From this Year’s Annual Report: Institutionalizing an Equity Lens in City Practices
New York City has prioritized equity as a guiding principle in government — working to ensure fair access to resources and services for all New Yorkers, based on the firm belief that a group’s demographic identity and historical experiences should not determine their life outcomes. NYC Opportunity has played a major role in helping to put this value into practice through new citywide mandates.
In 2019, Mayor Bill de Blasio issued Executive Order 45 (EO 45), directing agencies to identify disparities in their work based on race/ethnicity, gender identity/expression, income, and other factors. NYC Opportunity helped conceive and champion this EO, and is leading its implementation by providing the guidance and accountability structure for agencies. The EO also requires all city agencies to report on five Citywide Equity Metrics (CEM). The metrics are to be disaggregated to identify potential disparities and will be reported annually in the Social Indicator and Equity Report (SIER). The SIER, formerly known as the Social Indicators Report, is an annual report on the City’s social, economic, and environmental health produced by NYC Opportunity
NYC Opportunity played a similar role under Local Law 174 (LL 174), passed in 2018, which required three specific City agencies to increase the focus on equity in their work.
Our guidance, support and reporting efforts are helping to institutionalize an equity lens in all aspects of how the City serves New Yorkers, from who participates in social services programs to where programs are physically located. These new practices will generate concrete measures for addressing disparities. Ultimately, the goal is for equity to be a central element of all of the City’s performance and accountability practices.
You can read the full annual report here.
