County unveils 'Access and Opportunity' plan to replace equity‑focused framing; commissioners back phased rollout

Alicia Sojourner, director of the Office of Access and Opportunity, presented a countywide plan to make “access and opportunity” the organizing framework for Washington County programs and services, describing a phased rollout that begins with listening and design and moves through launch, normalization and ongoing operations.

Sojourner told the board the work is an evolution, not a replacement, of prior equity and inclusion efforts and emphasized practical outcomes. "Access gets them in and opportunity helps them thrive," Sojourner said, summarizing the county’s objective to remove barriers — physical, procedural, digital and language — and to create service pathways that enable better outcomes across communities and departments.

The presentation sketched four major phases: Phase 1 (listening and designing shared language and tools), Phase 2 (launching pilots, training staff and increasing public visibility), Phase 3 (normalizing practice across departments with coaching and capacity building from the office) and Phase 4 (operationalizing the work with continuous improvement). Sojourner described the office’s role as a coach and capacity builder for departments, sometimes stepping in directly and at other times facilitating departmental ownership.

Commissioners voiced general support and asked for specific next steps. Commissioner Snyder and others requested short training for the board to clarify what access and opportunity include — and what they intentionally do not — and to help the board use consistent, locally defined language such as "respect and dignity," which commissioners asked staff to define and return with. Several commissioners and ACRE representatives (the advisory committee referenced in the briefing) described the proposal as a natural evolution of the county’s February 2020 equity resolution and requested the presentation materials be shared with advisory bodies.

Sojourner said the roll‑out will be multi‑year and iterative, with milestones and pilot initiatives. The office plans to provide tools, co‑branded messaging and evaluation metrics and to work with departments including public health, transportation and public safety to test practices. Commissioners asked that materials and an opportunity for a short commissioners’ training be scheduled in the coming months; Sojourner agreed to return with definitions and a plan for board training.

Ending: The board accepted the presentation for discussion, asked staff to circulate the slide deck to advisory groups, and asked for a brief commissioner training and a staff return on definitions and near‑term milestones.