Elevating Community Voices in Public Policy

Abstract Information: The San Francisco Latino Parity and Equity Coalition (SFLPEC) emerged in 2016 as a collaborative effort among Latino leaders and 23 non-profit community-based organizations to advance equity in the city's Latino communities. SFLPEC employs various strategies including policy advocacy, pursuit of financial investment in the Latino community, data gathering, leadership development, and community outreach to serve bilingual and monolingual Spanish-speaking residents, as well as indigenous communities. Community Safety has surfaced as a leading topic in the San Francisco political discourse. SFLPEC recognizes that this topic is multifaceted and intersectional, however, it is plagued with a dominant narrative that centers crime and the individual as the root cause, with little acknowledgment of the role of systems, institutions, and inequities. SFLPEC aimed to gain valuable insights into community perspectives on and potential solutions for community safety, as well as to foster trust and connections between SFLPEC and our community. We strived to co-create a narrative that accurately represented the needs and aspirations of our constituents, ensuring that our actions and initiatives are thoughtfully aligned with the voices and values of those we serve. To do this, SFLPEC engaged in a community listening project to validate and refine our strategic approach, providing a clear pathway forward to support the community. In this session, we will share SFLPEC’s approach to engaging with the Latino and immigrant communities in San Francisco through perspective-gathering activities, such as Safety Mapping, Root Cause analysis, and Solution Brainstorm. Through partnerships with community-based member organizations, we made efforts to create community spaces for feedback and discussion and we ensured the activities were interactive and thought-provoking in order to engage people in multiple ways. We created community feedback boards, using stickers, pins, sticky notes, and maps and a set of activities adaptable to time and availability. These feedback boards were placed in the lobbies of community-based organizations and were also used in facilitated community meetings. The aim was to create an environment in which individuals could contribute meaningfully within a short time frame, in the spaces in which they feel comfortable, and in the language of their choice. Within 3 weeks we had heard from 85 community members. In this session, we will share lessons learned, including the importance and strategies of community engagement in policy processes. We will also discuss the study findings, which illustrate the interconnected nature of community safety issues and the value of collaboration among coalition members. These findings serve as a call to action for policymakers and community leaders to address the identified needs and challenges, weaving community voices into meaningful policy reforms and initiatives. Ultimately, SFLPEC's initiative represents a proactive approach to advancing equity and addressing community safety concerns in San Francisco, rooted in community engagement, data-driven insights, and collaborative action. The main aim of this initiative was not just to hear what the community had to say but to turn ideas into tangible actions that make our city safer and more equitable.