About OERJ
The Office of Equity and Racial Justice (OERJ) seeks to advance institutional change that results in an equitable transformation of how we do business across the City of Chicago enterprise. This includes the City’s service delivery, resource distribution, policy creation and decision-making. OERJ will do this by supporting City departments in normalizing concepts of racial equity, organizing staff to work together for transformational change, and operationalizing new practices, policies and procedures that result in more fair and just outcomes.
Catalyze city-wide momentum for healing that promotes building empathy, understanding of shared mutuality, and strengthens civic relationships
Build capacity of government staff, shift power to those who are most impacted by a problem and transform policy to support those most impacted
Drive organizational change efforts toward advancing racial equity in City policies, practices, and programs at a systems-level
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Community Healing
January 2021 - Hosted Together We Heal Summit.
June 2021 - Passed ordinance making Juneteenth a City holiday
January 2022 - Launched Year of Healing focused on Reflecting, Reclaiming, and Reimagining
September 2022 - Hosted Year of Healing Summit. Announced recipients of $5M Creative PlaceKeeping Grants.
May 2023 - Released Together We Heal Impact Report
May 2023 - Kicked off the Folded Map Action Kit, Together We Heal Edition
Tools & Partnerships
April 2020 – Created the Racial Equity Rapid Response Team
June 2020 - Launched Chicago Connected
September 2020 – Launched Equity Dashboard Phase 1 - Workforce Summary
July 2021 - Hosted Community Wealth Convening
November 2021 - Announced $15M investments in Community Wealth Building
May 2023 - Released Community Wealth Building Report
Institutional Transformation
July 2019 – Mayor names first Chief Equity Officer
December 2019 - Launched Racial Equity Liaison Network
December 2019- Appointed the Equity Advisory Council
May 2021 - Published the Equity Statement of Principles
July 2021 – Declared Racism as a Public Health Crisis with the Department of Public Health
September 2021 – Launched Equity and Racial Justice Learning Cohorts
September 2022 – Published Budget Equity Goals
November 2022 – Codified Office of Equity and Racial Justice and the role of Chief Equity Officer into City law
June 2023 - Published City Department Racial Equity Action Plans