DeKalb County told to create equity officer, run communications audit and pursue community equity study

Partnership for Southern Equity presented its three-year internal equity study to the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners at the Committee of the Whole meeting on March 18, urging the county to appoint an equity officer under the CEO, run an internal communications audit and begin a community-facing equity study.

The report — started after the county's June 15, 2020 resolution declaring racism a public health crisis — recommends a six-part set of actions to make internal county operations more equitable and to lay the groundwork for public engagement and resource allocation.

Kazim Woodbury, director of Just Solutions at the Partnership for Southern Equity, said the project began in 2022 with consultations across county administrative and legislative offices and a steering committee. Woodbury and his colleague Jennifer Cobb briefed commissioners on discovery activities that included 20-30 stakeholder interviews, virtual racial equity feedback sessions and an employee survey that drew "almost 300 responses," Cobb said.

Cobb said the team found strong employee commitment to the county but…