Meet Hillsboro's New DEI Manager: Steve Lee

Hillsboro OR

21 July, 2021

8:32 AM

Description

Press release from the City of Hillsboro: July 19, 2021 Steve Lee joined the City of Hillsboro in summer 2021 as Hillsboro's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Manager in the City Manager's Office. In this role, Steve will help lead Hillsboro's DEI initiatives. Steve most recently worked as the Affirmative Action Manager in Governor Kate Brown's office. He brings more than 30 years experience as a public policy expert and racial equity leader. Educated as an urban and regional planner, Steve is experienced at navigating the complex intersection of the natural environment, urban development, racial equity, and civic engagement. 1. What drew you to work for the City of Hillsboro? Racial inequities are deep and pervasive in America. In fact, race is the most influential predictor of how well people do. Hillsboro, like much of our country, is taking steps to ease anxiety about race and address racial inequities. To its credit, Hillsboro has demonstrated a commitment to policies, programs, decision-making processes, and investments to advance racial equity. Hillsboro's leadership and commitment to tackle some big problems made my choice to join the team at Hillsboro an easy one. 2. How do you describe what DEI work means for community members? Diversity, Equity & Inclusion are not a single concept. Diversity is defined by quantifying different identities and cultures in groups and organizations. Inclusion is the quality of participation by people of different cultures and identifies in groups and organizations. Equity represents justice in policies, programs, processes, and investments to ensure the city provides opportunities that benefit everyone. Diversity, equity, and inclusion each call for different strategies to eliminate disparities in communities of color and other historically marginalized communities. The success of these efforts relies on addressing the root causes of problems rather than making existing problems worse. It is also critical that any effort to advance equity reflects the lived experiences of all communities. 3. Why is it important for cities to use an equity lens on policies and programs? Public and private institutions have taken actions, intentionally or unintentionally, that burden some people and benefit others. Collectively, these actions are the foundation of structural racism. They are in the DNA of our society. Dismantling the structures in government requires new knowledge, tools, skills, and an organizational infrastructure to help people think about and act differently in their jobs, their interactions with colleagues, and their engagement with communities so that policies and programs create equitable outcomes. 4. What are some of the experiences in your professional journey that shaped your perspective on DEI? My career began in transportation policy. As I gained experience, I realized that transportation choices and land-use decisions have a profound impact on the ability of people and places to prosper. What I learned was that decision-making processes were often not very collaborative. So, I turned my attention to creating equitable engagement processes so that communities of color and other marginalized and underrepresented communities could influence the policy decisions that mattered in their lives. That led to extensive work at the national and local levels on transportation equity, equitable development, workforce equity, and environmental justice. 5. Was there something in your lived experience that led you to work in this space? Oregon, for me, was a tough place to grow up Black. I witnessed the City government forcibly remove my grandparents from their home in the interest of urban renewal. Later, I was forced to leave my neighborhood school to attend an overwhelmingly White school. It was a hostile and unwelcoming environment. These government actions were made with very little consideration for the traumatic experience of displacement for seniors and children. The lesson from those experiences was that participation in decision-making matters. As a community member, I advocate for meaningful public participation in government decision-making. As a public employee , I create space for it. I was a senior in college before I had a teacher who was not White. Until I left Oregon, I never worked for a public or private institution that was led by a person of color. In fact, most often, I was the only or one of the few people of color in the organization. This left me with very few people of color to act as role models, mentors, and advocates, which are especially important for young people. I enjoy being available as a mentor for young men and women pursuing careers in public service. 6. What else do you want people to know about you? My experience includes work at every level and branch of government, national and international non-governmental organizations, and in academia. I love government so much that my bucket list includes a visit to each U.S. state capitol . So far, I have seen 43, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. This press release was produced by the City of Hillsboro. The views expressed here are the author's own.