a. Equity. For the purposes of this chapter the term "equity" means both an outcome and a process. Equity as an outcome shall mean the achievement of a city where the worth, talents, and contributions of all people are valued and recognized, irrespective of race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, mental or physical disability, national or ethnic origin, immigration status, education, or economic status, and where these characteristics of identity, whether taken individually or through the ways in which they intersect, are not predictors or determinants of economic, political, social, or psychological outcomes, as they neither confer privilege nor deny opportunities. Equity as a process means the closing of gaps in policy, practice, and allocation of city resources through the prioritization of access, opportunities, and resources to those people and communities with the greatest need, whether due to historical or current marginalization or oppression, underinvestment, disinvestment, or under-resourcing of those people and communities, or due to the way in which their intersecting characteristics of identity serve to magnify inequities.
b. Other Definitions. For the purposes of this chapter the following terms have the following meanings:
Access Design. The term "access design" means incorporating language justice, plain language, physical accessibility, civic service design, and other principles into communications, policies, and interactions, to reduce barriers to quality service and meaningful participation.
Civic service design. The term "civic service design " means the practice of making the experiences of the people who use and deliver government programs the central focus to inform the policies, processes and systems that affect those experiences.
Covered agency. The term "covered agency " means (i) an agency to which the provisions of chapter 16 apply, in accordance with subdivision a of section 385, provided that the mayor may determine that agency plans can be consolidated where limited agency personnel or resources do not make it practicable for an agency to prepare its own racial equity plan; (ii) an agency headed by a board, commission, or other multi-member body, provided that either the majority of members of the body or the chief executive officer of the agency is appointed or designated by the mayor alone, and that has, as of January first of the applicable year, at least 40 full-time employees or part-time equivalents, as determined by the office of management and budget in consultation with the office of racial equity; (iii) a contracted entity, as such term is defined in section 22-821 of the administrative code, where the aggregate value of such entity's contracts with the city to provide or administer economic development benefits on behalf of the city in the city fiscal year preceding the applicable plan calendar year exceeded $500,000,000; or (iv) an agency that has agreed in writing to comply with some or all of the provisions of this chapter applicable to a "covered agency", provided that such agreement may be revoked in writing at any time by such agency.
Disaggregated data. The term "disaggregated data" means data collected from or about multiple persons or households, analyzed and presented as separate categories by different characteristics, such as race, cultural background, neighborhood, language, or gender, at a specified level of detail and granularity.
Language justice. The term "language justice " means a policy of designing interactions, public dialogue, and content, and providing services so that all users likely to benefit from them can interact in the language they feel most comfortable using, in order to reduce barriers that disproportionately exclude people with limited English proficiency from equal access and participation in decision-making.
Marginalization. The term "marginalization" means the effects of past or current policies or actions that have had a long-term negative impact on an individual, family, community, or neighborhood, including, but not limited to, any collateral consequences of disproportionate law enforcement, any underinvestment in neighborhoods, or any disproportionately penalizing enforcement method. The term "anti-marginalization" means actions and policies that reverse and prevent the effects of past or current marginalization.
Occupational segregation. The term "occupational segregation" means the under-representation or over-representation of a group, identified on the basis of a shared characteristic protected by the employment related provisions of the city's human rights law, in a position or field of work to the detriment of that group's ability to obtain higher levels of pay, responsibility, flexibility, stability, or other indicators of job desirability.
Outcome indicator. The term "outcome indicator" means a measure of quantitative data that enables an assessment of the improvement, worsening, or stagnancy of an aspect of wellbeing or quality of life for individuals, communities, or populations.
Plain language. The term "plain language " means using writing, scripting, or other communicating in a way that the reader or listener can understand easily and completely, including using clear and common words, organizing ideas to be easy to follow, and choosing words that would be easy to translate into and understand in a person's preferred language.
Priority neighborhoods. The term "priority neighborhoods" means neighborhoods with disproportionate equity, health, or socio-economic burdens, or that have the potential to be disproportionately impacted by future events that could exacerbate racial disparities.
Racial equity. The term "racial equity" shall mean, when referring to an outcome, the achievement of equity with a particular focus on race or the intersection of race with other characteristics of identity. When referring to a process, the term "racial equity" shall mean the closing of gaps in policy, practice, and allocation of city resources through the prioritization of access, opportunities, and resources to those people and communities who, based on or at least in part due to race, have historically faced or currently face marginalization or oppression, underinvestment, disinvestment, or under-resourcing.
Wage segregation. The term "wage segregation" means underpayment for work predominantly performed by, or for positions predominantly held by, a group of persons sharing a characteristic which is protected by the employment related provisions of the city's human rights law, as compared to payment for work performed by, or positions held by, another group who is performing work requiring similar levels of skill, experience, responsibility, and effort.
(L.L. 2022/121, 12/2/2022, eff. 12/2/2022)