Minneapolis Racial Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (REIB) Department
The Racial Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (REIB) Department at the City of Minneapolis partnered with Research in Action to gain insights into the City department’s strengths, identify areas hindering progress, and make recommendations for improving both operational processes and workplace culture to advance racial equity work across the enterprise.
Partners
City of Minneapolis
The Minneapolis Racial Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (REIB) Department was created in 2022, transitioning from a division to a department during the "racial reckoning" of 2020. Though many communities marked the police murder of George Floyd in 2020 as a "wakeup call" to begin racial equity work, the expansion of the REIB department is one of many recent attempts by the City of Minneapolis to contend with racial inequities.
Problem
Following the 2020 police murder of George Floyd, the City of Minneapolis emerged as the focal point of a national reckoning on racism. Calls for justice reverberated both in the streets and within City Hall, reflecting a growing demand for racial equity. Moreover, the experiences of Black staff underscored the urgent need for proactive measures to address and enhance anti-racist workplace culture.
Reflecting the complexity of the Racial Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (REIB) Department’s history and its significance to the City, the City of Minneapolis Office of Public Services (OPS) sought assistance in completing an organizational assessment of interactions among internal departments in collaboration with REIB in 2023, after many staff left the City with complaints of a “toxic, racist, and unsafe work conditions” that complicated the task of leading racial equity work.
Process
The RIA team collected historical documents from REIB leaders and conducted four key informant interviews. We used this information to create a historical narrative summary that aimed to illustrate the complex history and tensions that arose in the creation of the department over a span of a decade.
The RIA team also co-defined key terms, core departmental activities, and impact goals with the REIB team and used the learnings to design a survey sent to all City department heads, City Council members, and Mayor’s Office leadership to process the impact of previous experiences with the REIB department and to gather clarity on shared understanding around key terms and to gauge interest in departments willingness to partner with the REIB team.
Finally, the RIA team analyzed all survey data, refined the historical narrative summary, and co-produced the final report recommendations with REIB team leaders.
Solutions
The report includes eight recommendations that were developed from the City leaders' survey, key informant interviews and the historical narrative learnings. These recommendations create a roadmap for REIB to invest in moving forward.
Introduce new trainings that fits the needs of City staff in departments across the City.
Refine existing definitions for key terms that encompass concepts frequently utilized in REIB's work and communication with other departments, and streamline across the City.
Reintroduce the REIB department within the City to clarify department responsibilities and introduce the relatively new team to gauge collaboration interest.
Solidify the REIB Department's role as an internal consultant for City departments to develop departmental racial equity policies, metrics, and strategic planning.
Foster a positive work culture within the City, as this is needed for City staff to authentically engage in racial equity, inclusion, and belonging work.
Increase staff buy-in for REIB to increase willingness to work with the department and increase collaboration opportunities.
Nurture the REIB Department's relationship with City Leadership to prevent continuing past harms and open up pathways for more cross-department conversations.
Continue supporting Racial Healing & Reconciliation and work with the community and Black, Brown, Indigenous, Asian, and Latine people, within the City of Minneapolis staff to initiate healing and repair efforts to move forward.
Presenting our findings
On November 4, 2024, Research in Action presented on our work with the city's Racial Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Department to the Minneapolis City Council Administration & Enterprise Oversight Committee. See our presentation and dialogue with city council members in this 30-minute video.
