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Peoria County DEI office outlines hiring, training and procurement goals, highlights digital-equity pilot
Summary
The county's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion office reported progress on workforce demographics, training, minority- and women-owned vendor reporting and a state-funded digital equity pilot serving 42 households. The office is tracking vendor designations and workforce participation for ongoing construction projects.
Peoria County's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion office presented a status update to the joint finance and executive committee on Nov. 6, detailing initiatives in recruitment, training, procurement and external engagement.
Andre Allen, who identified himself as the county's DEI director, said the department launched in 2022 and operates under four pillars: talent attraction and retention; professional training and development; minority- and women-owned business procurement; and external stakeholder engagement. "Our overarching goal is to be a workforce that reflects the community that we serve," Allen told the committee.
On recruitment and retention, Allen said the office produces a workforce-demographics report comparing county staffing to recent census data and runs targeted recruitment efforts, job-fair outreach and interview-panel participation. The office also supported a pilot at the juvenile detention center that led to a job-title change and greater job-shadowing and wellness resources for staff; Allen said pay was not raised as part of that pilot and staff did not cite pay as a primary complaint.
Under training and development the office has created a training catalog for county departments, participated in regional training programs and launched a monthly "belonging and inclusion" calendar; the county surveyed participants and found an average in-person attendance of about 18 and broader virtual access. Allen said 82% of employee-survey respondents said Peoria County values diversity, equity and inclusion.
On procurement, the DEI office said staff completed a manual outreach to vendors to establish a baseline: 10% of vendors in the county database self-identified as minority, women, veteran or disadvantaged-owned. Allen said the office is working with finance staff on Power BI reporting to generate near-real-time procurement dashboards for 2026.
The DEI office also reported it is tracking workforce participation goals for the Courtyard Plaza construction project under the county's community workforce agreement, and that recent months show promising minority and female participation numbers toward the 12% minority and 3% female goals set by the agreement.
Finally, Allen described a digital equity pilot subsidized through a state grant that currently serves 42 participants through June 30, 2026; a survey of pilot participants showed primary uses of subsidized internet were education, entertainment and health-related (telehealth). Allen said program staff will seek a rollover into FY 2027 if additional funding becomes available.
Committee members asked about the number of employees on visas; Allen said two staff were unable to recertify and that the department will work with human resources and the county administrator to clarify the recertification process. The committee did not take formal action on the DEI presentation.
