A year of diversity

Wendy Springborn, MBA

Engineering Services Manager City of Tempe, Arizona Chair, APWA Diversity Committee

efore I begin my recap of the year, I would like to personally thank our Diversity Committee members who poured their heart and soul into our committee work. The committee participants are Chas Jordan, Florida; Rebecca Bilderback, Kansas; Tracy Warner, Iowa; Judi Hines, Virginia; Clark Wantoch, Wisconsin; Gary Strack, Kansas; Shirley Stevenson, Georgia; Yvonne Douglas, Georgia; Mike Rogers, Texas; Cora JacksonFossett, Board Liaison, California; and Cindy Long, APWA staff, Missouri. Without these dedicated volunteers, we would not have been able to accomplish what we have.

It all started at our annual meeting at Congress in Denver. We had an opportunity to welcome the new members of the committee, review what we had accomplished over the past year and delve into what our focus would be for the next year. In addition, I needed to inquire from the group any recommendations for the APWA Board of Directors. After much thoughtful and lively discussion, we identified three recommendations to the Board: (1) continue engagement of young professionals into the organization to include potential board and committee appointments. In essence, this would facilitate a reverse mentoring opportunity for the organization; (2) reevaluate the ELA requirement to reflect not only time in public works (seven years or less) or time in a leadership role (less than 3-4 years). An individual may have spent over seven years in

At last year’s APWA Congress in Denver, the Colorado Convention Center’s Korbel Ballroom 4DEF was full of first-time attendees during the First-Timers Meeting on Congress Sunday.

a public works position but is new to a supervisory/leadership role; (3) consider changing the requirement for the Young Leader national award by increasing the age limit (currently 35) due to individuals who start in public works in their later years and five years membership in APWA with no more than 2-5 month lapse (in part due to layoffs, etc.).

As part of my report to the Board of Directors, I had to outline our path for the next year. During our committee discussion, I wanted our committee’s focus to look at the next step beyond diversity which is “inclusion.” I believe there is a general understanding regarding the particulars of diversity which focus on any difference makes a difference. Inclusion goes beyond the basics—its focus is to look towards the diversity of thought and process. We may all look different, but if we all think alike, how do we affect change?

With that in mind, our committee brainstormed ideas in three distinct categories: articles, Congress programs, and collateral material. The articles consisted of monthly contributions to the APWA Reporter; bimonthly contributions to the Bridges newsletter; and monthly diversity liaison e-mails towards direct outreach to all chapters. The articles (to date) for the Reporter were as follows:

• “Diversity in action at the 2011

APWA International Public Works

Congress & Exposition in Denver,

Colorado” – Nov 2011

• “Generational diversity can save your organization money” – Dec 2011

• “Flexible schedules in the workplace” – Jan 2012 • “Seeing the workplace through the eyes of a professional diversity trainer” – Feb 2012 • “Making inclusiveness work” –

Mar 2012

• “The precessional effect of diversity in the workplace” – Apr 2012

• “School District Planning +

PW Planning = Sustainable

Communities” – May 2012 • “A View from the Top – A Diverse

View of Women in Public Works” – June 2012 • “How do you respond?” – July 2012

Bridges newsletter for Chapter Leaders has included the following articles:

• “Investing in Your Future: Young Professionals” – Aug/Sep 2011

• “A Case Study in Appealing to a

Diverse Population” – Dec 2011/

Jan 2012 • “APWA Congress a Must for

Young Professionals” – Apr/May 2012

Our second category was to review the programs which the Diversity Committee is responsible for at Congress. Three programs that have become a staple at Congress include the First-Timers Meeting to help kick off Congress for new attendees; the Young Professionals Networking Reception which gives individuals an opportunity to establish connections with others in the public works field; and, the Diversity Brunch which brings in speakers with unique experiences to bestow upon the gathering.

The Diversity Committee is allowed to submit up to three educational sessions, in addition to the abovementioned programs, as part of the Congress experience. This year, it was decided to continue with our “View from the Top” program which consistently receives overwhelmingly positive reviews. This year, we are going to shake things up a bit by introducing a male panelist to the group—thus embracing the inclusion theme.

At last year’s APWA Congress in Denver, over fifty young professionals, APWA staff and APWA leaders met at Cru Wine Bar for the Young Professionals Networking Reception.

The Generational Panel has been a tremendous hit for the past two years. How do all the generations work together while embracing their differences? Come and hear how public works needs to move towards the future with the changes in the workforce. The last session is new and will focus on how Boomers and Millennials communicate and work towards becoming a cohesive team.

Last but not least, this committee desired to develop tools (collateral materials) that could be take-a-ways and could be customized to fit the needs of each chapter and/or branch. The concept of “Presentations in a Can” was developed as a backbone structure to diversity topics that any chapter/branch could take and make their own. The outline of each topic included a brief description of the program; learning objectives; things you will need (resources); and a stepby-step process with a timeline.

To date, we have posted the following presentations:

• Transcending Generations • Inclusion Training • Retirees-Next Chapter

So, this is what the Diversity Committee 2011/2012 has been up to over the past year. We hope that the information we have presented has been thought-provoking and helpful. It has been my distinct pleasure to have served as the Committee Chair. I would like to congratulate Chas Jordan, Florida, as the incoming Chair and look forward to seeing the next chapter in Diversity.

Wendy Springborn can be reached at (480) 350-8250 or wendy_springborn@ tempe.gov.