing, and piloting new initiatives to address the governor’s top priorities – particularly in advancing the Moore-Miller Administration’s fight to reduce child poverty. Maintaining a resident focus is a core component of the team’s work, alongside driving collaboration across state agencies and sectors.

The Governor’s Office of Community Initiatives (GOCI) is dedicated to fostering a more inclusive Maryland by actively connecting residents with valuable economic, volunteer, and human service opportunities. The Office’s mission is to bridge the gap between Marylanders and the resources available through various government, business, and nonprofit partners. GOCI also houses the Governor’s ethnic and cultural commissions, faith-based outreach, immigrant affairs, and the Commission on LGBTQIA+ Affairs.

The Moore-Miller Administration State Plan was also developed “to lay out an implementation roadmap of the Moore-Miller Administration’s mission to ‘leave no one behind’ in Maryland.”

Minnesota prioritizes community participation throughout the enterprise and within the budget process. The government-to-government relationship between the State and 11 sovereign Tribal Nations sharing land with Minnesota is strong and codified within State law.

The Chief Equity Officer leads the Office of Equity, Opportunity, and Accessibility, connecting external stakeholders with state government partners. Their Mind, Body, and Soul Convenings exemplify the leadership of this Office. Statewide leadership is also provided by the Office of Public Engagement, as well as multiple Councils convened by Executive Order.

In 2023, Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) introduced the MN StoryCollective, a platform and process for people in Minnesota to share their experiences. MN StoryCollective shares these stories with state leaders, calling attention to the most pressing needs of our communities and issues to solve. The stories will help shape how Minnesota improves programs and services to support the health and wellbeing of communities. Over 2,000 submissions have been made to date.

Wealth Disparity Task Force: Since its creation by Executive Order in 2021, the Wealth Disparity Task Force (WDTF) has focused on reaching out to the public for direct input to the WDTF working groups: Education, Health, Housing, Criminal Justice, and Economy. The Task Force released its final report in February 2025 and continues to engage with underrepresented communities, building on the outreach conducted during in-person and virtual listening sessions. The final report provides recommendations on addressing opportunity gaps.

Office of Equity: Ensures the Governor’s Office is coordinating policies that are people-centered and increase opportunities for marginalized communities. Jayné Johnson is the inaugural Director of the Governor’s Office of Equity and is the lead Task Force liaison to state agencies and stakeholders including faith-based and community organizations. She advances technical assistance cohorts for micro and small businesses, workforce summits, public forums, and collaboratives including the Trenton Capital City Community Coalition.

The Office of Constituent Engagement, led by Director Tracy Lovett, is part of the North Carolina Governor’s Office. This office focuses on public engagement and inclusion, providing citizens with opportunities to connect with the Governor and participate in state affairs.

In 2019 Governor DeWine signed an executive order creating the RecoveryOhio Advisory Council to ensure that the state’s work improves the health and wellness of all Ohio citizens.

The Office of Data and Efficiency’s IOP Data Analytics team partnered with RecoveryOhio to launch the Overdose Early Warning Dashboard. The dashboard draws upon multiple, cross-agency data sources like emergency medical reports, naloxone administration, socioeconomic indicators, and law enforcement data to predict when communities may be at heightened risk for a spike in drug overdoses, so local leaders can act in time to save lives.

Since launch the dashboard has more than 8,176 views, an average of more than 1,000 views/month. RecoveryOhio’s Dashboard will continue to improve with increased efforts to market and educate the public on its availability.

The Governor’s Office of Appalachia and the Local Development Districts advise local groups and residents about possible funding sources and methods to address the issues facing the region. The Governor’s Office of Appalachia helps establish a strategy for the use of the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) and state funding within Ohio.

One of the Oregon Agency Expectations is requiring all state agencies to have a Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity (DEI) Plan; each plan requires meaningful community engagement. The previous administration established a road map, the DEI Action Plan, for agencies so they would have a resource to lean on, which includes a strategy to strengthen community engagement. When SIEA surveyed agencies in April 2023, 52% of agencies had a DEI plan in place. Like Governor Kotek outlined in her letter of agency expectations, Oregon state agencies were required to submit their DEI plans or an outline for a future plan by June 1, 2023. The goal is for all state agencies to have DEI plans adopted and established by June 2024.

PA Heart & Soul creates residentially driven plans that guide future town planning.  PennDOT’s Road to Opportunity events aim to help small businesses gain a better understanding of the Commonwealth procurement process; learn how to identify, prepare, and respond to bidding opportunities; build their network, and feel empowered to make informed decisions regarding Commonwealth of PA contracting PennDOT is a member of the Environmental Justice Interagency Council and is creating an Environmental Justice Strategic Plan to comply with Executive Order 2021-07. Governor’s Commissions on African American Affairs, Asian American and Pacific Islander Affairs, Latino Affairs, LGBTQ Affairs, Women, and Next Generation Engagement, with leading and respected executive directors and more than 120 commissioners appointed by the Governor, help in making state government accountable and responsive to the needs of historically underserved communities by advising the Governor, Cabinet, and all agencies under the Governor’s jurisdiction on policies, legislation, and programs to advance the status of those communities.

Rhode Island takes a coordinated, multi-agency approach to community engagement, with a focus on reaching economically disadvantaged communities. Community input shaped major statewide initiatives like Governor McKee’s RI 2030 plan and Housing 2030 —both developed through stakeholder panels, public surveys, and facilitated conversations.

While engagement is embedded across state government, directional leadership is provided by the Division of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (DEDI), led by an associate director within the Department of Administration. DEDI advances statewide fairness and access by fostering an inclusive culture that values and reflects the changing demographics of the state by advancing equitable opportunities for all who work for or do business with the State of Rhode Island. This work includes expanding state contract opportunities for underrepresented communities and small businesses within the state.

Other agencies also maintain dedicated engagement teams, including the Department of Labor and Training’s Office of Community Engagement, and the Rhode Island State Police.

The Governor’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives mobilizes Tennessee’s Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) and Faith-Based Organizations (FBOs) to unite with state government in serving vulnerable Tennesseans.

Washington state’s Poverty Reduction Work Group (PRWG) is an interagency effort focused on the systemic policy, program, and partnership changes needed to realize our vision of a Washington without poverty and injustice. Governor Inslee created the PRWG in 2018, tasking the group to create a comprehensive, 10-year plan to reduce poverty and inequality. For two years, a diverse and dedicated group of 45 stakeholders, directed by a 22-member Steering Committee of people experiencing poverty, met monthly to ultimately craft and co-design eight strategies containing 60 specific recommendations that make up the Blueprint for an Equitable Future: The 10-Year Plan to Dismantle Poverty in Washington State (10-Year Plan).