Community Engagement

A Path to Exploring ANCs in Washington, D.C.

Megan Hughes, Hyla Jacobson, Claire Lin, Madhulikha Muppidi

Pink Lotus Pond at Kenilworth Aquatic Garden in Ward 7, Washington DC. Photo: Mary Procter for HillRag, Capital Community News.

Introduction

Multiple lab partners from the previous year had identified a common issue: inequity in community engagement. As a result, the Policy Innovation Lab's Community Engagement Team was created.

Discovery Phase

In our search for a meaningful team project, we spoke with several people whose various roles led them to deep engagement within the DC community in one way or another. We fondly reflect upon the Discovery Phase of our project as a time of learning from others who are committed to improving the equity of voice across the city. Three conversations contributed significantly to our understanding of the issues at hand - we are incredibly grateful to Katie Whitehouse, Brenda Richardson, and Parisa Norouzi who are highlighted below.

Partnership with EmpowerDC

Empower DC asked the Policy Innovation Lab (PIL) to research ANCs to understand how EmpowerDC can support ANCs to address equitable development and how to build community power between ANCs and the community. Our goal is to examine the role and effectiveness of the ANC system for community engagement, specifically for those historically marginalized to have their voices heard by the DC government.

Key Research Questions

  1. What is the existing structure of ANCs?
  2. How do differences between ANCs contribute to inequities between neighborhoods?
  3. How can community members be empowered to utilize ANCs?

Core Components of Proposal

  • Background Research and Memo on ANCs
  • Primary Research
    • Qualitative Interviews: Current and past ANC Commissioners, community members (mix of 1:1s and focus groups)
    • Surveys: Assessment of current accessibility, engagement, transparency between ANCs and community members (mix of surveys to commissioners to gather individual demographic/experience data and landscape assessment of existing ANC structures and engagement tools such as websites and newsletters)
  • Summarize data and identify key trends, best practices, and additional support/resources for ANCs and possible ideas to improve/reform ANCs

Proposal Creation Process

  • Initial proposal shared with Parisa February 2023
  • Parisa invited current and former ANC Commissions who have worked with EmpowerDC to a meeting in March 2023 to discuss our proposal and offer their feedback. Our proposal was well-received by the extended EmpowerDC community and we are honored to collaborate with such a dedicated and thoughtful group of people.

Highlights from EmpowerDC proposal kick-off meetings!

We received a lot of meaningful feedback from Parisa and the EmpowerDC community on our proposal.

[Proposal] is well-written with a sound research plan.

Accountability is based on expectations - what are the standards for those expectations? What did [commissioners] do to build trust and encourage participation?

During our meeting with current ANCs, we also had the incredible opportunity to hear some of their thoughts and experiences in the role. Speaking to those directly embedded in the ANC system was a confirmation to us of the equity issues that currently exist in the framework, as well as the challenges that ANCs regularly face for their neighborhoods.

Not only do we need to improve accountability but also, we need to understand the support for ANCs and SMDs. Accountability is usually based on expectations which requires there to be standards for those expectations.

If ordinary DC residents want to be meaningfully involved in advancing equitable development, they need to be aware and make others aware that there are deep-pocketed interests who will work very aggressively to thwart them.

Next Steps

  • Created a Linktree, with important ANC links:

Scan the QR code to access the Linktree

  • In the process of creating an ANC one-pager as a quick guide to ANCs. The quick who, what, when, where, why of ANCs. Will be a resource for fellow PIL members and the broader DC community.
  • ANC landscape spreadsheet to track the essential information for each ANC:
    • ANC population size
    • Commissioner information
    • Website & social media links
    • Meeting information
  • Survey to current ANCs to gather data (such as demographics of commissioners, professional experience, other elected positions, etc)
  • Interviews and focus groups with ANCs and community members.

Scan the QR code to access the Linktree