Durham Strategic Plan Dashboard
Prosperity
Status Indicator: 
In Progress | 
On Hold | 
Complete/Ongoing
Initiative: 3.13 Develop tools to support information-sharing between the City and communities
Connected, Engaged, & Inclusive Communities
Description
This effort is focused on centering equity in community engagement processes to ensure that historically underserved communities and neighborhoods participate in the decision-making processes. Our approach includes creating tools to ensure equity by increasing the amount, frequency, and quality of information shared between the City and the community, improving openness, responsibility, and trust. As citywide tools, they will encourage more frequent and sustained information-sharing, coordination, and working together across City departments.
Key Measures & Data Analysis
We have uploaded 39 conversations with low-income communities and people of color to the Be Heard Durham Portal as of November 2023. For FY 2024, this included one (1) in July, (9) in August, (2) in September, (1) in October, and (3) in November. No conversations were uploaded in December because community members were engaged in holiday activities.
August was a busy month because the Community Engagement Mini-Grant program, which had applications due in September, awarded extra points to people who applied and completed conversations.
Community Conversations Uploaded
Why is it important?
The purpose of this initiative is to prioritize investment in, and engagement with low-wealth communities and communities of color that have historically been excluded from or harmed by policy decisions. Increases in information-sharing between the City and communities aim to rectify these harms and improve infrastructure in low-income communities and communities of color. With a focus on historically disinvested communities, these infrastructure investments can address disparities and promote equity.
What have we been doing?
We have built an online platform and public-facing website, Be Heard Durham, that collects and elevates the voices of underrepresented communities to shape City decision-making and lead to positive change. We have shared this tool with City staff and held a public launch at City Hall with City officials and community members, sharing the results of these conversations. We have begun working with City departments to use the database to inform their work and add more conversations to the database. We continue to work with community members to host discussions and incorporate them into city decision-making.
What's next?
Our next steps in this effort are to provide more training to support city staff and community members’ use of the website and continue to make this tool easy for a wide range of audiences. We plan to have at least 50 conversations uploaded to the database in FY 2024.
We are also building a Citywide Digital Project Map to track work across the City. This map will help community members know what is happening in their community so they are not surprised by unexpected inconveniences and prevent duplicative community engagement efforts across departments.
City Website Home Page: Durham, NC | Official Website (durhamnc.gov)
Budget Website Page: Budget & Management Services Department | Durham, NC (durhamnc.gov)
Budget and Management Services Department
Office of Performance and Innovation
Strategy and Performance Division