Diversity and Inclusion Committee
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Contact us to get involved!
CHAPTER DIVERSITY & INCLUSION - APA Texas
In 2018, the Texas Chapter of the American Planning Association formed a new committee on diversity and inclusion. To develop programming for this committee, leadership sought to better understand the current composition of our membership. To address this issue, Chapter Leadership engaged chapter member Dr. Shannon Van Zandt of Texas A&M University to help us understand the diversity of our membership. With input from chapter and committee leadership as well as pretesting among about ten representative respondents, Dr. Van Zandt designed and executed this survey on behalf of the Chapter.
These results lead to several important conclusions:
1. Hispanics are underrepresented among Texas planners.
2. Race, gender, and sexuality are influencing planning salary ranges.
3. Hispanics are achieving AICP certification at much lower rates than Non-Hispanics.
4. African-Americans exhibit considerably less satisfaction with their level of inclusion in the workplace.
5. A small number of older planners—those at or above retirement age—feel undervalued.
6. Gender identity and sexuality are not having a dramatic influence on perceptions of acceptance and inclusion in the workplace.
7. Homosexual people may be overrepresented in the planning profession (based on national estimates), and appear to be slightly more satisfied with their feelings of inclusion and being heard and valued.
8. Mental and emotional disabilities—those disabilities influencing people’s behavior in the workplace—are not well understood or appreciated.
2024 Committee Action Plan
The current members of the Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (hereafter referred to as DEI) Committee have identified the following items as their plan of action for the year of 2022. In 2022, the committee collectively agreed to focus on growing DEI practices as related to Individual Growth (education, licensing, & mentorship), and the Professional Environment (in the workplace and in professional organizations). The 2022 DEI workplan has been divided into three main objectives and 10 actions shown below:
Goal – Increase DEI awareness and access to resources for our TXAPA Chapter members.
Objective 1 – Creating equitable and inclusive opportunities to encourage professional growth for all planners.
Action 1a: Update and maintain DEI page on the Chapter website and create and post regular social media content covering DEI topics.
Action 1b: Develop and Implement a communication plan to include branding, schedule of events, member spotlight, additional resources etc.
Action 1c: Provide AICP virtual prep workshop and fundraise for scholarships for AICP exam and prep.
Action 1d: Sponsor and help develop a DEI day or track for Annual conference sessions.
Action 1e: Raise funding to provide scholarships for attendance to the Annual conference and to provide childcare at the conference.
Objective 2 – Creating a professional environment that is diverse, equitable and inclusive for all planning professionals, current and future.
Action 2a: Create a pilot DEI training program (half day session) in collaboration with student planners (schools) for the DEI Committee with the objective for creating a training program for use in public and private sector work places and turn into a webinar for AICP credits.
Action 2b: Develop free Speaker series related to impacts of or awareness of DEI for AICP credits for TXAPA members as well as connect with other groups/organizations such as ULI, CNU etc.
Action 2c: Connections with outside APA to increase diversity in the planning profession
Objective 3 – Creating an awareness of the DEI principles
Action 3a: Sponsor an event like hip hop architecture camp with Michael Ford.
Action 3b: Create strategies on how to have a dialogue on inclusiveness in TxAPA Chapter and in APA in general by researching membership for gender, race, age, disability to see how many are involved in APA and if not why.
View 2022 Committee Action Plan
DEI Day at APATX⋆22 State Planning Conference
October 20, 2022 is the DEI Day at the APATX⋆22 State Planning Conference - stop by Booth 12 and see what the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee of Texas Chapter is working on and how you can help. Below is a list of diversity, equity and inclusion related sessions at the conference. We hope you will find connections, information, and implementable tips on incorporating the DEI ideals and principles in your own work by attending these sessions.
List of DEI sessions
- October 20, 2022 9:00 AM-10:00 AM
Incorporating Diversity and Equity into How we Think and Plan the Future
- October 20, 2022 9:00 AM-10:00 AM
Padre Park Community Food Forest
- October 20, 2022 10:15 AM-11:15 AM
Equitable Access to Transportation Services in the Texas Triangle
- October 20, 2022 2:30 PM-3:30 PM
Developing Equitable & Inclusive Communities
- October 20, 2022 3:45 PM-5:45 PM
Plenary Session featuring Charlie Hales and Verónica Soto Moderated by Shai Roos
- October 21, 2022 10:15 AM-11:15 AM
Recognizing and Managing Your Own Biases in Decision-Making
- October 21, 2022 10:15 AM-11:15 AM
Equitable Access to Smart E-Mobility
- October 21, 2022 1:15 PM-2:15 PM
¡Si Se Puede!:Creating Equitable Engagement for Latino Communities
- October 21, 2022 2:30 PM-3:30 PM
Achieving Equity Through Zoning? Consider Both Content and Access
- October 21, 2022 3:45 PM-4:45 PM
"Enough of the Talk!": Putting Equity and Resilience in Action
AICP EXAM VIRTUAL STUDY GROUP SESSIONS
Looking for study buddies for the fall AICP Exam? The APA Texas Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee is looking to organize one or more virtual study groups to help with accountability, study tips and more! If you are interested, please use the Google sheet link below to add your contact information and preferred times. We are also looking for volunteers to help organize each group's meeting schedule. The DEI Committee will help launch each study group while ultimate responsibility for success will lie with the members! If you have any questions, please contact Tim Glass at tglass@lascolinas.org or Richard Luedke at rluedke@cityoflewisville.com.