South Bend City Announces Transition In Diversity & Inclusion Leadership

From the City of South Bend:

November 14, 2019

South Bend City Announces Transition In Diversity & Inclusion Leadership

The City of South Bend announced today that Diversity & Inclusion Officer Christina Brooks will be leaving the City on Friday, December 6, after accepting the position of Chief Equity Officer and Director of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion for the City of Fort Worth, Texas.

Brooks joined the City in May 2016 as the City’s first Diversity & Inclusion Officer, following Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s executive order on City-wide Diversity and Inclusion in January 2016. Under her leadership, the Office of Diversity & Inclusion led the City’s first MWBE disparity study with Colette Holt and Associates. Brooks’s work with the South Bend Common Council resulted in this week’s 7-0 passage to repeal and replace the MWBE ordinance in alignment with the recommendations of the disparity study.

Brooks oversaw the day-to-day operations of Diversity & Inclusion efforts, which included workshops for City leadership and staff, staff climate surveys, the creation of the City staff performance evaluation and career path development systems, and the revision of the annual diversity purchasing report. Brooks strengthened relationships with local small business development centers like the West Side Small Business Resource Center with Project Impact, assisted CDFI-Friendly community work with the Department of Innovation & Technology, and secured a $50,000 Living Cities inclusive procurement grant to help create, build, and sustain local MWBEs in partnership with the top 10 employers in South Bend.

“Christina’s tenure moved South Bend far forward on matters of equity and inclusion,” said Mayor Buttigieg. “From commissioning a study on our community’s racial wealth divide, to guiding our first disparity study, to directing resources that empower residents from every background, her leadership helped us confront inequities and move towards inclusion for all. She will leave big shoes to fill but we congratulate her on her new opportunity, as well as her successful and pathbreaking work for the people of South Bend.”

“I want to thank Mayor Pete Buttigieg and the South Bend community for the opportunity to serve as the City’s first Diversity and Inclusion Officer,” said Brooks. “I’m proud of the work we’ve done to create equitable opportunities for all residents.”

This press release was produced by the City of South Bend. The views expressed here are the author’s own.