MMA welcomes first chief equity officer

From the Beacon, November 2024

This month, the MMA is very excited to welcome its first Chief Equity Officer: Jillian Harvey.

The creation and filling of this role is the result of a thoughtful and deliberative process and signifies the MMA’s ongoing commitment to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion efforts both internally and with communities across the Commonwealth. This same deliberative process, stewarded by the MMA’s DEI Advisory Committee, has resulted in the development of a DEI Strategic Plan for the MMA, which will be released shortly following Jillian entering her new role. (You can learn more about Jillian, her experience and her vision for her new role in this story.)

For my part, I can tell you that I am delighted to have Jillian joining the team here at the MMA. I had the privilege of working with her during my time in Arlington, and I can attest firsthand to her unsurpassed commitment to equity work, her deep understanding of local government policies and process, and her excellent approach to people of all different backgrounds and perspectives as she approaches this important and challenging work. I witnessed her work with elected and appointed officials and her work with residents, and I have always been impressed with her ability to maintain productive dialogues even in the face of tense discourse.

As for the work here at the MMA, we envision that Jillian, as Chief Equity Officer, will support city and town governments in their efforts to become more diverse and inclusive workplaces and to champion DEI within their communities. We also envision that Jillian will work with us internally to formulate and execute diversity, equity and inclusion strategies, operational practices and policies, employee training, and other initiatives that honor and value diverse backgrounds, perspectives and cultural differences.

Regarding the work with you, our members, and the communities that you serve, we look forward to assisting cities and towns that are actively seeking tools and strategies to advance equity within their communities. We are also interested in engaging in dialogue with communities that are unsure about exploring this work as part of their city or town government. Our desire is to have a hallmark of the MMA’s equity work be “meeting people and communities where they are at.”

In that spirit, we look forward to introducing Jillian to all of you over the course of the next year, as she works to guide the next steps of the MMA’s DEI journey. I hope that you will all join me in welcoming her, and I look forward to the work ahead.