Bloomington has taken the lead among suburban cities in creating inclusive workplaces, achieving a groundbreaking score on the Racial Equity Dividends Index from the Center for Economic Inclusion. The City landed in the 95th percentile compared to other organizations, signaling a significant push toward racial equity. The Index serves as a benchmarking tool to guide and measure the success of organizations in cultivating environments where diversity is acknowledged, celebrated, and harnessed for communal prosperity.
The Index is more than just a report; it is a yearly call to action for organizations to critically assess and steadfastly improve their policies and practices. "This report showcases the dedication of the many staff who show up every day committed to support systems change throughout the organization. And while there is yet much more work to do, today we celebrate building the foundation that will carry us forward," Bloomington Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer Faith Jackson was quoted saying in a city press release.
The accolades for Bloomington extended across multiple domains of governance, highlighting achievements in leadership, budgets and finance, public safety, and public policy. These are critical areas where the rhetoric of inclusion finds its tangibility in the public sector, providing the impetus for ongoing progress and setting a template for peer cities to follow suit. The comprehensive Index also brought into focus elements such as hiring practices, organizational culture, retention and advancement, procurement, community and economic development, workforce development, as well as housing, transportation, and land use policies.
The Center for Economic Inclusion, the force behind the index, empowers leadership in both public and private sectors to pivot towards and to succinctly implement anti-racist business environments. They offer not just the vision but also the actionable knowledge and tools to make such environments a reality, contributing to the deconstruction of racial wealth gaps and beckoning the dawn of a more racially equitable economy. For more information on the City's ranking and the Racial Equity Dividends Index, visit the City of Bloomington's website.
