Developing an Equity Assessment Tool for Municipal Leadership

Cities are increasingly being asked to attend to equity considerations in their decision-making processes. While some cities have adopted overarching frameworks aimed at embedding equity into the work of municipalities, there remains a gap in applying or operationalizing equity, especially in public-facing decision-making. Building on advocacy work conducted by local NGO Women Transforming Cities, the proposed research seeks to collect and analyze existing tools aimed at moving municipal equity commitments from statements to actions, and use these tools to develop an implementable evaluation tool from the City of Vancouver’s Equity Framework. Targeted at City leaders, the prototype tool would help decision-makers effectively consider the impact their policies and motions have on equity-deserving groups. It would also be a step toward holding elected officials accountable to the equity work they committed to during their election campaigns.

Faculty Supervisor:

Tiffany Muller Myrdahl

Student:

Partner:

Women Transforming Cities

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Other services (except public administration)

University:

Simon Fraser University

Program: