July 23rd, 2007
Wow. This is a community that gets it…
From Ideas. Events. Opportunities.
Portland’s Model for Diversity
Portland has been a leader in pushing groups to incoporate diversity and inclusivity. Their Diverstiy Initiative looks for measureable results.
From the introduction to their manual:
“Diversity Results Initiative
The City of Portland/Multnomah County Diversity Initiative was established to create learning opportunities for organizations/service providers that foster the application of continuous diversity management improvement strategies. The initiative provides a framework and a method for organizations to evaluate where and how to improve their diversity strategies.
Based on the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and the Oregon Quality Award, the City of Portland/Multnomah County Diversity Initiative criteria consists of seven major sub-categories which have all been incorporated into the Self Assessment. The concept of “Dimension of Diversity” has also been integrated into the Self Assessment. The “Dimension of Diversity” are classified into three main categories: Human Diversity, Cultural Diversity, and Systems Diversity. Under these categories, the seven sub-categories are organized as follows:
Human Diversity
-Information and Analysis
-Human Resource Development and Management
Cultural Diversity
-Customer Focus and Satisfaction
Systems Diversity
-Leadership
-Strategic Quality Planning
-Management of Process Quality
-Quality and Operational Results
Because the City of Portland/Multnomah County Diversity Initiative is designed to encourage as many organizations/service providers as possible to engage in continuous diversity improvement, the Self Assessment has been made as user-friendly as possible. It is designed to be used as a tool to help organizations assess the effectiveness of their diversity efforts, while also providing organizations with various strategies to help fuel organizations continuous diversity management improvement initiatives.
We hope that the final impact of our presentations will spark greater diversity awareness as well as provide you with a useful and practical guide that can effect change within your organization. This book is intended to be a tool, that if used correctly, will equip organizations with strategies and processes that can work to improve your diversity management systems.”