January 17, 2022 marked the one year anniversary of CORE! To commemorate this milestone, we created a survey for residents to share their thoughts and suggestions about our work. We are always looking to improve and refine our processes and practices and engaging with the community is an essential part of this.

We conducted the online survey between January 17th and 25th, 2022 and received responses from 38 residents and a few people who live outside of the District. To be considerate of people’s time and encourage more responses, respondents were given the option to answer only the questions they were comfortable with.

In the spirit of transparency, we are sharing the survey’s major findings and how we will use those findings to inform our work over the next year.

First, we asked residents to share how they would describe our first year in one word. Overall, the responses were really encouraging. Some pushed us—which we appreciate!

Next, we asked respondents to rank what initiatives we should prioritize in 2022. Respondents could either choose their top three preferences from a list of six or write in their own answers.

The top responses, below, were all connected to community engagement and accessibility:

• 62% of survey respondents felt that CORE should create tools for Advisory Neighborhood Commissions (ANCs) to assess their actions through a racial equity lens. ANCs are the most local form of government in the District of Columbia. ANCs serve as the representatives of their neighborhoods and work with government to address issues that directly affect their community such as zoning, street improvements, recreation, sanitation, and the District’s budget. CORE will reach out to ANC Commissioners in the next few months so that we can tailor our work to their unique needs.

• 53% of survey respondents suggested publishing one-page REIA “briefs” in addition to longer REIAs. Conducting Racial Equity Impact Assessments (REIAs) is the main purpose of our office, so it is critical that they are useful to residents. REIAs can be lengthy, and creating one-page “briefs” to accompany each REIA may increase interest and accessibility. We are currently working on the layout for the one-pagers, with an aim to roll them out before summer recess.

• 51% of survey respondents suggested that we hold community trainings about REIAs, the structure of DC government, or getting involved with the legislative process. Achieving racial equity is a journey that takes commitment and intentionality. If racial equity is to be achieved in the District, it will take the entire community. We are working on opportunities to engage with the community, share our work, and discuss key processes.

The three other initiatives on the list received the following votes:

• 28% of survey respondents felt that CORE should increase attendance at community meetings and events (where we don’t speak, but just join and listen).

• 23% of survey respondents suggested that we prioritize setting up consistent events to hear from community members about our work.

• 21% of survey respondents suggested increasing public speaking engagements.

We also received several write-in responses, including to consider creating tools for other community groups to assess their actions through a racial equity lens (in addition to ANCs) and to include information on recently completed REIAs in our newsletters.

Finally, respondents left thoughtful feedback on ways to share our REIAs with residents in addition to our website, Twitter, and Instagram. Respondents suggested sharing REIAs with neighborhood listservs, the local press, through a dedicated REIA email distribution list, and via a monthly report to ANCs. We will be pursuing at least one additional distribution channel for REIAs based on this feedback.

A huge thanks to everyone who took the time to complete the survey! Our team truly values the input and we hope you see how it informs our work moving forward.

In the meantime, if you have not done so already, please sign up to receive our newsletter, follow us on Twitter, and find us on Instagram to stay aware of upcoming events and opportunities to connect with CORE.