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Government Alliance on Race and Equity

The Government Alliance on Race and Equity is a national network working to achieve racial equity and advance opportunities for all.

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Home>Multnomah County, Oregon

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Multnomah County, Oregon

Racial equity work in Multnomah County began within the Health Department, where a Health Equity Initiative was launched in 2008. The Initiative formed in response to a report on racial and ethnic health disparities in the county. Health Equity Initiative staff began developing shared analysis of the problems revealed by the report by screening the four-hour PBS documentary, Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick? and hosting discussions of the film. Over 500 county officials and community members participated in 57 screenings of the film. The screenings gave participants new ways to talk about equity, and provided shared language to raise the level of conversation.

These film-inspired conversations about the impact of inequality on health and the kinds of policies needed to address inequity set the stage for Multnomah County Health Department to build and expand equity-centered programs such as the Future Generations Collaborative in the Native Amer-ican community and the Healthy Birth Initiative in the African American community. Eighty-eight percent of Healthy Birth Initiative participants initiate prenatal care, more than the county’s white population and higher than the county’s overall prenatal care entry rate.

Putting racial equity at the center and using a social determinants of health framework of analysis led the Multnomah County Health Department (MCHD) to engage in work outside of its traditional realm. Social determinants of health refer to the interplay between factors affecting a person’s life beyond health behaviors or physiological problems, including systems such as the economy, transportation, and neighborhood context (Social Determinants of Health in Multnomah County). Recognizing that income is one of the primary social determinants of health, MCDH has worked with communities on micro-enterprise projects, using its leverage as a contractor to promote equi-table practices, and is linking food access and health outcomes through the Healthy Retail Initiative (Health Equity Initiative Five-Year Reflection).

In 2010, Multnomah County expanded its equity work beyond the Health Department and created the Office of Diversity and Equity (ODE). Within two years after ODE’s founding, a performance audit found that the office had gained respect among the county’s 4,500 employees (Tims, 2012). Draw-ing from the Health Department’s work, the county developed an Equity and Empowerment Lens to more intentionally examine and address root causes of inequities. In 2011, the Multnomah County Chair created a new position within the ODE to institutionalize and integrate the Lens County-wide (Equity and Empowerment Lens 2012).

The County now has staff dedicated to doing equity training and offers a full suite of trainings to build the capacity of county staff to have conversations about racial equity and apply those lessons to their work.


Download Datasheet


News from Multnomah County, Oregon


May 7, 2019

Perspectives in Equity in Hiring Practices Pt. 1: Daniel Garcia, Senior Equity and Inclusion Policy Advisor, Multnomah County. 

What are the obstacles to addressing workforce inequities through hiring? In this interview, we speak with Daniel Garcia, Senior Equity and Inclusion Policy Advisor for Multnomah County to discuss how Multnomah County’s Workforce Equity and Strategic Plan is functioning to catalyze organizational change. Q: Can you please give an overview of the Workforce Equity andREAD MORE > Read More


December 11, 2017

Multnomah County, OR, Creates a Workforce Equity Resolution that Centers Employee Experiences

At a  September 14th Multnomah County Board of County Commissioners meeting, powerful public testimony from employees who described their experiences at Multnomah County were a reflection of what the county had already been experiencing. These stories were amplified by the high level dismissal of an African American Public Health Director, and were the qualitative representationREAD MORE > Read More


November 8, 2017

The People Behind the Movement: Ben Duncan

Who are the people leading the movement for racial equity within government? Over the past year, we interviewed practitioners across the country who are working to advance racially equitable governance. What are their motivations and their challenges? This Racial Equity Leadership Profile series seeks to capture and share these stories from the frontlines of theREAD MORE > Read More


October 3, 2015

Advancing Racial Equity: Focusing on Structural Drivers of Inequity within Boys and Men of Color Projects

The webinar on "Advancing Racial Equity: Focusing on Structural Drivers of Inequity within Boys and Men of Color Projects" on October 2, 2015 highlighted the reality that our institutions and structures have been designed to produce our current racially inequitable outcomes, and the reality that for us to advance racial equity, we clearly have to work on institutional and structural changes. Read More


June 8, 2015

Minimum Qualifications: Best Practices in Recruitment and Selection Advancing Racial Equity in Multnomah County

Screening people in, not screening people out. This is the goal of the new Minimum Qualifications: Best Practices in Recruitment and Selection document produced by Multnomah County, Oregon. The document is one component of a larger plan to advance racial equity through examining and transforming hiring practices within the County. Read More


August 20, 2014

Materials from the Convening on Racial Equity (Twin Cities, MN – August 2014)

Materials from the Convening on Racial Equity in August 2014. Read More


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Participating Jurisdictions: Multnomah County, OregonBegan Racial Equity Work: 2006 – 2010 Population: Large (500,001–1,000,000) Region: Northwest Number of Employees: 4001 – 8000Form of Government: County


Demographics

White:56,2421
African American: 41,401
Asian: 47,950
Hispanic: 80,138
American Indian & Alaska Native: 2,157
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander: 4,029
Multi-Racial: 33,843
Total Population: 735,334


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GARE is a joint project of the new Race Forward and the Haas Institute for a Fair & Inclusive Society.© 2023 Government Alliance on Race and Equity

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