Hartford, East Hartford, Bloomfield team with YWCA, seeking more diversity in town boards and commissions

While Connecticut has made some progress in increasing the diversity of people serving on state boards and commissions, towns still fall short in reflecting the demographic makeup of their communities, according to a campaign by the YWCA Hartford Region.

Three Capitol-region municipalities have teamed with YWCA to remedy that gap. Hartford, East Hartford and Bloomfield are on a mission to increase gender, racial, LGBTQ, neighborhood, age and politically unaffiliated diversity on boards and commissions.

“There is a need. Representation matters in all sectors, particularly when you think about how citizens participate in the planning of cities and execution of initiatives,” said Karen Taylor, City of Hartford director of equity and opportunity.

Melinda Johnson, the YWCA’s director for community engagement and advocacy, said the YWCA’s Fifty 50 Campaign was inspired by a 2020 report by the secretary of the state about boards and commissions.

“That report looked at demographic information for state boards and commissions and compared it to the census,” Johnson said.

That report concluded “Nearly three decades have passed since the General Assembly passed legislation to encourage the appointment of women and people of color to state boards and commissions, and while it’s true that progress has been made, equity has not been realized. In a state as diverse as Connecticut, we can and should do better.”

Johnson said The Fifty 50 Campaign emerged under the philosophy “all politics is local.” Leaders in the three municipalities agreed that progress was needed in their towns, too.

“Unfortunately there had not been a publication similar to the secretary of the state’s at a local level. ... But the resounding sentiment was that even though there was no data publication on these gaps, that they still existed at a local level,” she said.

In addition to gender and racial representation, the campaign also hopes to increase LGBTQ representation on boards, as well as people from a variety of neighborhoods, people from many age groups and people unaffiliated with a political party.

“There are voices out there that haven’t been represented. We are inviting you to come,” Johnson said.

She said the campaign, which began in 2021, is in the middle stages. The target to see a new diversity of faces on municipalities’ boards is 2027.

‘Fifty 50′

The name of the campaign, “Fifty 50,” reflects the mission. Half of YWCA’s effort is working with towns and cities to reform policies, processes and practices in putting people on boards. The other half is persuading community members to join boards.

India Rodgers, director of strategic communications and government affairs in Bloomfield, said one traditional municipal procedure that should be studied is how people get on boards.

“We have a committee on committees subcommittee. They receive nominations from parties,” Rodgers said. “But we encourage others in the community to submit applications.”

Johnson agrees. She said some municipalities in the state don’t have any unaffiliated seats set aside on committees, meaning nearly all appointees are from the two major political parties. She hopes towns remedy this, but says in all towns, communication with the public is key.

“Historically, openings are posted on a website or sent out by Republican or Democratic town committees. But there are a growing number of unaffiliated individuals who might not look at those places,” she said. “We are mobilizing municipalities to reach out in a different way, through newsletters or snail mail.”

Taylor, of Hartford, said municipalities also must do a better job informing the public of what membership on a board entails.

“We all lead busy lives, demanding of our time with competing priorities. Many people don’t have the awareness of what it means to serve on a board,” Taylor said. “They don’t know what will be required of them. That makes them apprehensive of committing.”

Tyron Harris, human resources director town of East Hartford, said towns need to communicate clearly the responsibilities of committee membership.

“We need to start meeting people where they’re at, let them know, no matter what party they are affiliated with, or not affiliated with, they can engage in the political process and have a place at the table,” Harris said.

Johnson added that studying the municipalities involved working with their officials.

“We needed to be in conversation with the corporation counsel, about the legal ramifications of what we are asking for, and the mayor and city council,” she said. “There are so many layers to this. But we need to cover all of them so that if anyone desires to move forward with this work and replicate it, they can move along more seamlessly than we did.”

She said adding diverse members to committees may actually become vital to the basic functioning of a town if participation across the board, among all communities, is lacking.

“If your boards and commissions are not functioning properly, they are holding up public business,” she said. “When you look at projects that have been halted in a community, you have to ask why. Often public participation requires a quorum. You can’t do public business without it.”

Fifty 50 is currently executing surveys in the municipalities to discover what community members want regarding information and access. Public meetings will be scheduled soon.

Committees

When the municipalities signed on to participate in the inaugural campaign of Fifty 50 — which has been funded through a United Way grant — they were asked to name committees to focus on, which impacted quality of life in the town or city.

East Hartford chose Fine Arts and Culture, Planning and Zoning, Service for the Disabled, Inland-Wetlands and Economic Development.

Hartford chose Human Relations, LGBTQ + and Golf.

Bloomfield chose Inland-Wetland-Watercourses and Public Arts.

Harris said choosing the disability committee expands the inclusion goal of the town.

“It gives us the opportunity for outreach to individuals with disabilities. This will give a different perspective on what services we need to provide to individuals,” he said.

Taylor said the human relations commission dives right into the heart of the inclusion goal.

“That commission is allied with the Office of Equity and Opportunity. We need a membership of diverse community members to serve on it. This will be critically important to formulate the equity work in the City of Hartford,” she said.

Taylor added that participating in constructive activities may ease the stresses of contemporary life.

“It’s said that the antidote to despair is service. If people see things happening that trouble them, this is an opportunity to utilize their skills, experience and expertise to help make a change,” she said. “This is our city. This is your city. Your voice matters on how the city is evolving and shaping.”

Susan Dunne can be reached at [email protected].