City of Austin, TexasA Great American City-On The Move

City of Austin, Texas – Seeks a Chief Equity Officer

This vibrant and dynamic city tops numerous lists for business, entertainment and quality of life. Austin is the capital of Texas with a growing and diverse population of 865,000. Located in Central Texas, Austin is the 11th most populous city in the United States and the 4th most populous city in Texas.

Known as the “Best Place for Business and Careers,” Austin has many of America’s premiere companies such as Applied Materials, Whole Foods, BookPeople, Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, AMD, Apple, Texas Instruments, Cisco, 3M, IBM, and Samsung. Austin strives to continue to grow and to lead the country with its vision of being the “Most livable City in the country”. Austin has emerged as a player on the international scene with impressive events such as SXSW, Austin City Limits, and Formula 1. The current slogan promotes Austin as “The Live Music Capital of the World.” Austin has its own professional symphony, ballet and opera companies; dozens of theaters; dance companies, vocal ensembles, and orchestras; and art museums and galleries. Austin serves as host to numerous cultural celebrations and festivals that reflect the City’s diversity, like Urban Music Fest, CelebrASIA Austin, Pachanga Latino Music Festival. You can find places that showcase the City’s heritage at the Mexican American Cultural Center, George Washington Carver Museum, and Asian American Resource Center. There are several areas in the city to explore that contain a wide variety of history, including the African American Heritage District, Texas State Capitol, French Legation Museum, and Texas State Cemetery.

Austin offers something for everyone, boasting ethnic diversity, economic opportunity and a diverse range of neighborhoods within and around city limits. Austin embraces and personifies cultural and ethnic diversity. Its residents speak over 20 languages and the City’s neighborhoods echo the cultural richness where Hispanics, African-Americans, Europeans, Asian/Pacific Islanders and other ethnic groups blend in a truly cosmopolitan city.

Austin’s public school system is rated among the best in the state of Texas, with outstanding environments, faculty and curriculums for grades K-12. Higher education opportunities also abound in the area at such notable institutions as the University of Texas, St. Edwards University, Huston-Tillotson University and Texas State University. With the high value placed on education by residents and local industry, it is no surprise that more than 35% of the City’s population have college degrees.

City Governance Structure

The City of Austin is a progressive, dynamic, full-service municipal organization operating under the Council-Manager form of government. The City has 44 departments, employs approximately 13,000 employees, and has a 2015-2016 budget of $3.5 billion. Austin’s mayor is elected from the city at large, and ten council members are elected from single-member districts. Terms of the mayor and council members are four years, with the terms staggered so that a general election is held every two years with half

DemographicsAll Austin Community vs Municipal Organization

*Austin Community data as of 2014 **Municipal Organization Data, excludes temporaries, data effective 08/26/2015

DemographicsAll Austin Community vs Municipal Organization

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*Austin Community data as of 2014**Municipal Organization Data, excludes temporaries, data effective 08/26/2015

EthnicityAustin

Community*Municipal

Organization**

White 47.1% 55%Hispanic 36.5% 28%

Black 7.0% 13%Asian 6.8% 3%Other 2.6% 1%

Gender

Male 50.1% 70%

Female 49.9% 30%

DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT

of the council being elected at each election. The City Council is responsible for appointment of the City Manager, who is the chief administrative and executive officer of the city, the City Clerk, the City Auditor, and the Municipal Court Clerk.

The Mayor, Council and City Manager of Austin are committed to their mission of delivering the highest quality services in the most cost-effective manner. The organization’s vision is to make Austin the most livable city in the country and the City Manager’s resolve is to make it the best-managed city in the country. For more information, visit www.austintexas.gov

A Progressive and Transformative Leadership Opportunity

The City of Austin, Texas is conducting a national search to fill the newly created position of Chief Equity Officer. This strategic and resourceful leader will operationalize a newly approved city office charged with creating a comprehensive equity framework to be adopted by all city department entities. This unprecedented effort is symbolic of Austin’s continued commitment to be a best in class city in supporting all residents. The Chief Equity Officer will join an executive leadership team committed to providing excellent services to the entire Austin community. Below is the enabling legislation that establishes the office and creates the position of Chief Equity Officer.

Equity Office

Resolution number 20150507-027 (5/7/2015) directed the City Manager’s Office to evaluate the impact that existing City policies and practices have on equity, evaluate the best practices in other cities and develop recommendations on how to address current race and socioeconomic-based inequities throughout the City. Council approved funding in the FY2016 budget to hire an equity officer to start in the summer of 2016. The recently approved Office of Equity is a deliberate step toward advancing equity in all aspects of city operations. Austin city government can serve a unique role toward ensuring that all people have access to the opportunities necessary to satisfy their essential needs, advance their well-being, and achieve their full potential.

Chief Equity Officer

The Chief Equity Officer is an at-will executive-level position reporting through the city manager with day-to-day reporting to an assistant city manager. The Chief Equity Officer is responsible for working with city leadership and the community to create an equity framework to be adopted by all departments and offices of Austin city government.

The Chief Equity Officer is responsible for facilitating dialogue and organizational practices that support the development and adoption of equity as a shared value. The position will serve as the technical expert in addressing equity as it is applied to city wide policies, programs, practices and budget decisions. The Officer will collaborate with city department directors and employees to facilitate an organizational culture that institutionalizes the use of an equity lens designed to address institutional barriers that interfere with access and equitable service delivery. The Chief Equity Officer will work closely with city departments to create departmental equity assessment tools and strategies and also with the community through a comprehensive engagement effort to determine equity concerns and priorities.

The Chief Equity Officer will have an office budget sufficient to fund staffing of the office and funding for program development in the first year.

Specific responsibilities include:

1. Work collaboratively with all stakeholders to develop the Equity framework which includes:

• Assessment tools that help departments identify disparities in services and programs;

• Analytic tools that help identify disparities in resource allocation;

• Recruit and develop equity champions within departments.

2. Work closely with community representatives, stakeholders and the Quality of Life commissions to create best approaches for working collaboratively with the City of Austin through effective communication.

3. Provide leadership, guidance, and support to internal and external partners in the delivery of equity policy and programs.

4. Develop and recommend performance indicators and progress benchmarks to ensure accountability and to achieve fair and equitable delivery of city services. Collect, analyze, and present data measuring equity program efforts.

5. Provide development and expert analysis of proposed legislation and regulations related to equity and social justice issues on behalf of the City of Austin. Participate in industry and governmental activities to influence legislation and regulatory change consistent with the city’s interests and needs.

6. Develop and manage the office budget, ensuring implementation of sound fiscal and personnel management, including proper internal controls for the Equity Office.

7. Promote understanding of equity and inclusion among council members, city departments and community members.

Top Priorities

• In partnership with the city manager and other key stakeholders, develop and establish the mission, goals, strategies and peformance measures of the Equity Office.

• Conduct an environmental scan of service delivery in the city to identify disparities and gaps in service and programs.

• Create a city-wide equity action plan based on data driven analysis that encompasses equity tools and provides a blueprint of systems and structures for each department.

• Explore and recommend vehicles/approaches for ongoing community and employee input relative to the city-wide equity plan, initiaves and/or programs.

• Operationalize an equity lens into city wide policy, programs and budget decisionsto advance and support equitable service delivery to the community.

Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate for the Chief Equity Officer position will be a courageous, innovative, visionary leader with outstanding people and management skills. The ideal candidate will have direct and effective experience in organizational transformation with a specific emphasis in crafting and developing equity initiatives and facilitating collaborative and inclusive working environments.

The successful candidate will have a demonstrated ‘track record’ working closely with key community stakeholders, be community engagement oriented, politically astute, yet apolitical, within a highly political environment. The successful candidate will possess excellent oral and written communication skills, and be quick to understand how the city functions and the Equity Office’s role within the city. This individual will be engaging and charismatic, but also a data-oriented and outcome-driven problem solver with an explicit commitment to advancing equity and social justice solutions.

The candidate will have:

• A passion for advancing equity and social justice solutions;

• A demonstrated commitment to community building and engagement;

• An understanding of systemic and institutional racial bias;

• Experience working with or in a public or governmental organization serving large complex urban environments;

• Experience and a working understanding of the effective methods of organizational and institutional change;

• Experience operationalizing an organization or department;

• Adept at implementing and achieving solutions that are driven by data and leads of measurable outcomes;

• Experience with public policy development and implementation;

• Sensitive to the interests of a wide-range of stakeholder groups, strategic partners, elected officials, and administrative colleagues;

• Organizational and fiscal management skills noted for transparency and clarity;

• A leadership style that is decisive yet flexible and authentic;

• A set of values characterized by humility, innovation, compassion, collaboration, service excellence, and responsive leadership; and

• High emotional intelligence, personal and professional integrity, and a sense of humor.

Education and Experience

The following qualifications are guidelines, as the appointing authority has broad discretion in filling positions in this classification.

Education: A Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university in sociology, education, public administration, ethnic studies, communication or a closely related field. A Master’s degree or other advanced degree in a related field is highly desirable.

Experience:At least five years of demonstrated success in the administration of community, government, educational or social justice programs; and at least three of which were in a managerial, supervisory or program administration capacity. Experience working in a public agency is strongly preferred.

Compensation & Benefits

The salary for this position is $110,000 –145,000 depending on experience and qualifications.

The City of Austin also offers an attractive benefits package. Benefit information is available at www.austintexas.gov/department/ active-employee-benefits.

THE HAWKINS COMPANY8939 S, Sepulveda Blvd., #110-216Los Angeles, CA 90045www.thehawkinscompany.com

Application Process

To be considered, please submit your resume and cover letter with current salary information electronically to ceo.austin@thehawkinscompany.com by Friday June 3, 2016. The position is open until filled.

For additional information or questions, please contact Ms. Christine Boulware at 312-391-6098. chris@thehawkinscompany.com or Ms. Brett Byers at 323-403-8279, brett@thehawkinscompany.com

The City of Austin is an equal opportunity employer, values workforce diversity and seeks to create an environment and culture that embraces employee differences. All qualified applicants are considered in accordance with applicable laws prohibiting discrimination on the base of race, creed, religion, color, gender, gender identity, age, national origin, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, marital status or veteran status or any other legally protected status.