March ILCMA Professional Development Event & Metro Luncheon- Hybrid Events

Operationalizing Racial Equity in Your Organization

Join your colleagues to learn more and ask questions about a recent pilot program helping communities increase knowledge and skills on practical ways to increase diversity and racial equity in their practices and processes. The development of this new program was sponsored by the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus (MMC), Illinois City/County Management Association (ILCMA), and University of Illinois at Chicago – Great Cities Institute. This important pilot program took place in the Fall of 2022 and wrapped up earlier this year. Attend the March 2023 ILCMA Professional Development program to:

• Learn more about the “Learning to Operationalize Racial Equity (LORE)” pilot program initiated between Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, Illinois City/County Management Association, and University of Illinois at Chicago – Great Cities Institute
• Understand how key concepts like diversity, equity and inclusion can help you identify ways to improve employee morale, engagement and performance
• Discuss how starting your organization’s equity journey with a pilot project can lead to the use of diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts to identify solutions across all aspects of your internal environment.
• Hear from participants in the initial LORE pilot cohort group about their experiences, pilot initiatives and early results.

SPEAKERS:

Kathleen Yang-Clayton, PhD joined the faculty in the Department of Public Administration, College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois-Chicago in 2017. She is a Research Fellow at the Great Cities Institute and a member of several national initiatives that integrate public administration and racial equity together from the Kettering Foundation, National League of Cities and the International City/County Management Association. Her current work focuses on the operationalization of racial equity practices inside of large public organizations that increase the public’s trust in government and improves government performance, especially but not exclusively in historically marginalized communities. She was appointed Associate Dean for diversity, equity and inclusion at her college in 2021.

Adam Slade, MPPA, M.Ed, is a Visiting Research Specialist at the Great Cities Institute (GCI) at University of Illinois Chicago. Adam engages in public administration research on racial equity policy and process improvement, organization change transformation, education policy, government budgeting and finance. Previously, Adam worked for the Metropolitan Planning Council focusing on technical assistance to many local units of government around municipal capacity building in the Northeastern Illinois region and advocating for effective government policies. Prior to that Adam was a Senior Consultant at the Government Finance Officers Association, working with city, county, and state government organizations guiding financial process analysis, delivering training and conducting research. His current work focuses on operationalizing racial equity for local government organizations and guiding government and philanthropic community engagement through technical assistance and research.

Addresses ICMA Practice Area:  3 Equity and Inclusion 

In Person Attendees:

Registration/check-in and continental breakfast begins at 9AM at NIU Naperville, E. 1120 Diehl Road, Naperville, IL

Zoom Access:

Zoom Access information will be emailed separately, to each registrant.  Note: Access will not be sent immediately following registration, but prior to the event date.

March Metro Luncheon:  Up Close & Personal with Neil C. James

Hybrid Event: Attend in-person luncheon or online through Zoom

For the March Metro Luncheon, Neil C. James will join us to provide an up close look at the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus. Come hear a little about Neil, what’s new at the MMC, and how Managers/Administrators can get involved in MMC initiatives along with their Mayor/President.

Neil C. James, a Chicago native, was appointed Executive Director of the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus in October of 2022. Neil becomes only the 2nd ever Executive Director at the Mayors Caucus.

Prior to his appointment to the Mayors Caucus, Neil served as the Executive Director of the West Cook County Solid Waste Agency for 7 years. Neil also served first, as Policy Analyst of the West Central Municipal Conference beginning in 1998, and then as their Deputy Director beginning in 2002. His experience also includes work with the State of Illinois House of Representatives, Office of the Speaker from 1992 to 1998.

In Person Attendees:

Check-in and Networking begins at 11:30 AM at NIU Naperville, 1120 Diehl Road, Naperville, IL

Zoom Access:

Zoom Access information will be emailed separately, to each registrant.  Note: Access will not be sent immediately following registration, but prior to the event date.