Our Equitable Community Engagement Toolkit team received an Operations Transformation Fund grant to expand our project team and focus on the writing, designing, and building of the Toolkit.
As part of this work, we recently onboarded a new program evaluation fellow, Nicole Carmichael. We’re piloting the draft Toolkit guidance, training, and program with several City agencies to better understand what’s working (or not) before broad implementation. Nicole will lead the evaluation.
Learn more about Nicole below.
Tell us your story.
I’ve always been curious about different places and cultures, which led me to spend time living in New Jersey, Philadelphia, Washington State, Delaware, and more. Hearing people’s experiences in different places emphasized our community’s need for data-driven and equitable social change. In pursuit of this goal, I studied policy and economics at University of Delaware and University of Pennsylvania. This helped me provide direct service to community members who have experienced housing instability. I then supported a project to reimagine Delaware state service delivery through a community-centered and trauma-informed approach. I hope to continue to use my optimism and creativity to mend government–person relationships and support inter-dependent communities.
What values underpin your work and why?
Abundance: Each block, neighborhood, and community in Philadelphia has invaluable assets and ideas for service design. Equitable resource allocation and system changes can create an economy rooted in abundance rather than scarcity.
Empathy: Understanding and having compassion for the human experience, and especially for those who’ve been historically excluded from decision-making and opportunities for success, is critical to public service.
Community: As a student, I learned about the influence of capitalistic values, like individualism and competition, and the influence they have on America’s DNA. This undervalues the necessity of community. Reorienting ourselves around the power of the “village” can help government build strong and sustainable communities.
Why are you interested in contributing to the Equitable Community Engagement Toolkit project?
I’m passionate about researching and designing solutions to complex issues. This project activates my “left brain,” which loves to do statistics, run surveys, and find patterns in data. I’ll also be able to connect with people when conducting interviews and amplify the powerful voices shared with me.
Program evaluation and monitoring allows City staff to co-create goals with the community and then stay accountable to those goals. This can rebuild much-needed trust in the systems meant to serve us, so I think this project is super important!
What’s your most favorite thing to do in your down time and why?
I love traveling in the name of building friendships, eating good food, and experiencing nature. I’ve hiked around the country, from parts of the Appalachian Trail to Mount Rainer, and learned a lot about different cuisine. I also love to do yoga and learn about other holistic approaches to wellness. My dog is my best friend, and we play a lot of tug-of-war.
