Due to the systemic barriers inherent in the system, our Spanish-speaking community in the greater Kent County area lacks current, high-quality information about where we have been, where we are, and where we are going. There is also a consistent absence of representation of the Latinx community in local data because of non-inclusive data collection. The result is that resources and programming are currently distributed with limited knowledge of the realities of the Latinx community in Kent County.
To combat this inequity, KConnect convened cross-sector partners to begin working on developing and implementing a Spanish-language Data Dashboard in our community. These partners are:
Francisco Calderon
Family Promise of Grand Rapids
Neil Carlson
DataWise Consulting, LLC
Holly Rea Clarkson
Hispanic Center of West Michigan
Amber Erickson
Kennari Consulting
Evelyn Esparza-Gonzalez
Hispanic Center of West Michigan
Brian Herron
Community Data and Research Lab
GVSU Johnson Center for Philanthropy
Salvador Lopez
KConnect
Danya Ramirez
Primary Circle Data Consulting and Education
Aaron Yore-VanOosterhout
Community Data and Research Lab
GVSU Johnson Center for Philanthropy
Jeff Williams
Community Data and Research Lab
GVSU Johnson Center for Philanthropy
Mark Woltman
KConnect
The group identified the systemic barriers that are keeping the Spanish-speaking community from accessing timely and equitable data. These barriers include:
- Systemic Racism
- Cost of Living
- Transportation Access
- Civic Participation
- Anti-immigration & immigration law
- Language
- Cultural
- Economic
- Education/Literacy
- Trust
- Medical
- Exceptionalism/Hostility to outgroups
The workgroup also developed a set of design principles for the Spanish-language Dashboard project to serve as a compass during creation and implementation. They include:
- Accessible
- Responsive
- Reliable
- Community-Focused ‘
- Community-Driven
- Informs Decision-Making
- Culturally-Aligned
- Empowering
- Transparent
- System of Record
- Accountability
- Exemplar
- Democratizing
Their goal is to create reliable sources of information that promote civic engagement by empowering organizations and individuals to advocate resources, programming, and systems change for the Hispanic community. By utilizing Spanish-language data and information, the Spanish-speaking community will lead community outreach efforts with an equitable approach. These efforts will be focused on cultural differences and meaningful results to close opportunity gaps in Kent County related to social determinants of health.
The Spanish-language Dashboard project is an example of collective impact and system building between KConnect, the Hispanic Center of Western Michigan, Community Data and Research Lab, DataWise Consulting, and more. It is anticipated to launch in the fall of 2022.
