It has been an exciting first year for me at the U.S. Census Bureau! I have been inspired by meaningful conversations about the important work we do and by interactions that give a sense of the progress that leads to increased engagement and collaboration. I feel most motivated and creative when I have a positive vision to work towards.

Although I’m just finishing my first year working at the agency, my Census Bureau roots run deep. Among my other Census Bureau-related roles, I led California’s statewide communications and outreach efforts for the 2000, 2010, and 2020 Censuses, as well as Chairing the National Advisory Committee on Racial, Ethnic & Other Populations before assuming the executive leadership position of associate director for communications at a national level. “Looking back to look forward” affords me the opportunity to gain a better understanding of the connections I made and need to make. As a communicator, that’s very important.

I learned a lot in my first year about collaboration and communications within the virtual walls of the Census Bureau. I have seen incredible dedication and passion among Census Bureau staff to provide the best in all aspects of our work. The work of the Census Bureau is complex and interwoven. With our transformation mindset, we are making great strides to encourage and facilitate the free flow of information. In my role, it’s important for me as I work with other associate directors to be straightforward and ask how we can collaborate and communicate better not only externally, but also internally. We are actively involved in discussions to define what true engagement is and how it can help us throughout the decade. I am optimistic that cross-directorate communications are reaching new heights as we collectively create and communicate a unified vision. I am looking forward to the Communications Directorate “co-creating” many of the Census Bureau’s key engagement and communications efforts. 

A positive vision can help build a sense of community and shared purpose. 

I see so many opportunities for creative and innovative endeavors. One key initiative we launched this past year was the Director’s Community Conversations, which created a new opportunity for Census Bureau Director Rob Santos and team to engage directly with stakeholders across the country. Through our interactions and travels, we heard directly from communities and engaged them at a deeper level. I have always said public participation and engagement must be more than “two minutes at the microphone.” But my experience in civic and community engagement has been at the local, regional and state level, so translating that into getting quality engagement at the national level is an exciting challenge. I am grateful to have the opportunity to interact in person with some of our most underrepresented communities.

One of the top management and performance challenges is ensuring that our data products provide timely, reliable and quality data to stakeholders. Understanding and engaging our stakeholders is key to facing that performance challenge, and goal No. 1 of the Census Bureau’s strategic plan is stakeholder engagement.

What is the Census Bureau's role in stakeholder engagement? This question provides the biggest opportunities and challenges. I think each directorate should ask itself this question, and the Communications Directorate is well situated to help guide them in figuring out their role in developing an enterprise stakeholder plan.  ​​​​​​​

Stakeholder engagement is all-inclusive and all-embracing. I have been working on an engagement framework to help the entire Census Bureau understand and assess where they are with their engagement, which I will share in future blogs.

Let’s get back to the basics of why stakeholder engagement is important.

It’s a mutually beneficial relationship. Helping our stakeholders can help us. The reason why we do stakeholder engagement is that it helps our brand, helps our response rate, and helps us understand the customer experience. And hopefully in doing so, it builds relationships that help us increase public trust and confidence in our data products. We need to demonstrate the tangible value of our data and programs. What is the value of our engaging stakeholders—different stakeholders, different audiences, different needs, different messages, different messengers? How do we explain what we do? These are key questions. Within transformation, the stakeholder engagement goal has focused projects, including analyzing data users and doing research/product development to meet their needs. That is a great start, and I want to expand thinking around our engagement. To do this, we need a common understanding of “what is engagement” and an honest assessment of the level to which we have truly engaged. Technology may change, but human nature doesn’t change. Taking that into account will help us understand how we gather our data and how we disseminate our data products. Our data should be accessible, relevant and trustworthy. But foremost, we should implement solutions thinking in “human interaction” and “customer experience” terms. ​​​​​​​

Over the past year, it’s been gratifying to hear other colleagues start to use terms and concepts that I’ve talked about for many years. In many of my previous roles, I always recognized talent and hard work, and I feel strongly about making sure the rest of the Census Bureau understands what we do in the Communications Directorate. I’m seeking ways to highlight all the amazing work that gets done in such a small directorate. We are working on a catalog of the services the Communications Directorate provides, and I’m looking forward to sharing that. It’s not only the Communications Directorate’s profile that is important to me, though. It’s about raising the profile of the Census Bureau as a whole. I am excited about the remainder of 2023 and working collaboratively with the rest of the Census Bureau to continue to spur transformation and engagement efforts, as we collectively strengthen our brand.

When individuals come together around a common goal, they are more likely to feel a sense of belonging and connection, which can strengthen relationships and foster a sense of trust and cooperation. Ultimately, we need to rely on providing forums for us to listen to each other, to consistently revisit what we are trying to achieve, and to always keep in mind what it is we are trying to accomplish. It’s all about listening to one another.