Know what communities expect
Hear from the people your initiative serves, at the moments when their input can still change the plan.
Connect with NaderSound familiar?
When this goes unsolved, it shows up like this.
Engagement comes too late
Input arrives after the decisions are made.
The same voices every time
The people most affected are not in the room.
Input disappears
People share, then never see what changed.
Trust is thin
Communities have heard promises before.
How I approach it
Three moves, done with your team.
Map who is affected
Who carries the costs, who gets the benefits.
Engage at decision points
Ask when the answer can still change the plan.
Close the loop
Show people what changed because of them.
We Prosper Together
A regional jobs strategy, with many voices and no shared view of success.
Surveys and workshops where members rated, debated, and chose the measures.
Metrics and thresholds that partners and community members helped decide.
What people debated
Equity share
Some said 40% was too low; rural partners said it was already hard.
Climate standard
Ambition versus room for smaller projects.
Job quality
Wages, hours, and benefits, with flexibility for entry-level jobs.
What Community Ambassadors told us
Working
- Sharing success stories
- Clear communication with disinvested communities
- Programs that scale and stay targeted
Not working
- Uneven collaboration across county lines
- RFPs that are not inclusive
- Programs that miss wider community needs
The lessonPeople stay engaged when they see their input change something. Show them what changed.
Delivered by The Triangle. With thanks to colleagues and students at UC Berkeley for their advisory and research support.
Also applied in
The same approach, in other settings.
SHCLA, The UnionBlock-by-block maps of Oakland need, to show where supportive housing matters most. See the story
California's Fifth Climate Change AssessmentA research justice approach that treats communities as experts in their own data.
Research on online engagementPh.D. and peer-reviewed work on digital tools for community participation.
Three ways to work on this
Start small with a workshop, or go deep together.
Build with you
An engagement plan tied to your real decision points.
Training and coaching
Facilitated sessions with partners, residents, and staff.
Learning and evaluation
A synthesis of what you heard, and what to change.
Explore the problems I help solve
Each one comes from real work with public initiatives.