Program date: June 7, 2024
Air date: June 10, 2024
From the City Club of Eugene:
In its first ever strategic plan, the City of Eugene has included Culture of Belonging among the plan’s four focus areas. This innovative approach is related to the Eugene City Council vision of creating a community that is safe and welcoming to all.
To reach that vision, the City of Eugene must establish an understanding of community belonging, what impacts it, and how city policies, programs, and staff can influence it. According to the plan, it is also necessary to strengthen relationships with the whole community, with emphasis on the inclusion of the most marginalized groups.
Understanding what creates a sense of belonging for community members is complex and highly individualized: What makes one person feel a sense of belonging to a place may be the exact same thing that makes someone else experience the opposite.
In this program, Mayor Lucy Vinis discusses the importance and political implications of adding such a goal to the city’s strategic plan. Josh Bates will detail how city departments have been working to deliver services that align with the city council goals. Fabio Andrade will explain how the city is working to define and measure the sense of belonging of its residents. Jensina Hawkins will bring a community member’s perspective to the conversation.
This program emphasizes how understanding and creating a sense of belonging is essential to our community’s livability and prosperity. The multiracial groups of speakers will address the topic of belonging based on their professional and lived experiences.
Speakers:
Fabio Andrade manages the Office of Equity and Community Engagement at the City of Eugene. His office supports all City of Eugene departments with equity and community engagement efforts, provides equity training to city staff, supports the neighborhood association and human rights programs, and liaises with community organizations with an emphasis on the inclusion of underserved communities. In addition to his professional duties, Fabio conducts himself from the perspective of a Latino immigrant who has made Eugene his home for the past 11 years.
Josh Bates is the Executive Director of the Library, Recreation and Cultural Services (LRCS) department at the City of Eugene. LRCS provides many programs that have a direct impact on how people of all ages and cultural backgrounds connect with the City of Eugene. Josh’s previous experiences include managing the Multnomah County Joint Office of Homeless Services, working on the unhoused crisis, which is one of the most complicated and critical issues facing cities right now. Josh has worked with complex policy initiatives, collaborated with diverse stakeholder groups, and led major community projects based on a core value of increasing access for historically underserved communities. Besides his formal education and professional experience, Josh carries the perspective of an African American man who was born in Eugene.
Jensina Hawkins is a homeschooled Korean adoptee who grew up on the Oregon coast. She has lived in South Carolina, New York and Idaho, but she’s spent most of her adult life in the Willamette Valley. Jensina has experienced deep poverty, mental health crises, housing insecurity, and gender and racial inequity. As a mother of four mixed-race children, Jensina is passionate about equitable access to all community resources, particularly public safety and healthcare. Jensina has served as a volunteer in many local boards and commissions and is a constant presence on many events that supports the inclusion of all marginalized communities in our city.
Mayor Lucy Vinis has served as Eugene’s Mayor since January 2017. She is now in her second term. In her professional life, Mayor Vinis worked for nonprofits addressing land use, natural resources, agriculture, housing, and homelessness. Her focus as mayor continues those priorities: addressing the dual challenges of climate change and population growth, increasing the supply of housing that people can afford, supporting efforts to stabilize people who are homeless, and encouraging economic development.
As mayor, she has supported efforts to increase inclusion of all underserved communities in all City of Eugene services. That effort is present in the first ever City of Eugene Strategic Plan, which includes Culture of Belonging as one of its four focus areas.
About the City Club of Eugene:
The mission of the City Club of Eugene is to build community vision through open inquiry. The Club explores a wide range of significant local, state, and national issues and helps to formulate new approaches and solutions to problems. Membership is open to all, and Club members have a direct influence on public policy by discussing issues of concern with elected officials and other policy makers. The City Club’s mailing address is PO Box 12084, Eugene, OR 97440, and its website is cityclubofeugene.org.
Video and Broadcast
This program will be live streamed, and the videotape will be made available on the City Club of Eugene’s Facebook page and You Tube Channel, in addition to our website. It will be broadcast on Monday, June 10, at 7:00 p.m., on KLCC 89.7 FM.
Contact: For more information, visit CityClubOfEugene.org.