KLA Perspectives

Guest post by KLA Intern Ana Kutcher

Three years ago, our CEO Kim Lundgren took a risk and started Kim Lundgren Associates. What started as a small project with one local government has now grown into a thriving business with an increasing client pool. We’ve come a long way!

Being a woman-led company in a widely male-dominated field isn’t always easy. Entrepreneurship has historically been a man’s game, but in the past few decades the US has made significant steps to help support traditionally underrepresented groups, like minorities and women like Kim, own successful small businesses. One of which is the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise certification program --- and KLA recently became certified.

Fast facts from the U.S. Census Bureau as reported by CNBC:

• Women launch an average of 849 new businesses per day
• There are 11.6 million women-owned companies across America
• Those companies employ nearly 9 million people and generate more than $1.7 trillion in revenue

What is DBE and How Does It Help Your Company? 

So what is a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise, and how does a DBE certification benefit a company and a community?

Here’s a quick history of DBE courtesy of the National Law Review: “DBE was initially a federal program designed to ensure that funds allocated for...highway construction projects were used to foster equal competition amongst firms in a nondiscriminatory manner. However, in recent years DBE’s use has been expanded by other governmental entities.”

The US Department of Transportation defines DBEs as a “for-profit small business where socially and economically disadvantaged individuals own at least a 51% interest and also control management and daily business operations.” Disadvantaged groups such as African Americans, Hispanics, and women fall under this category, and the DBE certification provides their businesses with equitable opportunities to compete for federally-funded contracts. This is a chance to level the playing field that has been unfairly balanced for decades.

What’s even better is that the DBE certification isn’t the only opportunity to get support as a women-owned small business. Programs like the Women Owned Small Business (WOSB) certification and the Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE) are also built to help companies like KLA meet their business development goals. In 2015, $17.8 billion of all federal funding contracts eligible for small businesses were awarded to WOSBs. That’s a significant feat and step in the right direction -- though it’s still just 5% of all contracting dollars (a goal established by the federal government more than 20 years ago), so we have a ways to go.

For African Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans, in addition to DBE there is also a Minority Business Enterprise or MBE certification.

Why DBE is a Huge Opportunity for Community Equity

For local governments, DBEs (and similar certifications) represent a huge opportunity to walk the equity talk. Governments at all levels have either mandated specific DBE procurement requirements or have promised to infuse planning and other processes with equity. If you want to reach out to and include more minorities as you craft a vision for the community’s future, an easy way to start is by having city staff, consultants and contractors reflect the community’s diversity. Many localities, companies banks also offer specific programs and support for DBEs including competitive grants, loans for entrepreneurs and trainings.

Even though most localities have some DBE mandates, it is often focused on work that has traditionally been male-dominated (note the roots in highway construction). One way to make the process even more effective is to mirror those requirements in sectors -- like planning and communication -- in which women have emerged as leaders. 

Once requirements are set, enforcement is crucial. New Orleans recently commissioned a study of the city’s DBE program amid accusations it was not working as intended. The results showed progress for minority- and woman-owned businesses in securing government contracts but struggles competing for private sector work. This type of review and accountability is critical to ensure that these certifications are used as intended and that equity goals are being pursued.

The US needs more companies led by historically marginalized groups and more work allocated to them. Promoting equity in the business world and in every community is a challenge, but certifications like DBE are designed to get us there.

We encourage other businesses to pursue DBE certification if you're eligible,  and we hope that local governments recognize the tremendous potential from an inclusion and equity standpoint that robust, enforced DBE procurement practices offer. 

At a time when the integrity of many democratic institutions -- from voting rights to the free press -- is under attack, Participatory Budgeting (PB) is emerging as an effective, inclusive tool for local governments to forge, maintain or mend meaningful, engaging relationships with their citizens.

Jennifer Godzeno, Deputy Director at the Participatory Budgeting Project, joined us for an episode of our SAS Talk with Kim podcast series to talk about the basics of PB.

PB is an open, democratic process through which community members directly decide how to spend part of a public budget. For cities, counties and local government departments, that often translates into funding for bike lanes, community gardens, transit upgrades (like bus station shelters or benches), playground equipment, street lights, composting facilities, community gardens (pictured here funded by PB in Vallejo, CA), murals, crosswalks and other street and sidewalk safety features, and playground and pool equipment. 

Started in Puerto Alegre, Brazil, in 1989 and introduced in the US in Chicago two decades later, PB is gaining steam because of the myriad of challenges it addresses and benefits it offers communities large and small, including:

• Building community leaders
• Creating a bottom-up conversation that illuminates a community’s needs and makes local leaders more responsive
• Expanding civic engagement
• Enhancing how  informed the public is
• Fostering effective and fair leadership

How does it accomplish all of that? The Participatory Budgeting Project breaks the process down into fives stages:

1. Design: A steering committee, representative of the community, creates the rules in partnership with government officials to ensure the process is inclusive and meets local needs.
2. Brainstorm: Through meetings and online tools, residents share and discuss ideas for projects.
3. Develop: Volunteers, usually called budget delegates, develop the ideas into feasible proposals, which are then vetted by agency staff.
4. Vote: Residents vote to determine how the available budget will be spent to fund proposals. It’s a direct, democratic voice in their community’s future.
5. Fund:  Winning projects are implemented, such as laptops in schools, Wi-Fi in public parks, or traffic safety improvements. The government and residents track and monitor implementation.

If you're ready to take the next step and learn more about how Participatory Budgeting could work for you, start with our podcast. Then you can download the Participatory Budgeting Project’s PB Scoping toolkit (there is also one specific to schools). 

One of our most popular presentations at conferences is a hands-on "How to Turn Your Data Into a Story" session. We talk through the science behind the power of storytelling and why it has been such a force since the days of cave paintings up through today's Facebook posts. Research abounds on how storytelling activates the brain in a way that communicates your message most effectively and can be the spark that empowers people to act.

Stories are remembered up to 22 times more than facts alone.  As local governments, we sit on a pile of data. We need to do more with it. We must recognize that pile as a gold mine of compelling stories.

You can use stories to: 

• Let your community know about the work you're doing and successes you've had
• Ensure that elected officials and other key stakeholders are aware of those successes and your impact on people's lives
• Engage the community in a planning process 
• Inspire people to take action to help meet your sustainability or other goals

We created this Guidebook -- with our storytelling framework, 4 simple steps, examples and practice exercises -- to help you turn your data into stories and those stories into action.

Many city and county staff and elected officials are hammering away at their 2019 budgets right now.

Has your city or elected official made any big climate or sustainability commitments? Maybe your mayor joined the #WeAreStillIn movement and committed to pursuing the carbon emissions reductions of the global Paris Climate Accord. Are you considering adopting a resolution to transition to 100 percent renewable energy or do you have a local Climate Action/Sustainability/Resilience plan in the works? Or pursuing STAR Communities certification? 

All of those commitments will require plenty of activity in 2018-2019. 

With that in mind, here are 5 things to consider as you are mapping out next year’s budget:

1. Staffing: Do you have enough staff in place to effectively accomplish your goals? Are their workplans aligned with these goals? Are they empowered with the support and resources they need? What outside help -- volunteers, interns, consultants, school/university partnerships -- should you consider to meet your needs? 
2. Events and Trainings: Have you accounted for staff travel to important and relevant conferences where they can get new skills, connections and ideas to apply back home? Maybe staff travel is limited for financial and other reasons. Perhaps you can earmark some funds for webinars, online trainings and membership in professional associations which provide access to networks and tools -- all available right from your desk.
3. Community Engagement: Meaningful community engagement is not free. But it’s critical. These days you need to factor in: opportunities to reach people in person at events (think: Earth Day events, cultural fairs, farmers markets, neighborhood block parties); an online platform and social media so you reach people where they already are; making events and materials accessible (translation, physical limitations); and crafting appropriate messages for different audiences. Inclusive and equitable public engagement is what every community strives for now- are you laying a foundation to do this on an ongoing basis? Are there tools out there that could help you accomplish this? 
4. Progress Reports. People love commitments by public officials because it means accountability. You might have your ducks in a row for how you plan to meet your pledged goals, but does your community know that? Do you have a simple way to report your progress so that everyday citizens can understand it well enough to track it -- and then ideally be inspired by your successes to take action themselves? There is also increased scrutiny of commitments on a national scale to determine if these local efforts are really working. Make sure you're factoring in time to track and report (more than just sticking charts on a page buried on your city's website) your work. 
5. Internal Collaboration: So much of what we do on climate, energy, sustainability and community development, by default, straddles a variety of local government departments -- from Public Works to Planning to the Mayor’s office and beyond. Could you pool resources with other departments to accomplish shared goals? Are there events, subscriptions, events, etc., where you could tag-team? What other ways can you collaborate to use funds most efficiently?

It's a lot to consider, the cumulative pricetag could carry some sticker shock, and tough choices mean some of it has to stay on the drawing board for now. 

What if I told you that for less than $10K a year, there's a tool that can help you with everything from staff support to community engagement to interdepartmental collaboration?

Here's what Nashua has to say:  "The Livable Nashua Dashboard created a totally new way for the City to educate the public on the many great initiatives we are already doing, provide transparent data and really start engaging the community on long-term goal setting."

The Dashboard is a communication platform that turns your data into stories and those stories into impact. It can help you plug staffing gaps with customization options and additional support such as social media packages, news monitoring and more. We team up with our clients to present the Dashboard on webinars and at conferences. The Dashboard has mechanisms to continuously engage community members in a way that inspires individual action. It allows you to track and report progress toward your goals and share successes. And it can be utilized (on the back-end and public-facing side) by multiple departments seamlessly.

Find out how the Dashboard can help you meet your goals in 2019 at a price point that works for your budget. 

Take a 2-minute video tour of the Dashboard to see how it could work in your community:  

I have spent a good chunk of my career travelling around the country for work. Whether for conferences or to meet with local government clients, I spend enough time in the air to maintain elite airline status. Once I had my daughter, regular travel became a bit harder, but once I arrive at my destination, I am all in. It is so gratifying and inspiring to engage with so many talented people -- many of whom have become not just peers and colleagues but good friends along the way.

In 2017 KLA brought you 20 episodes of our SAS Talk with Kim podcast on topics ranging from the circular economy to smart cities. We’re underway with recording new podcasts for 2018, but we’ll also be checking back in with our previous guests to see what has transpired since our chat and what new insights they have to share with you.

We love it when a city pledges to “go green.” We love it even more when cities back up those words with meaningful goals and plans to reach those goals. And, well, our hearts just flutter when those cities complement that plan with our Community Dashboard and a strategy for truly engaging the community in reaching those goals together.

2018 is here, and the KLA team is excited. Last year we laid a solid foundation implementing our Community Dashboard for our clients’ sustainability, resilience and climate action initiatives. It was a rewarding year but one that also underscored the imperative of our work at the local level given the political atmosphere at the federal level.

I wrapped up my 2017 travel at the 9th Annual Southeast Florida Regional Climate Leadership Summit. This event continues to grow and inspire with nearly 600 attendees this year! The Summit actually sold out this year and they worked with the Broward County Convention Center to adjust room layouts so they could accommodate extra people, allowing an additional 40 people to attend.

Smart cities. Everyone wants to live in one. Plenty of cities are trying to become one.