February 23, 2024 • 33 mins
Whenever we have a long hiatus in our podcast, we return with a new season of jam-packed government content for our one listener! We jest (but do appreciate our one fan). In our season opener, we talked with Robert Bell and Gabrielle Woehler with the Hamilton County Economic Inclusion and Equity Department. Robert and Gabrielle discuss the evolution of DEI efforts baked into the County's purchasing, spending, and hiring efforts.
Under Mr. Bell's leadership, Hamilton County has an overall MBE/WBE spending goal of $14 million per year and $70 million in five years. This is a direct result of implementing the County's first disparity study. We get into the details and discuss the equity framework that guides the department to provide opportunities for all Hamilton County residents!
To learn more about Hamilton County, Ohio, our services and job openings, visit hamiltoncountyohio.gov.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jeff Aluotto (00:10):
Hello and welcome to hearten hustle in Hamilton
County a podcast entirelydedicated to the people and
policies that form Hamiltoncounty government. Why the name
hard and hustle? Well, it bestdescribes the public servants
who make our local governmentwork. Each episode focuses on
creative solutions to thechallenges our 49 communities
(00:30):
face, as well as how ourdifferent county departments
tackle those challenges. Head ofa local government 101 For
listeners who are curious andwant to learn more and we know
at least one fan out there. I'myour host, Jeff Ludo. I'm the
County Administrator with andwith me as always is our
communications manager BridgetDoherty.
Bridget Doherty (00:49):
So happy to be here.
Jeff Aluotto (00:51):
Bridgette, this is our first episode of the year in
our first episode of season fourof heart and hustle.
Bridget Doherty (00:57):
Yeah, I feel like our last episode of last
year, electrocuting fish waswildly popular, and gained us at
least that one list. Exactly.
Jeff Aluotto (01:07):
We know there's at least one which is fantastic.
And we're gonna pick up anotherone this year. That's our that's
our goal for 2024. I can'tbelieve it's been four seasons.
Bridget Doherty (01:18):
We started this in 2020. And it began with the
man behind the mask. GregTesterman.
Jeff Aluotto (01:26):
That's right. It was during COVID. For I remember
correctly, obviously, it wasduring COVID. And we followed it
up with followed it up with somegreat episodes. I think we've
had episodes on housing. We'vehad Board of Elections in here.
One
Bridget Doherty (01:42):
of my favorites was the illegal dumping that we
had with the sheriff's deputythat helped us kind of
understand tires and who to calland what to do if you see an
illegal dump.
Jeff Aluotto (01:54):
That's exactly right. We've had if you are a
local government walk, this isthe podcast for you. And I do
want to do some type of montageat some point. I want the way we
were playing in the backgroundor something just to this, it's
gonna be great. We're gonnafigure that out before the end
of the year. Yeah, okay. Allright.
Bridget Doherty (02:13):
I'm on it.
Okay. Well,
Jeff Aluotto (02:15):
I am actually super excited about this first
episode that we're doing. Andit's been one that I've wanted
to do for a while. Today, wewanted to focus on the efforts
of our department of economicequity and inclusion. And so
today, we are thrilled to havetwo of the representatives from
that office in with us today. Wehave Robert Bell, who is the
(02:38):
director of that office. And wehave Gabrielle whaler in with us
today. Robert Gabrielle.
Welcome.
Robert Bell (02:45):
Thank you for having us. Yeah, it's a
pleasure.
Jeff Aluotto (02:48):
So just to get right into it, because this is a
an aspect of county governmentthat Hamilton County is really
starting to put its foot forwardon. And we have for several
years here, in terms ofembedding equity and inclusion
into the operations of thecounty. Robert, and you've been
a while you've been in thetrenches on that you've been
(03:08):
leading this since since the getgo. So if you could just take a
minute or two and tell thepublic how this office began and
how the efforts or how theefforts of your office were
initiated here in HamiltonCounty.
Robert Bell (03:22):
Well, it all started in 2017 by Commissioner
Driehaus and Commissioner Toddpoor tune that needs to be half
an opportune and, and and theycame up with an idea that they
have been thinking about for awhile and got it passed by the
commissioners to establish anoffice of economic inclusion.
(03:43):
And the first thing they did itwas in 2017, was to put together
a an advisory group put togetheran advisory group in order to
give the direction and goals andalso the structure that the
department should take on. Andthey did a fabulous job with
that with with the EconomicAdvisory Council. They my
(04:05):
position came in and 2018 and Iand I started on January 2018.
With the work that we do now, I
Jeff Aluotto (04:14):
remember at the the office of economic, or the
I'm sorry, the economicinclusion Advisory Council. And
I just want to give a specialshout out to them, Robert,
because like you said they theyactually preceded your work here
in helping to set the stage forwhat would happen from an
inclusion perspective in thecounty and he gave some great
advice and we'll get to some ofthat a little bit later in terms
(04:37):
of some of their some of theirinitial vision coming to
fruition here in the county. ButBridget I know you've This is a
specially rewarding episode foryou. So I'm gonna turn it over
to you to introduce our the ourCO guest today. Well,
Bridget Doherty (04:51):
it's something that I love about Hamilton
County is we've really been ableto attract some top talent to
the county and Gabriel whaler.
Who is the small businessutilization coordinator is kind
of an is an academic. And so Iwas hoping Gabrielle could tell
us like her story about how, youknow, what did she study? How
did she come to work for Robert?
(05:14):
And who was her favorite InternSupervisor?
Gabrielle Woehler (05:17):
You're so funny. Bridgette, you really
flatter me. So I actuallystarted as an intern under
Bridgette, doing communicationswhen I was getting my Master's
at the University of Cincinnati.
I was doing some research withthem and economic inclusion and
had the opportunity to do mysenior capstone project with
Robert Bell. And that was allabout how to implement the
government Alliance on race andequities strategies within
(05:41):
Hamilton County. So when theopportunity to join economic
inclusion popped up, obviously,I applied and I was very, very
grateful to be able to continueto work for Hamilton County
under Robert,
Jeff Aluotto (05:54):
can I can I just jump in here for a second and
highlight a couple of things,how Gabrielle indicated, she
immediately took the opportunityto jump to Robert. She did not
answer the question. Who wasyour favorite? Supervisor? I
Bridget Doherty (06:09):
know it's really strategic. Yeah,
Gabrielle Woehler (06:12):
I'm kidding.
Obviously. It was a pleasure.
No,
Bridget Doherty (06:15):
it was rewarding to see you go into
actually, like an area of yourstudy. I, I saw, you know,
Gabrielle, and I stole herbecause I just knew how smart
she was. And I needed the helpand communications but her heart
always lived with, you know,making Hamilton County a more
equitable place. So
Jeff Aluotto (06:32):
in all seriousness, I remember when
Gabrielle started here, and weimmediately started talking in
the administration about what dowe do to keep her here? Yes. And
fortunately, this opportunitycame along in a area of county
operations, which is going to beincredibly importantly,
incredibly important, incrediblyimportant to the future of
(06:54):
Hamilton County. And it's in itsrole in the community. So
Gabrielle, thanks so much forfor being a part of this.
Robert, you talked a little bitabout the, how the office got
started. Talk a little bit aboutthe role of the office in in the
county, what what do you do on adaily basis?
Robert Bell (07:14):
Well, the role and the purpose from the beginning
was to ensure economic inclusionsuccess for Hamilton County, in
both purchasing and procurement,but also operations,
recruitment, staffing,retention, promotions, and that
kind of thing. It began to growas we took a look at both of
(07:34):
those areas. And working withgap, one of the one of the
reasons I got gap on thatproject, and we could work
together, because I went througha training called groundwater my
first year here that the GreaterCincinnati Foundation did with I
think it's called race forward,a national organization. And,
(07:55):
and it struck me that I was Iwas going to say, after that I
decided to do this thing alittle differently. And, and I
was and I really went andlearned gares and got best to be
a member of gear and began tolearn the theories and
strategies that gear promotesacross the country. And it has
been invaluable in our work,because it changed the way that
(08:16):
I've been in economic equationfor years, 15 more years. But it
changed the way I looked at it alittle bit. And it changed the
objectives that I that I decidedthat we needed to have, and that
and that trend. So I started atraining here with with the
theories from Ghana from garecalled equity framework. And I
(08:36):
also began to train all my staffin it, but also the different
departments around what we werelooking for with the equity
framework. And I'll give you acouple of examples of what the
theories entail. equityframework from gare means
freedom from bias and favoritismand focus on fair and equal
treatment for all that works toovercome potential
(08:57):
organizational and systemicbarriers and obstacles to true
equity. It ensures equitypolicies, strategies, practices,
and expectations are in placeutilizes culturally relevant
services and communityengagement approaches. And we do
that in all our work now. Butthat was that that worked mainly
for me, and really deciding howI was going to approach economic
(09:21):
inclusion with with smallminority and women owned
businesses. But it also we useit to empower residents and
businesses to help developsolutions to the problems that
that we're seeking to address,and fully participate in our
economic opportunities. Thoseare some of the basic strategies
and principles that I started toapply to everything I did. And
the whole reason within it allfalls into systemic change. And
(09:45):
I think we've been verysuccessful with that, especially
after we found out we were goingto be able to do a disparity
study. And I utilized all thoseprinciples as as I began to put
this thing together.
Bridget Doherty (09:57):
I feel like you've been very popular recent
And I think that's a testamentto all the hard work you've put
in over the past few years. Butrecently, you've been on Michael
Patton's Podcast coming up,you're going to be honored by
the city of Cincinnati. I mean,there's just been some hardcore
results that have come out ofyour team. Can Can we talk about
(10:18):
what you are most proud of? Whenall of your accomplishments?
Well, there's
Robert Bell (10:23):
not one thing.
There's a there's a lot ofthings. But I tell you, I was so
glad. And I was reallyappreciative after we looked at
it when Jefferson asked me to doa trend line of our spending for
the last couple of years. And Iand I knew from just doing the
quarterly economic inclusionreports that I started in 2018,
that it was going up. I mean, itwas it was, but it was up and
(10:43):
down and up and down a lot. Idid not, could not see the real
trend or curve until we put itwe we plotted, Gabriel plotted
all of our expenditures for eachquarter from 2020 20 to 2023.
And we plotted them on an Excelspreadsheet. And then we ran the
trend line quick query. And Idon't know about Jeff, but when
(11:04):
I saw it almost got off mychair.
Bridget Doherty (11:09):
Well, I had to put that on this podcast as a as
an additional image so peoplecan see it. It's really
impressive. But what
Robert Bell (11:16):
happened was right, right, as a town, we were doing
that we were doing the quarterlyeconomic inclusion, e newsletter
that highlighted a lot of ourwhat we considered successes.
And first, the first things thathappened in Hamilton County,
that went viral, I sent it to mycommunity partners, I sent this
(11:37):
trendline to my communitypartners. Next thing I know, I'm
getting a call from the OhioDepartment of Development, who
somebody sent it up to them.
They like whatever you're doing,keep doing it. If there's
anything we can help help us andall that kind of thing. And then
I got calls from the mayor'soffice from council people. City
Manager, I just had a meetingwith city manager last week,
(11:58):
just around. And basically Iended up talking about the
equity
Jeff Aluotto (12:03):
in we're going to get into the disparity study
here in a second. But before wego there, I just want to
congratulate Gabrielle andRobert, on this accomplishment
and what you have done becausethe disparity study, again,
we'll talk here in a momentabout it is kind of a dividing
dividing line in time, which isgonna give us some new tools and
(12:26):
new opportunities to do somethings to to advance these
efforts much further. Buteverything up until now, when we
started this when thecommissioner started this, this
department back in 2017 2018, Iremember the conversations and
we said you know if we're goingto do this, and we're going to,
if we are going to publicly comeout and and make equity and
(12:48):
inclusion a formal part of thisorganization, then we're going
to do it right. And we're goingto get the people on the ship
who can who can do this and doit professionally, and who know
what they're doing and can driveresults in this area. So we got
Robert Bell, who comes with somuch experience in this area.
And Robert then pulled inGabrielle, who from an academic
(13:11):
and they in a data perspectiveis just lights out, and they're
pushing this but the point Iwant to make is that all of this
progress in this trendline Ihope we can put it as an
attachment. All these resultswere done before the formal tool
of a disparity study was putinto place. So all these results
(13:31):
are the result of Robert and histeam and Gabrielle pushing. This
was departments based upon hegoing out and sitting down with
departments and helping themunderstand why this is
important. And it's not justabout we want our numbers up.
It's not just about puttingnumbers on a page. It's about
wanting everyone in thiscommunity to know that every
(13:53):
person in this county, everyvendor, every business, every
organization, every stakeholderin this county has the right to
be have access to their countygovernment and to be adequately
and well served by their countygovernment. And it's that
message not we need to get yournumbers up. It is the message,
Robert, that you have been soincredibly successful in
(14:14):
embedding with our departments,which is driving this and not
only driving it now but it'sgoing to drive it 510 1520 years
into the future. So now thatwe've talked about where you've
been, we do have a disparitystudy. So could you guys take a
moment here and talk a littlebit about what the disparity
study is for someone who'ssitting at home for our for our
listener who is in will whichwill thanks Ashley, for Ashley
(14:36):
will continue to rise. Talk alittle bit about what that is
and how it's going to help usdrive improvement in the future
and
Robert Bell (14:42):
I'll start it off but but a disparity study was a
necessary tool becauseaffirmative action was outlawed,
you know was was outlawed yearsago. Organizations like ours had
to look for ways becauseintuitively and through just
everyday you know living and andknowledge they got that it was
(15:03):
generally known that smallminority women owned businesses
weren't participating, and a lotof the economic opportunities of
cities and counties andthroughout the United States,
but you just couldn't justchange, you know, change all
that without having some what wecall statistically significant
difference that that showed somereal disparities. And that's
(15:23):
what a disparity study is about.
Some people call it the Bronsonstudy. But what it does, it
takes a look at your utilizationis it takes a year to do because
you they're reviewing 1000s ofcontracts, and the utilization
piece, and what they do is theygo through, they went through
the security study company wentthrough all of our contracts
over I think, $1,000, over fiveand a half year period, and to
(15:45):
see who spent it with how muchtotals, demographics of it, and
that kind of thing. And it'splotted that out. But at the
same time, during that sameyear, they had part of their
organization doing anavailability study. And that is
where you take a look at who arethe small minority women owned
businesses in your relevantmarket area, which is for us is
(16:07):
like a seven county area aroundHamilton County. Who are they
and what they're capable, whatare they capable of? And you
have to compare the two. Andthat's what makes up the
disparity study ratio. You know,utilization versus availability.
Now, availability is not justdemographics, because the
Supreme Court has thrown thatout of go courts have thrown
(16:28):
that out just to go on withdemographics, what availability
really means is availability,capability and willingness. Not
all companies want to dobusiness with us. So we had to
look at our market area to seeokay, what was the most what
what was the best number ofcompanies in which companies
really felt comfortable withdoing work and capable and
available, so that and Lord thenumber of demographic numbers is
(16:51):
a lot harder a lot more thanthat, but it but it gave us what
that what we call the compellinggovernmental interest, and a
proof that we were looking atcompanies that could actually,
and wanted to actually dobusiness with us. And so that
was very important to that. Andthat's why because my job also
with the study, Jeff was to wasto mitigate risk for Hamilton
(17:12):
County. I saw that as my as myas my role here, too. And so we
had we had to federal rules andlegal rules around compelling
government interest, and thatstrict scrutiny, and and, and,
and narrowly tailored remedies.
So all of that had to come inconsideration with, with what we
(17:33):
came, we came up with ourrecommendations, and our
strategies and all that kind of
Jeff Aluotto (17:38):
and so the the study ultimately wound up
producing a set of goals for thecounty. But there are goals and
metrics that are based not onjust randomness, but on the
actual availability defined, asyou indicated earlier, of
vendors in the communitycompared to how statistically
they should have been used inthe past. If things were in a
(18:02):
vacuum, if things had beenequitable in the in across the
across the board. Absolutely. SoI'm interested though,
Gabrielle, you come out ofschool. And so you intern for
the county and then you jumpinto the mix with with Robert in
the department. Talk a littlebit about the disparity study
from your perspective, because Ihave to think this is an
(18:24):
incredible project to not to saycut your teeth because you were
experienced in a lot of wayswhen you when you came on with
us. But as a first real projectin Hamilton County, what were
your thoughts and reactions tohow Robert free thanks,
Gabrielle Woehler (18:37):
I would say that cutting your teeth is still
an accurate characterization ofwhat happened. So I was brought
in kind of in the at the tailend of the disparity study
implementation meetings where wewere still kind of deciding
elements of the policy that wewanted to include or different
approaches that we wanted tohave. And that was really great
for me because I had theexperience of really like
(18:57):
learning from the experts. Soyou know, the disparity study
consultants, Robert himself,everybody's cumulative
experience was all together inone place. So it was really good
for getting me up to pace. Andthen by the time that we had our
policies together, it was timefor myself and Robert to really
learn how to implement the toolsthat were generated from that
(19:18):
disparity study. So much of whatI've been doing, in terms of
implementing the disparity studyhas been teaching people how to
use these tools, you know,learning how to use them
ourselves working in partnershipwith you know, our purchasing
department, which has been verycritical for the success of the
implementation of everythingthat we're doing as a result of
(19:38):
the disparity study, and then tojust really working with project
managers to who are alsoresponsible for doing a lot of
the goal setting that we have.
So it's really just been like avery collaborative effort in
terms of getting this thing offthe ground.
Bridget Doherty (19:56):
That is really interesting, because I know that
it A lot has happened in a shortperiod of time, and then
bringing everybody along withyou on this journey to do things
differently as a government as awhole. I mean, I'm sure that you
know that a lot has gone intothat. And I know it has. And
even from a communicationstandpoint, I think we, you
(20:16):
know, I definitely know that mygoal is to communicate a lot
more about these new ways ofdoing business with the county
to let everybody now I waswondering, incorporating equity
and inclusion has really hasreally bled into our entire
county, can you talk a littlebit about how to incorporate how
(20:40):
the journey you've been on toincorporate equity inclusion
into the different departments,by,
Robert Bell (20:46):
by what I said before, by changing changing
policies, strategies, practices,and expectations, because when
Jeff mentioned that trendlinebefore, the reason it began to
really move around that time waswhen the expectations changed,
not when the disparity study is,but it started back then. And
(21:06):
that's why it's so important.
And that's all the equityframework, I mean, that to me,
that's the whole thing. As amatter of fact, I just had a
meeting with the city ofCincinnati, about the equity
framework and our strategies todo it. And one big success for
me has been our contractspecific goal setting tool,
because we knew we needed togive people tools to get to get
involved, you know, to get themembedded in the system, rather
(21:29):
than us making the goalsourselves and sending it to
them. The project manager andthe a&e firms take this sheet
that we that the disparity studycompany developed based on our
availability data, and theypopulated it all, we got all the
data behind the actual sheet,that auto calculates all all the
(21:49):
all the project manager and addpeople need to do is take the
list of services that they wantto you list the main services,
and then put in the dollarestimated dollar amount for that
service. Once they do that thethe worksheet auto calculates
the percentage that are now theavailability which we use as
(22:10):
goals for minorities and women.
And it's so simple, and then atally them all at the bottom. So
we know the exact percentage andalso the exact amount that each
each minority firm and womenfirm should get. And so they're
embedded in it. And it's going,it's going very well.
Gabrielle Woehler (22:29):
The added benefit to this too is that we
have very tailored goal settingfor each specific contract. And
it is directly related to thework types of that specific
contract. So I do think it'sbeen helpful for project
managers and folks in otherdepartments who are responsible
for collaborating with us inmeeting these goals, to really
understand where they're comingfrom. That too, you know, we're
(22:51):
always trying to kind of sitdown with folks talk them
through the process, showingthem where there is room for
flexibility and teaching peopleabout, you know, how to make
adjustments if those arenecessary to and I think just
generally approaching it with anattitude that we are here to
help everybody get on the samepage has been really beneficial.
And I
Jeff Aluotto (23:09):
think that's really important because as
we've watched this departmentgrow, and we've watched its
influence grow throughout thecounty, it's been really cool to
see you even at our departmentstaff meetings, we will see
departments that, again,procurement numbers, hiring
(23:29):
numbers, all incrediblyimportant in their own right.
But we will have people comingout and saying and I think this
is again, a testament to how youguys have approached this while
people coming out saying hey, weare now looking at the services
that we provide overlain with awith population demographic data
in the county so that we can seeare we hitting the different
(23:51):
areas in this county, thedifferent populations in this
county that can benefit from ourservices. And it's been eye
opening for people. So again,back to your question,
Bridgette, I think what we'veseen from your office, Robert,
is that departments are nowreally trying to figure out how
do we make sure that ouroperations are equitably serving
(24:12):
residents in this county. And itis now you've had so much
success that it's not just aboutequity and inclusion at its its
base definition. But we've addedthings into your department now.
So talk a little bit, if youwill about some of the other
areas of your department, someof the other divisions of your
(24:33):
department because we're takinga much broader definition of
equity and inclusion.
Robert Bell (24:37):
Well 513 Relief is the epitome of the equity
framework. And we saw that fromthe beginning. And we continue
to make sure that it appliesthere. So there are there are a
poster child for economicinclusion. What it did was it
took us out of our offices, itmade us go to the community and
residents and say what do youneed instead of coming up with
(24:58):
what they need in ourconference? has rooms and
meetings and then telling them.
And that's what we're trying todo with every all of our
services now is really becausebecause what happens is a key
piece of gares economicframework is community
engagement and engage. And theroot word of engagement is
engaged, which means to induceto participate. You can't just
sit in your office and say,We're here and expect people to
(25:21):
come. So what what andCommissioner reasons saw that
from the beginning, we needed totake it out to them. But it was
a strong philosophy of oureconomic of our equity
framework. So we're doing itwe're doing it all with every
program we do now. I've hadtrainings and meetings with the
staff to really have them layout how are you going? That the
(25:42):
whole idea hot? Well, how areyou going to make sure that
we're utilizing equity frameworkin your, in our individual
services? And the way youmeasure that is, is, you know,
we're bringing, because ourclients and our businesses are
more partners, and customers andclients, if you make them
partners, what does that do? Itmakes you make sure you
(26:04):
understand and know them, butalso allow them to have input
into the services we're tryingto give them. And that's true
equity.
Jeff Aluotto (26:12):
And so we have also now two, we have five, one
through leaf, which is a part ofthe department, the operations.
So again, for you localgovernment walks out there, we
have the Office of Women andGirls commission Commission on
Women and Girls, which is underthe Office of Equity and
Inclusion, we have the Office ofFamily voice, which is a a
(26:34):
division that's going to that'sjust getting up and running now
designed to help people goingthrough the children's services
system, to equip them withmentors and people who've been
through that themselves to helpthem with that process. We have
the Inspire program is well,that's why, Robert, if you want
to talk a little bit about theInspire program,
Robert Bell (26:55):
well, because one of the things that struck me
while ago and Stephanie Dumaswas the brainchild of this, but
it made a lot of sense to mewhen I heard it because, you
know, our equity SETT Frameworksays we really need to know, how
do we reach everyone in thecommunity. And you know, we do
real good with nonprofits, butcommunity groups and grassroots
(27:16):
groups we're still strugglingwith. And one of the things,
because we found that out whenwe were doing the PPC, you know,
the COVID stuff with what PPPdistribution, we found out that
if we reached out to them, wecould serve, you know, twice or
three times as many people, andthat worked for emergency
services and their supplies.
But, you know, we wanted to makesure that my goal was to
establish more of a relationshipwith these folks, especially
(27:39):
when we began to find out howmuch they were, they were
working to contribute to thewelfare of our children and
Hamilton County. And and some ofthem were paying their own money
to do this stuff. So we, youknow, we ran with Commissioner
Dubis is idea and came up with$5,000 grants that that we would
give them and you know,Commissioner Duma says in our
(28:02):
public statements about it, theywould act like it's a million
dollars up to them, but wewouldn't not given them. We
don't give them the moneyitself. But we pay for whatever
they want. So they submit anapplication for materials,
uniforms, dance shoes, footballcleats, I mean, we had we had
some football teams, communityfootball teams that the kids had
(28:23):
to come off. When they came off,they gave their cleats to the
ones that was going in, toreplace and, and, you know, we
said we need to do somethingabout that. We also had to, we
also have community groups thathave bands, and they are
teaching the kids of music. Sothey're taking his college
scholarships to college. And Ididn't know that you could get
(28:45):
scholarships being in the bandlike that, but and they're being
very successful with it. So webought we bought equipment and
xylophone xylophones and allkinds of drums and you know,
bugles, whatever they need it toteach these kids these kinds of
things. And they go throughparades in the community with
this, but and it's just $5,000.
But but but they're so gratefulfor it, because it really helps
(29:09):
them really achieve their goalsand it keeps children off the
streets, give them the chance tolearn different skills
activities, they go on trips,field trips, and all kinds of
things. And we fund that.
Gabrielle Woehler (29:23):
I also think it's important to add to the
design of the program isintended to reduce barriers for
these small organizations aswell. Typically, the procurement
requirements for using federalfunding because this is funded
through the American rescue planAct are exceedingly burdensome
for some of these smallorganizations that are just
trying to kind of get theirprogramming together for their
(29:43):
students and just manage the dayto day operations. So Alice
Bledsoe, the inspire youthinitiative, program manager, she
is the one who is responsiblefor navigating all of those
purchasing restrictions. Andit's designed this way on
purpose because we want peopleto have access to this funding
without having to To navigatethe difficulties of using
federal funding. So just anothernote, that's
Jeff Aluotto (30:05):
a, that's a great point, Gabrielle, because this
federal money is out there. Butwithout the county and the
office of inclusion, steppinginto the middle to serve as the
funnel, these groups would neverhave access to it you. You would
never be able to figure theserules out know how to apply
them, without the experts inyour office helping with that.
(30:28):
So. And that's really at the endof the day. I think what this
department does is it, it takesa framework, which people
sometimes have a tough timeunderstanding how to
operationalize, and you guyshelp them, you're there for
them, to help work through thiswith them as partners to help
(30:48):
make progress towards thingsthat everybody knows should
happen. But sometimes it's justhard to figure out how do we
change to get it to happen, youguys are have been brilliant
about doing that.
Robert Bell (30:59):
One of the things I'm most proud of is I had a
chance to work with Nick, andemergency management, or EMA
director Nick cross when Hecalls when they're doing their
five year plan for disasterrelief. And they came to me and
said, you know, we really wantto make sure that because one of
the tenants of the equityframework training, and I did
training for the department ayear before that we finished
(31:21):
disparity study, and that gotthem ready. But but they came to
me and said, you know, we wantto make sure we're reaching all
segments of the community andunderstand them. And that's when
we use the equity framework mapas well, to look and see what
they were they were doing it.
And then once they got theequity framework and their
services overtop of that theyrealized they weren't getting
the surveys out and getting thefeedback from certain
(31:41):
communities. So they changed theway that they started changing
the way that they did it to makesure that they're reaching the
most vulnerable communities,because we all know if there is
a natural or some kind ofdisaster who suffers the most
those kinds of communities.
Sure. So it made a lot of senseto do it. And they were they
were helping, you know, helpfulwith me to try to figure out how
(32:03):
do we get this thing done, andthen they ran with it?
Jeff Aluotto (32:06):
Well, and I'll just wrap up by saying that you
don't get a greater complimentthan I remember Nick Crossley,
calling me up out during COVID.
After you had partnered with himon the distribution of PPP out
into some of these communities,and Nix, Nix, and I'm calling
this guy all the time. I mean,he gets his stuff out there. He
knows what he's doing. So,again, just another way that
your expertise has helped thiscounty succeed. So Gabrielle
(32:28):
Robert, thanks for being heretoday. Thanks for coming on the
show. Bridget. I feel badbecause I took an unsolicited
shot at you before. You areeverybody's favorite Intern
Supervisor. So I just want
Gabrielle Woehler (32:43):
to say yes to that, personally. Thank
Bridget Doherty (32:44):
you. I'm currently looking for interns
there, Ashley who's listening.
Let's spread the word.
Jeff Aluotto (32:50):
So until all of you that are out there in the
community listening and, and weknow it's more than that one.
Thanks for listening to episodeone of season four of heart and
hustle in Hamilton County. Justa reminder discret subscribe on
Apple podcast, Spotify and otherproviders. You can find this
podcast on our website atHamilton County ohio.gov on the
Hamilton County administrator'swebpage and on behalf of Bridget
(33:13):
Doherty, everyone's favoriteintern and supervisor and myself
Jeff voluto. We will see younext time on the next episode of
Heartless
Hello and welcome to hearten hustle in Hamilton
County a podcast entirelydedicated to the people and
policies that form Hamiltoncounty government. Why the name
hard and hustle? Well, it bestdescribes the public servants
who make our local governmentwork. Each episode focuses on
creative solutions to thechallenges our 49 communities
(00:30):
face, as well as how ourdifferent county departments
tackle those challenges. Head ofa local government 101 For
listeners who are curious andwant to learn more and we know
at least one fan out there. I'myour host, Jeff Ludo. I'm the
County Administrator with andwith me as always is our
communications manager BridgetDoherty.
Bridget Doherty (00:49):
So happy to be here.
Jeff Aluotto (00:51):
Bridgette, this is our first episode of the year in
our first episode of season fourof heart and hustle.
Bridget Doherty (00:57):
Yeah, I feel like our last episode of last
year, electrocuting fish waswildly popular, and gained us at
least that one list. Exactly.
Jeff Aluotto (01:07):
We know there's at least one which is fantastic.
And we're gonna pick up anotherone this year. That's our that's
our goal for 2024. I can'tbelieve it's been four seasons.
Bridget Doherty (01:18):
We started this in 2020. And it began with the
man behind the mask. GregTesterman.
Jeff Aluotto (01:26):
That's right. It was during COVID. For I remember
correctly, obviously, it wasduring COVID. And we followed it
up with followed it up with somegreat episodes. I think we've
had episodes on housing. We'vehad Board of Elections in here.
One
Bridget Doherty (01:42):
of my favorites was the illegal dumping that we
had with the sheriff's deputythat helped us kind of
understand tires and who to calland what to do if you see an
illegal dump.
Jeff Aluotto (01:54):
That's exactly right. We've had if you are a
local government walk, this isthe podcast for you. And I do
want to do some type of montageat some point. I want the way we
were playing in the backgroundor something just to this, it's
gonna be great. We're gonnafigure that out before the end
of the year. Yeah, okay. Allright.
Bridget Doherty (02:13):
I'm on it.
Okay. Well,
Jeff Aluotto (02:15):
I am actually super excited about this first
episode that we're doing. Andit's been one that I've wanted
to do for a while. Today, wewanted to focus on the efforts
of our department of economicequity and inclusion. And so
today, we are thrilled to havetwo of the representatives from
that office in with us today. Wehave Robert Bell, who is the
(02:38):
director of that office. And wehave Gabrielle whaler in with us
today. Robert Gabrielle.
Welcome.
Robert Bell (02:45):
Thank you for having us. Yeah, it's a
pleasure.
Jeff Aluotto (02:48):
So just to get right into it, because this is a
an aspect of county governmentthat Hamilton County is really
starting to put its foot forwardon. And we have for several
years here, in terms ofembedding equity and inclusion
into the operations of thecounty. Robert, and you've been
a while you've been in thetrenches on that you've been
(03:08):
leading this since since the getgo. So if you could just take a
minute or two and tell thepublic how this office began and
how the efforts or how theefforts of your office were
initiated here in HamiltonCounty.
Robert Bell (03:22):
Well, it all started in 2017 by Commissioner
Driehaus and Commissioner Toddpoor tune that needs to be half
an opportune and, and and theycame up with an idea that they
have been thinking about for awhile and got it passed by the
commissioners to establish anoffice of economic inclusion.
(03:43):
And the first thing they did itwas in 2017, was to put together
a an advisory group put togetheran advisory group in order to
give the direction and goals andalso the structure that the
department should take on. Andthey did a fabulous job with
that with with the EconomicAdvisory Council. They my
(04:05):
position came in and 2018 and Iand I started on January 2018.
With the work that we do now, I
Jeff Aluotto (04:14):
remember at the the office of economic, or the
I'm sorry, the economicinclusion Advisory Council. And
I just want to give a specialshout out to them, Robert,
because like you said they theyactually preceded your work here
in helping to set the stage forwhat would happen from an
inclusion perspective in thecounty and he gave some great
advice and we'll get to some ofthat a little bit later in terms
(04:37):
of some of their some of theirinitial vision coming to
fruition here in the county. ButBridget I know you've This is a
specially rewarding episode foryou. So I'm gonna turn it over
to you to introduce our the ourCO guest today. Well,
Bridget Doherty (04:51):
it's something that I love about Hamilton
County is we've really been ableto attract some top talent to
the county and Gabriel whaler.
Who is the small businessutilization coordinator is kind
of an is an academic. And so Iwas hoping Gabrielle could tell
us like her story about how, youknow, what did she study? How
did she come to work for Robert?
(05:14):
And who was her favorite InternSupervisor?
Gabrielle Woehler (05:17):
You're so funny. Bridgette, you really
flatter me. So I actuallystarted as an intern under
Bridgette, doing communicationswhen I was getting my Master's
at the University of Cincinnati.
I was doing some research withthem and economic inclusion and
had the opportunity to do mysenior capstone project with
Robert Bell. And that was allabout how to implement the
government Alliance on race andequities strategies within
(05:41):
Hamilton County. So when theopportunity to join economic
inclusion popped up, obviously,I applied and I was very, very
grateful to be able to continueto work for Hamilton County
under Robert,
Jeff Aluotto (05:54):
can I can I just jump in here for a second and
highlight a couple of things,how Gabrielle indicated, she
immediately took the opportunityto jump to Robert. She did not
answer the question. Who wasyour favorite? Supervisor? I
Bridget Doherty (06:09):
know it's really strategic. Yeah,
Gabrielle Woehler (06:12):
I'm kidding.
Obviously. It was a pleasure.
No,
Bridget Doherty (06:15):
it was rewarding to see you go into
actually, like an area of yourstudy. I, I saw, you know,
Gabrielle, and I stole herbecause I just knew how smart
she was. And I needed the helpand communications but her heart
always lived with, you know,making Hamilton County a more
equitable place. So
Jeff Aluotto (06:32):
in all seriousness, I remember when
Gabrielle started here, and weimmediately started talking in
the administration about what dowe do to keep her here? Yes. And
fortunately, this opportunitycame along in a area of county
operations, which is going to beincredibly importantly,
incredibly important, incrediblyimportant to the future of
(06:54):
Hamilton County. And it's in itsrole in the community. So
Gabrielle, thanks so much forfor being a part of this.
Robert, you talked a little bitabout the, how the office got
started. Talk a little bit aboutthe role of the office in in the
county, what what do you do on adaily basis?
Robert Bell (07:14):
Well, the role and the purpose from the beginning
was to ensure economic inclusionsuccess for Hamilton County, in
both purchasing and procurement,but also operations,
recruitment, staffing,retention, promotions, and that
kind of thing. It began to growas we took a look at both of
(07:34):
those areas. And working withgap, one of the one of the
reasons I got gap on thatproject, and we could work
together, because I went througha training called groundwater my
first year here that the GreaterCincinnati Foundation did with I
think it's called race forward,a national organization. And,
(07:55):
and it struck me that I was Iwas going to say, after that I
decided to do this thing alittle differently. And, and I
was and I really went andlearned gares and got best to be
a member of gear and began tolearn the theories and
strategies that gear promotesacross the country. And it has
been invaluable in our work,because it changed the way that
(08:16):
I've been in economic equationfor years, 15 more years. But it
changed the way I looked at it alittle bit. And it changed the
objectives that I that I decidedthat we needed to have, and that
and that trend. So I started atraining here with with the
theories from Ghana from garecalled equity framework. And I
(08:36):
also began to train all my staffin it, but also the different
departments around what we werelooking for with the equity
framework. And I'll give you acouple of examples of what the
theories entail. equityframework from gare means
freedom from bias and favoritismand focus on fair and equal
treatment for all that works toovercome potential
(08:57):
organizational and systemicbarriers and obstacles to true
equity. It ensures equitypolicies, strategies, practices,
and expectations are in placeutilizes culturally relevant
services and communityengagement approaches. And we do
that in all our work now. Butthat was that that worked mainly
for me, and really deciding howI was going to approach economic
(09:21):
inclusion with with smallminority and women owned
businesses. But it also we useit to empower residents and
businesses to help developsolutions to the problems that
that we're seeking to address,and fully participate in our
economic opportunities. Thoseare some of the basic strategies
and principles that I started toapply to everything I did. And
the whole reason within it allfalls into systemic change. And
(09:45):
I think we've been verysuccessful with that, especially
after we found out we were goingto be able to do a disparity
study. And I utilized all thoseprinciples as as I began to put
this thing together.
Bridget Doherty (09:57):
I feel like you've been very popular recent
And I think that's a testamentto all the hard work you've put
in over the past few years. Butrecently, you've been on Michael
Patton's Podcast coming up,you're going to be honored by
the city of Cincinnati. I mean,there's just been some hardcore
results that have come out ofyour team. Can Can we talk about
(10:18):
what you are most proud of? Whenall of your accomplishments?
Well, there's
Robert Bell (10:23):
not one thing.
There's a there's a lot ofthings. But I tell you, I was so
glad. And I was reallyappreciative after we looked at
it when Jefferson asked me to doa trend line of our spending for
the last couple of years. And Iand I knew from just doing the
quarterly economic inclusionreports that I started in 2018,
that it was going up. I mean, itwas it was, but it was up and
(10:43):
down and up and down a lot. Idid not, could not see the real
trend or curve until we put itwe we plotted, Gabriel plotted
all of our expenditures for eachquarter from 2020 20 to 2023.
And we plotted them on an Excelspreadsheet. And then we ran the
trend line quick query. And Idon't know about Jeff, but when
(11:04):
I saw it almost got off mychair.
Bridget Doherty (11:09):
Well, I had to put that on this podcast as a as
an additional image so peoplecan see it. It's really
impressive. But what
Robert Bell (11:16):
happened was right, right, as a town, we were doing
that we were doing the quarterlyeconomic inclusion, e newsletter
that highlighted a lot of ourwhat we considered successes.
And first, the first things thathappened in Hamilton County,
that went viral, I sent it to mycommunity partners, I sent this
(11:37):
trendline to my communitypartners. Next thing I know, I'm
getting a call from the OhioDepartment of Development, who
somebody sent it up to them.
They like whatever you're doing,keep doing it. If there's
anything we can help help us andall that kind of thing. And then
I got calls from the mayor'soffice from council people. City
Manager, I just had a meetingwith city manager last week,
(11:58):
just around. And basically Iended up talking about the
equity
Jeff Aluotto (12:03):
in we're going to get into the disparity study
here in a second. But before wego there, I just want to
congratulate Gabrielle andRobert, on this accomplishment
and what you have done becausethe disparity study, again,
we'll talk here in a momentabout it is kind of a dividing
dividing line in time, which isgonna give us some new tools and
(12:26):
new opportunities to do somethings to to advance these
efforts much further. Buteverything up until now, when we
started this when thecommissioner started this, this
department back in 2017 2018, Iremember the conversations and
we said you know if we're goingto do this, and we're going to,
if we are going to publicly comeout and and make equity and
(12:48):
inclusion a formal part of thisorganization, then we're going
to do it right. And we're goingto get the people on the ship
who can who can do this and doit professionally, and who know
what they're doing and can driveresults in this area. So we got
Robert Bell, who comes with somuch experience in this area.
And Robert then pulled inGabrielle, who from an academic
(13:11):
and they in a data perspectiveis just lights out, and they're
pushing this but the point Iwant to make is that all of this
progress in this trendline Ihope we can put it as an
attachment. All these resultswere done before the formal tool
of a disparity study was putinto place. So all these results
(13:31):
are the result of Robert and histeam and Gabrielle pushing. This
was departments based upon hegoing out and sitting down with
departments and helping themunderstand why this is
important. And it's not justabout we want our numbers up.
It's not just about puttingnumbers on a page. It's about
wanting everyone in thiscommunity to know that every
(13:53):
person in this county, everyvendor, every business, every
organization, every stakeholderin this county has the right to
be have access to their countygovernment and to be adequately
and well served by their countygovernment. And it's that
message not we need to get yournumbers up. It is the message,
Robert, that you have been soincredibly successful in
(14:14):
embedding with our departments,which is driving this and not
only driving it now but it'sgoing to drive it 510 1520 years
into the future. So now thatwe've talked about where you've
been, we do have a disparitystudy. So could you guys take a
moment here and talk a littlebit about what the disparity
study is for someone who'ssitting at home for our for our
listener who is in will whichwill thanks Ashley, for Ashley
(14:36):
will continue to rise. Talk alittle bit about what that is
and how it's going to help usdrive improvement in the future
and
Robert Bell (14:42):
I'll start it off but but a disparity study was a
necessary tool becauseaffirmative action was outlawed,
you know was was outlawed yearsago. Organizations like ours had
to look for ways becauseintuitively and through just
everyday you know living and andknowledge they got that it was
(15:03):
generally known that smallminority women owned businesses
weren't participating, and a lotof the economic opportunities of
cities and counties andthroughout the United States,
but you just couldn't justchange, you know, change all
that without having some what wecall statistically significant
difference that that showed somereal disparities. And that's
(15:23):
what a disparity study is about.
Some people call it the Bronsonstudy. But what it does, it
takes a look at your utilizationis it takes a year to do because
you they're reviewing 1000s ofcontracts, and the utilization
piece, and what they do is theygo through, they went through
the security study company wentthrough all of our contracts
over I think, $1,000, over fiveand a half year period, and to
(15:45):
see who spent it with how muchtotals, demographics of it, and
that kind of thing. And it'splotted that out. But at the
same time, during that sameyear, they had part of their
organization doing anavailability study. And that is
where you take a look at who arethe small minority women owned
businesses in your relevantmarket area, which is for us is
(16:07):
like a seven county area aroundHamilton County. Who are they
and what they're capable, whatare they capable of? And you
have to compare the two. Andthat's what makes up the
disparity study ratio. You know,utilization versus availability.
Now, availability is not justdemographics, because the
Supreme Court has thrown thatout of go courts have thrown
(16:28):
that out just to go on withdemographics, what availability
really means is availability,capability and willingness. Not
all companies want to dobusiness with us. So we had to
look at our market area to seeokay, what was the most what
what was the best number ofcompanies in which companies
really felt comfortable withdoing work and capable and
available, so that and Lord thenumber of demographic numbers is
(16:51):
a lot harder a lot more thanthat, but it but it gave us what
that what we call the compellinggovernmental interest, and a
proof that we were looking atcompanies that could actually,
and wanted to actually dobusiness with us. And so that
was very important to that. Andthat's why because my job also
with the study, Jeff was to wasto mitigate risk for Hamilton
(17:12):
County. I saw that as my as myas my role here, too. And so we
had we had to federal rules andlegal rules around compelling
government interest, and thatstrict scrutiny, and and, and,
and narrowly tailored remedies.
So all of that had to come inconsideration with, with what we
(17:33):
came, we came up with ourrecommendations, and our
strategies and all that kind of
Jeff Aluotto (17:38):
and so the the study ultimately wound up
producing a set of goals for thecounty. But there are goals and
metrics that are based not onjust randomness, but on the
actual availability defined, asyou indicated earlier, of
vendors in the communitycompared to how statistically
they should have been used inthe past. If things were in a
(18:02):
vacuum, if things had beenequitable in the in across the
across the board. Absolutely. SoI'm interested though,
Gabrielle, you come out ofschool. And so you intern for
the county and then you jumpinto the mix with with Robert in
the department. Talk a littlebit about the disparity study
from your perspective, because Ihave to think this is an
(18:24):
incredible project to not to saycut your teeth because you were
experienced in a lot of wayswhen you when you came on with
us. But as a first real projectin Hamilton County, what were
your thoughts and reactions tohow Robert free thanks,
Gabrielle Woehler (18:37):
I would say that cutting your teeth is still
an accurate characterization ofwhat happened. So I was brought
in kind of in the at the tailend of the disparity study
implementation meetings where wewere still kind of deciding
elements of the policy that wewanted to include or different
approaches that we wanted tohave. And that was really great
for me because I had theexperience of really like
(18:57):
learning from the experts. Soyou know, the disparity study
consultants, Robert himself,everybody's cumulative
experience was all together inone place. So it was really good
for getting me up to pace. Andthen by the time that we had our
policies together, it was timefor myself and Robert to really
learn how to implement the toolsthat were generated from that
(19:18):
disparity study. So much of whatI've been doing, in terms of
implementing the disparity studyhas been teaching people how to
use these tools, you know,learning how to use them
ourselves working in partnershipwith you know, our purchasing
department, which has been verycritical for the success of the
implementation of everythingthat we're doing as a result of
(19:38):
the disparity study, and then tojust really working with project
managers to who are alsoresponsible for doing a lot of
the goal setting that we have.
So it's really just been like avery collaborative effort in
terms of getting this thing offthe ground.
Bridget Doherty (19:56):
That is really interesting, because I know that
it A lot has happened in a shortperiod of time, and then
bringing everybody along withyou on this journey to do things
differently as a government as awhole. I mean, I'm sure that you
know that a lot has gone intothat. And I know it has. And
even from a communicationstandpoint, I think we, you
(20:16):
know, I definitely know that mygoal is to communicate a lot
more about these new ways ofdoing business with the county
to let everybody now I waswondering, incorporating equity
and inclusion has really hasreally bled into our entire
county, can you talk a littlebit about how to incorporate how
(20:40):
the journey you've been on toincorporate equity inclusion
into the different departments,by,
Robert Bell (20:46):
by what I said before, by changing changing
policies, strategies, practices,and expectations, because when
Jeff mentioned that trendlinebefore, the reason it began to
really move around that time waswhen the expectations changed,
not when the disparity study is,but it started back then. And
(21:06):
that's why it's so important.
And that's all the equityframework, I mean, that to me,
that's the whole thing. As amatter of fact, I just had a
meeting with the city ofCincinnati, about the equity
framework and our strategies todo it. And one big success for
me has been our contractspecific goal setting tool,
because we knew we needed togive people tools to get to get
involved, you know, to get themembedded in the system, rather
(21:29):
than us making the goalsourselves and sending it to
them. The project manager andthe a&e firms take this sheet
that we that the disparity studycompany developed based on our
availability data, and theypopulated it all, we got all the
data behind the actual sheet,that auto calculates all all the
(21:49):
all the project manager and addpeople need to do is take the
list of services that they wantto you list the main services,
and then put in the dollarestimated dollar amount for that
service. Once they do that thethe worksheet auto calculates
the percentage that are now theavailability which we use as
(22:10):
goals for minorities and women.
And it's so simple, and then atally them all at the bottom. So
we know the exact percentage andalso the exact amount that each
each minority firm and womenfirm should get. And so they're
embedded in it. And it's going,it's going very well.
Gabrielle Woehler (22:29):
The added benefit to this too is that we
have very tailored goal settingfor each specific contract. And
it is directly related to thework types of that specific
contract. So I do think it'sbeen helpful for project
managers and folks in otherdepartments who are responsible
for collaborating with us inmeeting these goals, to really
understand where they're comingfrom. That too, you know, we're
(22:51):
always trying to kind of sitdown with folks talk them
through the process, showingthem where there is room for
flexibility and teaching peopleabout, you know, how to make
adjustments if those arenecessary to and I think just
generally approaching it with anattitude that we are here to
help everybody get on the samepage has been really beneficial.
And I
Jeff Aluotto (23:09):
think that's really important because as
we've watched this departmentgrow, and we've watched its
influence grow throughout thecounty, it's been really cool to
see you even at our departmentstaff meetings, we will see
departments that, again,procurement numbers, hiring
(23:29):
numbers, all incrediblyimportant in their own right.
But we will have people comingout and saying and I think this
is again, a testament to how youguys have approached this while
people coming out saying hey, weare now looking at the services
that we provide overlain with awith population demographic data
in the county so that we can seeare we hitting the different
(23:51):
areas in this county, thedifferent populations in this
county that can benefit from ourservices. And it's been eye
opening for people. So again,back to your question,
Bridgette, I think what we'veseen from your office, Robert,
is that departments are nowreally trying to figure out how
do we make sure that ouroperations are equitably serving
(24:12):
residents in this county. And itis now you've had so much
success that it's not just aboutequity and inclusion at its its
base definition. But we've addedthings into your department now.
So talk a little bit, if youwill about some of the other
areas of your department, someof the other divisions of your
(24:33):
department because we're takinga much broader definition of
equity and inclusion.
Robert Bell (24:37):
Well 513 Relief is the epitome of the equity
framework. And we saw that fromthe beginning. And we continue
to make sure that it appliesthere. So there are there are a
poster child for economicinclusion. What it did was it
took us out of our offices, itmade us go to the community and
residents and say what do youneed instead of coming up with
(24:58):
what they need in ourconference? has rooms and
meetings and then telling them.
And that's what we're trying todo with every all of our
services now is really becausebecause what happens is a key
piece of gares economicframework is community
engagement and engage. And theroot word of engagement is
engaged, which means to induceto participate. You can't just
sit in your office and say,We're here and expect people to
(25:21):
come. So what what andCommissioner reasons saw that
from the beginning, we needed totake it out to them. But it was
a strong philosophy of oureconomic of our equity
framework. So we're doing itwe're doing it all with every
program we do now. I've hadtrainings and meetings with the
staff to really have them layout how are you going? That the
(25:42):
whole idea hot? Well, how areyou going to make sure that
we're utilizing equity frameworkin your, in our individual
services? And the way youmeasure that is, is, you know,
we're bringing, because ourclients and our businesses are
more partners, and customers andclients, if you make them
partners, what does that do? Itmakes you make sure you
(26:04):
understand and know them, butalso allow them to have input
into the services we're tryingto give them. And that's true
equity.
Jeff Aluotto (26:12):
And so we have also now two, we have five, one
through leaf, which is a part ofthe department, the operations.
So again, for you localgovernment walks out there, we
have the Office of Women andGirls commission Commission on
Women and Girls, which is underthe Office of Equity and
Inclusion, we have the Office ofFamily voice, which is a a
(26:34):
division that's going to that'sjust getting up and running now
designed to help people goingthrough the children's services
system, to equip them withmentors and people who've been
through that themselves to helpthem with that process. We have
the Inspire program is well,that's why, Robert, if you want
to talk a little bit about theInspire program,
Robert Bell (26:55):
well, because one of the things that struck me
while ago and Stephanie Dumaswas the brainchild of this, but
it made a lot of sense to mewhen I heard it because, you
know, our equity SETT Frameworksays we really need to know, how
do we reach everyone in thecommunity. And you know, we do
real good with nonprofits, butcommunity groups and grassroots
(27:16):
groups we're still strugglingwith. And one of the things,
because we found that out whenwe were doing the PPC, you know,
the COVID stuff with what PPPdistribution, we found out that
if we reached out to them, wecould serve, you know, twice or
three times as many people, andthat worked for emergency
services and their supplies.
But, you know, we wanted to makesure that my goal was to
establish more of a relationshipwith these folks, especially
(27:39):
when we began to find out howmuch they were, they were
working to contribute to thewelfare of our children and
Hamilton County. And and some ofthem were paying their own money
to do this stuff. So we, youknow, we ran with Commissioner
Dubis is idea and came up with$5,000 grants that that we would
give them and you know,Commissioner Duma says in our
(28:02):
public statements about it, theywould act like it's a million
dollars up to them, but wewouldn't not given them. We
don't give them the moneyitself. But we pay for whatever
they want. So they submit anapplication for materials,
uniforms, dance shoes, footballcleats, I mean, we had we had
some football teams, communityfootball teams that the kids had
(28:23):
to come off. When they came off,they gave their cleats to the
ones that was going in, toreplace and, and, you know, we
said we need to do somethingabout that. We also had to, we
also have community groups thathave bands, and they are
teaching the kids of music. Sothey're taking his college
scholarships to college. And Ididn't know that you could get
(28:45):
scholarships being in the bandlike that, but and they're being
very successful with it. So webought we bought equipment and
xylophone xylophones and allkinds of drums and you know,
bugles, whatever they need it toteach these kids these kinds of
things. And they go throughparades in the community with
this, but and it's just $5,000.
But but but they're so gratefulfor it, because it really helps
(29:09):
them really achieve their goalsand it keeps children off the
streets, give them the chance tolearn different skills
activities, they go on trips,field trips, and all kinds of
things. And we fund that.
Gabrielle Woehler (29:23):
I also think it's important to add to the
design of the program isintended to reduce barriers for
these small organizations aswell. Typically, the procurement
requirements for using federalfunding because this is funded
through the American rescue planAct are exceedingly burdensome
for some of these smallorganizations that are just
trying to kind of get theirprogramming together for their
(29:43):
students and just manage the dayto day operations. So Alice
Bledsoe, the inspire youthinitiative, program manager, she
is the one who is responsiblefor navigating all of those
purchasing restrictions. Andit's designed this way on
purpose because we want peopleto have access to this funding
without having to To navigatethe difficulties of using
federal funding. So just anothernote, that's
Jeff Aluotto (30:05):
a, that's a great point, Gabrielle, because this
federal money is out there. Butwithout the county and the
office of inclusion, steppinginto the middle to serve as the
funnel, these groups would neverhave access to it you. You would
never be able to figure theserules out know how to apply
them, without the experts inyour office helping with that.
(30:28):
So. And that's really at the endof the day. I think what this
department does is it, it takesa framework, which people
sometimes have a tough timeunderstanding how to
operationalize, and you guyshelp them, you're there for
them, to help work through thiswith them as partners to help
(30:48):
make progress towards thingsthat everybody knows should
happen. But sometimes it's justhard to figure out how do we
change to get it to happen, youguys are have been brilliant
about doing that.
Robert Bell (30:59):
One of the things I'm most proud of is I had a
chance to work with Nick, andemergency management, or EMA
director Nick cross when Hecalls when they're doing their
five year plan for disasterrelief. And they came to me and
said, you know, we really wantto make sure that because one of
the tenants of the equityframework training, and I did
training for the department ayear before that we finished
(31:21):
disparity study, and that gotthem ready. But but they came to
me and said, you know, we wantto make sure we're reaching all
segments of the community andunderstand them. And that's when
we use the equity framework mapas well, to look and see what
they were they were doing it.
And then once they got theequity framework and their
services overtop of that theyrealized they weren't getting
the surveys out and getting thefeedback from certain
(31:41):
communities. So they changed theway that they started changing
the way that they did it to makesure that they're reaching the
most vulnerable communities,because we all know if there is
a natural or some kind ofdisaster who suffers the most
those kinds of communities.
Sure. So it made a lot of senseto do it. And they were they
were helping, you know, helpfulwith me to try to figure out how
(32:03):
do we get this thing done, andthen they ran with it?
Jeff Aluotto (32:06):
Well, and I'll just wrap up by saying that you
don't get a greater complimentthan I remember Nick Crossley,
calling me up out during COVID.
After you had partnered with himon the distribution of PPP out
into some of these communities,and Nix, Nix, and I'm calling
this guy all the time. I mean,he gets his stuff out there. He
knows what he's doing. So,again, just another way that
your expertise has helped thiscounty succeed. So Gabrielle
(32:28):
Robert, thanks for being heretoday. Thanks for coming on the
show. Bridget. I feel badbecause I took an unsolicited
shot at you before. You areeverybody's favorite Intern
Supervisor. So I just want
Gabrielle Woehler (32:43):
to say yes to that, personally. Thank
Bridget Doherty (32:44):
you. I'm currently looking for interns
there, Ashley who's listening.
Let's spread the word.
Jeff Aluotto (32:50):
So until all of you that are out there in the
community listening and, and weknow it's more than that one.
Thanks for listening to episodeone of season four of heart and
hustle in Hamilton County. Justa reminder discret subscribe on
Apple podcast, Spotify and otherproviders. You can find this
podcast on our website atHamilton County ohio.gov on the
Hamilton County administrator'swebpage and on behalf of Bridget
(33:13):
Doherty, everyone's favoriteintern and supervisor and myself
Jeff voluto. We will see younext time on the next episode of
Heartless
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