One of the core tenets of the National Equity Atlas is to equip policymakers, advocates, and community leaders with actionable data and strategies to advance racial equity. In alignment with this goal, we offer our expertise and support through trainings and other resources to users who express interest in using the Atlas to inform their work.

We received a request from Steve Lee — the diversity, equity, and inclusion manager of the City of Hillsboro, Oregon — who sought guidance on how the city’s agencies could leverage Atlas data to inform their decision-making processes. Based on their specific needs, we developed a training session for Hillsboro’s executive staff members. Through it, we provided them with a walkthrough of the Atlas and an overview of the best practices of using disaggregated data in decision-making. This session also included a moderated discussion with city leadership, who shared how their respective departments have used data to advance Hillsboro’s equity goals.

Creating a Data Profile of Hillsboro

Hillsboro is the largest city in Washington County and the fifth largest city in Oregon, with a population of 108,026 people. It sits to the west of the Portland metropolitan area.

From planning discussions, we learned that the group was particularly interested in infrastructure and community-led planning. This led us to focus the walkthrough of the Atlas on three indicators for Hillsboro: race/ethnicity, poverty, and median wages.

Here’s what the data illustrated:

• Hillsboro has become more diverse in recent decades, with many people of color moving to the city from neighboring Portland.

• Washington County, in which Hillsboro sits, tends to have higher median wages across most racial/ethnic groups compared to the region. This suggests that, as compared to the metro area, the county has smaller racial gaps in this measure. 

• Given the city and county’s population growth, particularly in terms of residents of color, local policymakers need to ensure that systems and policies are keeping pace with demographic shifts to prevent deepening inequities.

Leveraging Data to Power Local Equity Agendas

Data is not a panacea, but it can be useful for identifying targeted problems and solutions. Abbie Langston, director of equitable economy at PolicyLink, took the group through key principles for designing equity solutions. To drive community action and policy change, solutions must be:

• Data-driven: Data is critical for identifying opportunities for change. But on its own, it is value-neutral. Data storytelling requires context setting in order to be in service to transformative change.

• Race-conscious: Disaggregating data by race and ethnicity can illuminate racial gaps in outcomes that would otherwise be hidden by an aggregate measure. Doing so can help policymakers identify priority groups and issue areas.

• Outcomes-oriented: Understanding the issues at hand is important, but it is just as important for there to be an action plan with a clear result in mind. Those designing equity solutions should have a strong idea of who the solutions are trying to impact and how to do so.

• Actionable: An equity solution should also have a clear plan for action that incorporates prior research and planning.

• Community-informed: A core component of equity solutions is to center those who are closest to the issues to provide credibility, legitimacy, and lived experiences. This is key to identifying opportunities and priority areas that are important to the community.

This presentation culminated in an engaged discussion in which the participants shared ways that their departments are thinking about and including equity in their planning and practices. Department leaders spoke on how they have been using data to understand housing, transportation, and infrastructure needs, as well as how these needs relate to the dynamics of the communities that they serve. Participants also shared their excitement for centering racial equity across the city government rather than solely within individual departments and agencies.

It is promising to hear the ways that the Atlas can energize and fuel equity conversations and solutions. We look forward to continuing to cultivate a relationship with our users and providing expertise and guidance in support of the equity movement.

Deep Dive: Learn more about how other policymakers and movement leaders are using the Atlas to advance racial and economic equity.