Real Voices

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Part of leading is learning. This year Kate joined the Washington State Progressive Governance Lab and Local Elected Leadership Institute training hosted by Local Progress and Sage Leaders. The training highlighted ways to drive policy-making through community partnership. She wants to use this knowledge to drive more collaborative governance practices, which are activities like engaging civilian boards, hosting regular forums, and ensuring citizen access to council leaders. As a councilmember, Kate will work to make sure there is room for your voice to heard. 

Kate was nominated by her peers to serve on the inaugural REDI (Racial, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) Coalition for the City of Auburn. The Coalition was comprised of the Mayor, two councilmembers, city directors, and city staff to ensure stakeholders from every level of the organization were included. The team proposed a framework for establishing REDI workplans for each department with the goal of incorporating equity principles into operations, programs, services, policies, and reporting. Impacts from this work are already being felt. This year, Auburn launched a city-wide salary survey to ensure fair pay practices for non-affiliated staff. Meanwhile IT is working to ensure customer kiosks are ADA compliant and accessible for all. Expect more great changes to come.