RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION

The Department of Public Works is fully committed to the initiative put forth by Mayor Cavalier Johnson in Advancing and Achieving Racial Equity and Inclusion. Racial disparities exist in virtually every key indicator of child, family, economic and community well-being. It is critical for the City of Milwaukee government to achieve racial equity within City government itself and in the communities we serve.

Therefore, DPW recognizes our responsibility to work to eliminate racial disparities in the essential services we provide, the environment we demonstrate and expect in the workplace and in the partnerships we foster in the City of Milwaukee. DPW aims to demonstrate and foster a culture of inclusion, equity and social justice for our employees. In collaboration with the City’s Office of Equity and Inclusion, DPW employees will be receiving resources and tools needed to effectively manage conversations about racism and equity.

RACIAL EQUITY QUESTIONNAIRE 

The Mayor shared the Administration’s Policy Statement on Advancing and Achieving Racial Equity and Inclusion in 2020.  In short, we all have a responsibility to recognize and work to eliminate racial disparities in the essential services we provide, the environment we demonstrate and expect in the workplace and in the partnerships we foster in the City of Milwaukee.

As employees in the Department of Public Works, it is our responsibility to demonstrate and foster a culture of inclusion, equity and social justice for our coworkers and ourselves. 

DPW leadership, in coordination with the DPW Race, Equity, and Inclusion team, will provide you with resources and tools to assist your efforts to effectively manage conversations about racism and equity.

In order to understand and meet you where you are currently, we developed a voluntary, confidential survey for employees to complete.  The responses to the survey provided valuable information that will help inform decisions supporting the direction we take in advancing racial equity in our workplace and in the community we serve.  We will provide various learning opportunities in the coming months and for the foreseeable future.  Additionally, the Office of Equity and Inclusion will provide support and guidance in collaboration with all city departments.

The questionnaire was open from March 24 through June 15, 2021.  The survey was distributed through email, text message and available in paper format, if preferred by the employee. 

The Department of Public Works employee demographics as of June 24, 2021.

Listed below are the demographics of the survey participants.  Note the ethnic group categories differ from the chart above due to the classifications used in the city’s HR system.

RACIAL EQUITY QUESTIONNAIRE RESULTS

The following questions/statements presented in the survey along with the results are below.