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Diversity Issues Task Force
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"Many municipalities face similar challenges in the process of addressing their changing populations.  However, they often face these challenges in isolation or without benefit or knowledge of concrete activities undertaken by other municipalities, and with limited understanding of the context of groups' experiences, culture and norms.

The Diversity Issues Task Force offers local officials the opportunity to engage in productive discussions with their peers, sharing their successes and learning from each other." 

 

-- Larry Hartwig, Mayor, Village of Addison, and, Chair, Mayors Caucus Diversity Issues Task Force
 

 

Latino Suburban Roundtables a Success

In 2007, the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus joined with the University of Notre Dame’s Institute for Latino Studies Metropolitan Chicago Initiative to host four Roundtables focusing on Latinos in the Chicago region. Mayor Larry Hartwig, Mayor of the Village of Addison and the Chair of the Caucus’ Diversity Issues Task Force, and Sylvia Puente, the Director of the Metropolitan Chicago Initiative, co-chaired these Roundtables. The Roundtables included representatives from a number of communities, including Addison, Aurora, Berwyn, Blue Island, Carpentersville, Cicero, Elgin, Joliet and Waukegan, as well as members of the Latino community and representatives of the organizations that serve them.

The first Roundtable focused on the demographics and basic information regarding Latinos in the Chicago region: where are they living; how are they participating in the economy; how are various communities responding to the growing influx of Latinos? The second Roundtable examined issues surrounding housing: what types of housing do Latinos generally inhabit; how does the affordability of a community impact Latino housing patterns; how can communities and community-based organizations address overcrowding issues? The third Roundtable focused on education: what are educational best practices regarding teaching English; how can you get parents involved in their children’s school life? Finally, the fourth Roundtable looked at what is happening with immigration reform and immigrant integration efforts at the federal, state and local level. Participants learned about initiatives in Chicago, Addison, and Palatine designed to incorporate all members of a municipality in order to create a stronger community as a whole. In December 2007, the Caucus and the Institute for Latino Studies released Forging the Tools for Unity, a summary of the Roundtables and their recommendations, which can be found here.

For more information on this report, please contact Beth Dever at the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus: 312.201.4507 or beth.dever@mayorscaucus.org.

 

 





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