Municipalities can apply for no-cost technical assistance to complete the newly released Community Equity and Diversity Profile action and to pilot a new action under development, Advancing Equity through Municipal action.
Donor Name: Sustainable Jersey
State: New Jersey
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 11/11/2022
Details:
The Advancing Equity action provides the opportunity for the municipality to implement an initiative of choice that advances municipal objectives – and to do so through a guided process that is informed by equity-related best practices and by local data, compiled and analyzed through the Equity Profile action. This initiative could be a Sustainable Jersey action (e.g., Energy Assistance Outreach action; Municipal Communications Strategy action) or another initiative that meets local objectives (e.g., develop equitable re-zoning plan or public safety procedures, equity audit of open space access or other municipal resource or policy).
Project Outcomes:
- Equity and anti-bias training for your municipal team
- Technical assistance and coaching to:
- Complete the Community Equity Profile action
- Pilot new action: Advancing Equity through Municipal Action
Examples of potential target initiatives for this opportunity:
- Municipal Communications Strategy
- Equity impact assessment of existing/proposed municipal policy or procedure
- Process for adoption of affordable housing or re-zoning plan
- Equitable public safety procedures, e.g., emergency management or policing
- Energy Assistance Outreach Action
- Bicycle and or Pedestrian Plan
- Equity audit of open space, parks and community tree inventory
Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible to apply for the Free Technical Assistance for Advancing Equity in Your Municipality program, an applicant must be a New Jersey municipality registered or certified in the Sustainable Jersey program.
The selected municipality will be expected to:
- Identify a minimum of two municipal contacts to undertake the work outlined in the actions: at least one must be a municipal staff member and the other(s) can also be staff or volunteers from the green team, environmental commission or other municipal group.
- Convene a stakeholder team to lead this process. This team must include a member of the governing body or administration and representation from marginalized or underrepresented social groups.
- Undertake an inclusive consultative process to gain broad input from diverse members of the community (as identified via the Equity Profile) on the selection or scoping of the Sustainable Jersey action or other target initiative that will be implemented following the process described in the Advancing Equity action.
- Coordinate with Sustainable Jersey staff and the equity coach to get assistance in implementing the actions. Some independent work between meetings will be necessary. Implementation steps will include research of existing data, community engagement, and completion of the necessary documentation for: (1) the Equity Profile action, (2) the Advancing Equity action, and (3) the other action or target initiative selected.
- Present the Equity Profile report (1) and the report with recommendations from the target initiative (2 & 3) for endorsement by the municipal governing body; and As part of its next Sustainable Jersey municipal certification application, submit (1) the Equity Profile action, (2) the newly piloted Advancing Equity action, and if relevant, (3) the action selected as the target initiative.
For more information, visit Sustainable Jersey.
