Unity Council Awarded National League of Cities Innovative Diversity Programs Award for Data-based Report
The National League of Cities selected the City of Arlington as the winner of its 2021 Cultural Diversity Awards for the work of the citizen-led Unity Council . The City was awarded the top prize in the 200,001-500,000 population category .
The 28-member Unity Council ’ s mission was to gather community input , research best practices and recommend strategies that the City of Arlington could implement to promote and encourage greater equity and to advance unity across the community .
Dr . Jason Shelton , associate professor of anthropology and sociology , and the director of the Center for African American Studies at The University of Texas at Arlington , led the Unity Council ’ s work .
“ Dr . Shelton brought his researcher ’ s orientation to the task at hand , and the result is a report that is grounded in data but constructed from the many perspectives of the Unity Council members and the residents of Arlington ”, Mayor Jeff Williams said .
The 132-page comprehensive report focused on five areas of study :
• Housing
• Economic Disparities
• Health and Wellness
• Policing and Criminal Justice
• Education and Workforce Training
The Unity Council ’ s presentation identified nearly 60 recommendations for short- , mid- and long-term goals in these areas based on months of data analysis .
Arlington was one of only four communities selected for the 2021 awards .
Celebrate 2021 Open Data Day by Exploring New Datasets and Interactive Maps
In honor of Global Open Data Day , the City of Arlington celebrated new additions to its Open Arlington data portal , which offers 46 downloadable datasets and numerous interactive web maps published that are free for anyone to use .
Open Data Day , which occurred on March 6th this year , is an annual celebration that highlights the benefits of open data and encourages people to connect and build solutions to social issues in their community by using open data .
Open Arlington , which launched in 2017 , serves as the City ’ s central clearinghouse for accessing , visualizing and interacting with the City ’ s open data sets . You can explore data related to a variety of topics , including transportation , environmental issues , neighborhood amenities and public art , and some of the socioeconomic characteristics of our community .
By making data more consumable , the City aims to better connect with its residents , create efficiencies for departments and spur collaboration with the private sector .