CIC Diversity Outreach Training Program

About the Program

Category: Personnel Management, Employment and Training (Best in Category)

Year: 2011

The Multnomah County Citizen Involvement Committee (CIC) is composed of 15 volunteers who seek to facilitate and enhance opportunities for citizen participation In County decision-making. The CIC assigned support staff from the County’s Office of Citizen involvement (OCI) to create and foster a region-wide “Diversity Outreach Training Program.” The Porgram’s workshops are now bringing over 100 local, regional, federal, and OR/WA State Government and non-profit staff together two to three times a year with community-based organizations (CBOs) to share best practices, lessons learned, and challenges regarding diverse outreach and engagement efforts. In addition, the workshops frequently focus on promoting the creation and expansion of collaborative efforts (e.g., using an active exercise called ‘Collabora-dating’) in order to discover new outreach methods, and to leverage resources to fill existing gaps left by diminishing revenues and budget cuts. The workshops have resulted in the establishment of new and sustainable collaborative relationships as well as the broad expansion of the outreach ‘tool chest’, which has increased the ability of staff at local, regional, and State government levels, as well as non-profit organizations, to successfully conduct outreach into diverse communities.