City of Easthampton

The City of Easthampton has expressed its commitment to promoting and advancing environmental justice and equity as values for both its internal processes and city services.

To further these objectives, the city partnered with Rivera Consulting to develop a one-year-long equity assessment and action-planning project consisting of two phases: a mixed-method research-driven equity impact assessment of the previous five fiscal years, and an action plan for piloting inclusive engagement approaches.

For phase one, RC performed an in-depth quantitative analysis of municipal expenditure and demographic information to identify mismatches between Easthampton’s equity goals and its resource allocation.

For phase 2 of the project, we created a comprehensive 6-month engagement plan that was informed by phase 1 findings. The goal of this second phase resulted in the creation of a local environmental justice and equity framework that includes internal and/or external city internal practices and community engagement, as well as to support the Mayor's Office, city staff, city elected and appointed officials, families and residents alike in embedding actionable practices and policies that advance EEJ more holistically. It now serves as a bedrock document that can shape all aspects of city internal practices, community engagement, and inclusive data analysis.