Come help San José shape its future through the Transportation Equity Task Force!
The City of San José is seeking to partner with community leaders from diverse local communities, particularly its most marginalized communities, to create an Equity Task Force. This task force will collaborate with the City in the effort to create a more equitable and people-focused transportation system.
A key driver of inequity is unequal access to reliable, affordable transportation. Mobility obstacles become limits to jobs, resources, education and especially time. San José’s Emerging Mobility Action Plan seeks to create a more equitable transportation future by expanding affordable, reliable and safe ways to get around.
As a member of the Plan’s Equity Task Force, your insights, experience and knowledge of your community will help shape the Plan as well as the City’s follow-on work. All task force members will be compensated for their time. Apply online by February 1st!
What is the Equity Task Force?
The Equity Task Force will be composed of between 6 and 10 community leaders who may also be involved with a community-based organization (CBO). These community experts will collaborate with each other and the City on the development of the Emerging Mobility Action Plan (EMAP) and its engagement process. They will also help the equity engagement team gather broader input from their respective communities.
What you will do as an Equity Task Force member
All Task Force members will attend periodic meetings with the equity engagement team to provide input and advice on a range of topics. The Task Force will:
- Learn about how the City does planning and propose improvements that would more effectively meet the needs of San Jose’s marginalized communities
- Help set the direction and goals of the plan
- Help create a collaborative and equitable decision making process that will be a model for future City work
- Help define/refine racial and social equity strategies and tactics
- Provide feedback on initial findings; did we hear the community correctly?
- Review and inform the engagement strategy, including messaging
- Help to keep the project accountable to the community
- Discuss how to evaluate success in the process
- Share information about the plan with their networks
In addition to the above, Equity Task Force members will have the option of providing additional support to the equity engagement team by serving as ambassadors for the EMAP. Ambassadors will help to promote the plan’s outreach activities and broaden its reach across different communities through conversations with their networks. This will help ensure that the equity engagement team hears a wide range of perspectives and understands their meaning.
This project is scheduled to last from February through November, 2021. The meeting schedule will be determined with the equity task force, but there is a required introductory meeting on Thursday, February 18th from 4 to 5 pm.
Compensation
Equity Task Force members will be paid $32.00 per hour of work on this project, up to $6,000.
Selection of Equity Task Force Members
The Equity Task Force partner selection process will aim to represent the diverse racial and social makeup of San José.
Once the application is received, the equity engagement team will assess the application with the following criteria:
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Diverse representation: CBOs and community leaders must represent and/or have connections with racially and/or ethnically diverse communities, and potential intersectionality with:
- Low-income populations
- Limited English proficiency (LEP) populations
- People with disabilities
- Seniors and/or youth populations
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Existing strong reputation in the communities they serve or prior experience in transportation, land-use, homelessness, tenant’s rights issues, and/or other social causes
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Anticipated ability to reach a wide audience in their community
Once candidates are selected, the equity engagement team will arrange a phone call or Zoom meeting to better get to know the candidates, further assess interest and capacity for the role, and answer any questions the candidates may have about the project and partnership.
About the Equity Engagement Team
Equity Task Force members will be working with a number of City staff and consultants, primarily the equity engagement team: City Project Manager Laura Stuchinsky and consultants Corinne Winter, Ellena Tran, Tamika Butler, and Naomi Doerner.