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Bellevue staff and community group outline Diversity Advantage Plan update after city dialogues
Summary
City staff and members of the Centring Communities of Color initiative presented a multi-year engagement process and draft priorities that will feed Bellevue's Diversity Advantage Plan update, highlighting community trust-building, youth participation, affordable housing and —belonging' as central themes.
City staff and members of the Centring Communities of Color initiative presented results from multi-site community dialogues and an open house that will inform an update to Bellevue's Diversity Advantage Plan.
The presentation, introduced by City Manager and delivered by Chief DEI Officer Dr. Linda Whitehead and members of the Triple C team, summarized two years of work that the team said engaged roughly 300 people through seven dialogues and an open house to surface priorities for policy and programs. "Belonging was the central theme that we saw emerge," said Jerry Tiernan, a Triple C member who led synthesis of the dialogues.
Why it matters: The Diversity Advantage Plan (adopted in 2014) serves as the city's roadmap for equity, inclusion and belonging. Staff said the Triple C engagement was intended to update the plan so it aligns with Bellevue's strategic priorities — including affordable housing, community engagement and places for belonging — and to produce measurable equity objectives for departmental use.
The Triple C members described how they organized dialogues across the city (to lower participation barriers by meeting in multiple neighborhoods and providing food), collected around 1,000 pieces of engagement data, synthesized recurring themes down to eight priorities and then asked community participants to rank their top needs. "We engaged around 300 different people," Tiernan said at the open-house summary. The team presented the community's ranked priorities as: affordable housing for generations; community spaces that inspire belonging; investment in community aid and partners; accessible transportation; events that reflect the community; and support for small businesses and artists.
Staff emphasized that the data and priorities will be folded into the Diversity Advantage Plan update and tied to measurable equity indicators. Dr. Whitehead said the update will include equity objectives, a glossary of key terms, updated demographic data and a summary of community engagement. "The data will take us from not what we think, but to what we know," Whitehead said.
Council members praised the engagement, asked for continued attention to measurable indicators and recommended stronger connections so the Triple C work informs budget and policy decisions. Councilmember Newenhouse suggested Triple C act as a liaison to existing boards and commissions to embed equity reviews into policy deliberations; Deputy Mayor Malakoutian asked for transparent metrics and ongoing community feedback loops; and Councilmember Lee urged the team to coordinate and avoid duplicating other community efforts.
No council action was requested or taken at the meeting; staff said they plan further internal review with departments and expect to bring the updated Diversity Advantage Plan back to council later in 2025.
