GovMaker V: Covering Uncomfortable Ground
Day 1 of my summer internship at GoDo as a Data Analyst Intern was at the 2019 GovMaker V Conference. Jumping in head first is honestly pretty routine for me. Learning the ropes of a new position while also hearing from experts and making new connections was a great way to feel invigorated, excited and a little nauseous all at once.
The 5th annual GovMaker Conference, hosted by the New Brunswick Social Policy Research Network, was about advancing open government by engaging citizens and governments in open dialogue and collaboration. This year’s theme was Population and Economic Growth through Open Democracy. The conference took place on the traditional unceded territory of the Wolastoqiyik and Mi’kmaq Peoples.
GovMaker is, in my opinion, a place to share ideas and innovations, but also a place to share shortcomings. I’ve been to a lot of conferences that celebrate achievements and accomplishments, and even some that point the finger at other people who are failing. I’ve never been to a conference, though, where we pointed the finger at ourselves. It felt as though we, as a group, were acknowledging the ways in which we have and continue to let down our communities and our world.
It was this perspective that I appreciated most about GovMaker. All of us present at the conference held a significant degree of privilege to be there. And for once, we were acknowledging it, not ignoring it.
It was phrased best by the STU social work student whose name I did not catch. After Bianca Wylie’s moving talk Countering the digital consensus — where to automate government and where to avoid it, the social work student expressed her appreciation that Ms. Wylie used words like white nationalism, capitalism and even climate change while discussing what issues government can automate and what issues require a human approach. The student expressed how refreshing it was to hear those words being used in the open in a conference setting. I wholeheartedly agree.
Toxic masculinity is a concept that I first learned in online communities, but don’t hear a lot out loud in my daily life. It was the very first topic addressed in Ms. Wylie’s talk, though. Discussing the big topics didn’t stop there, either. Randy Dickinson spoke about the barriers to and the benefits of the employment of persons with disabilities in New Brunswick in his talk Persons with Disabilities; The Economic Engine That Could. Kathy Whynot and Heather Jordan-Keats discussed the racism present in our school systems while presenting the grant program they created for diversity programming in schools during Capacity for Courage: Prototyping Welcoming Schools. Shannon Polches and Jean-Francois Mallet presented the Joint Economic Development Initiative’s Indigenous Business Incubator Program and the barriers indigenous business owners face in Ecosystem of Indigenous Entrepreneurship in NB. Erin Flood, GoDo’s CEO and my boss/teammate, moderated a panel on the need for sustainable development of natural resources in How Data and Technology Foster Environmental Sustainability.
Nasma Ahmed’s talk Navigating an Equitable Digital Future encouraged us to challenge buzzwords we hear about diversity. If something is billed as inclusive, for whom is it inclusive? When we’re doing something “new”, how can we make sure we aren’t replicating existing systems of power?
Ryan Hum’s Designerly thinking for policies and services brought many in the audience to tears. Emotions were present and welcome — a change from many “professional” conference settings. Mr. Hum showed how the addition of small, simple touches like text messages or slippers can utterly shift cold and rigid experiences to much more positive and humanized ones.
The word uncomfortable came up a lot over the course of GovMaker. We covered a lot of uncomfortable ground. It’s uncomfortable to acknowledge your privilege. It’s uncomfortable to hear that you’re part of the problem. It’s necessary, though.
We can’t stop with GovMaker. It’s not enough to spend two days questioning our roles, our complicity and our shortcomings and then go back into our offices and into our routines. We have to be willing to continue moving forward. We have to implement what we learned. We have to make change. Incredible speakers took the time to share their knowledge with us. Now it’s our turn. Let’s go do good.
-Holly Ayles, Data Analyst, GoDo
