Under the leadership of the Office of Equity and Racial Justice, city departments have created Racial Equity Action Plans; moving forward, departments will be responsible for annual reporting on the progress of their plans during the City’s annual budgeting process
Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot has signed an Executive Order that formally articulates the annual process departments will follow to comply with Section 2-4- 100 of the Municipal Code requiring City departments to create and report progress on Racial Equity Action Plans. The goal of this Executive Order is to ensure the collaboration and cooperation of all sections of the executive and legislative branches in supporting more equitable outcomes in city governance for years to come.
Under the leadership of the first-ever Chief Equity Officer for the City of Chicago, Candace Moore, my administration has laid the foundation to address systemic racial inequity,” said Mayor Lightfoot. “The truth is, racial equity is not the job of one person, or even one team. It is the responsibility of all of us, and it’s why I am proud to establish guidance for how city government can continue to advance and be accountable for its work for years to come. Whether you are a building inspector, an emergency medical technician, or a commissioner you have the power and responsibility to work to affect more equitable results for the residents of Chicago.”
Twenty-eight City departments have completed Racial Equity Action Plans (REAPs) aligned to driving citywide impact both internally and externally. These plans are intentionally aligned to the We Will Chicago citywide plan, Healthy Chicago 2025, and the Climate Action Plan. All REAPs will be publicly available at Chicago.gov/Equity in the coming days. These multi-year plans must be publicly maintained and departments must report annual progress on their strategies via the Budget Equity Tool, an analysis of progress and future commitments toward advancing equity including an explanation of how budgeted resources will support their plans. Department budget equity submissions can be viewed at www.Chicago.gov/BudgetEquity.
Departments created Racial Equity Action Plans after an intensive, multi-month racial equity training series that was made available to departments through the support of the Chicago Department of Public Health and the Crown Family Philanthropies. Departments created teams of 5-15 members who received training on equity, language, frameworks, practices, and tools. Teams then worked together to build their departments’ plans that were presented at a final symposium with the support of their commissioners and senior City leaders.
“Since I began this role, the goal has been to build equity into the business of government,” said Chief Equity Officer Candace Moore. “This Executive Order advances systemic change in the City of Chicago that will ensure that the whole of government remains actionable and accountable to creating a city that works for all Chicagoans.”
