Photo Credit: Courtesy of Edith Valle, Daily Texan Staff

Are you a government employee who is fighting for a more just system?

Do you use your influence to do right by the community?

Do you collaborate with community members and organizations to advance equity?

If so, you are probably a Herocrat! Herocrats are government employees who collaborate with community members, co-workers, and others to advance justice. That often means they are changing policies, programs or the workplace culture to be more equitable. Herocrats are creative, bold and connected to the people they serve.

If this sounds like you, or someone you know, please read on and consider responding to this opportunity.

I put out this RFH to hear your stories and find out what lessons you’ve learned. This research is for a book that will inspire and empower government employees to be Herocrats in their own jobs. I’ll also be blogging about them on LinkedIn and on my website, www.bellwethermn.com.

To be clear: Herocrats aren’t the top executives, nor do they always have a big, dramatic story to tell. They are simply people who care about justice and lead from where they are. Even if they aren’t in leadership positions, they use their influence in creative ways to benefit the community. For example, a Herocrat might be:

A maintenance worker at a transit agency who used buses as traveling job recruiters in low-income neighborhoods.

A budget analyst in city government who shared information in new, engaging ways, getting community members involved earlier and more deeply in the budget process.

A training supervisor who changed the department’s culture through courageous leadership, which helped them to serve their community better.

These are just a few examples of Herocrats I’ve met. What’s your story?

I hope to speak with at least 15 people and hear how they sparked a step toward justice. It could be a big policy change that affects thousands of people and millions of dollars or it could a modest change in practice that deeply impacted the lives of a handful of people. The scale is less important than the story.

I’ll choose the people to interview based on the following criteria:

Creativity. They have approached an old problem in new ways.
Justice. They are in their job to create a more just world.
Results. Their work created positive results (but note it does not need to be quantitatively “proven.”)
Story. They have stories that are inspiring, relatable and maybe even funny.
Diverse voices. People of Color and women are strongly encouraged.
Type of agency. They are from a variety of organizations: cities, counties, school districts, police departments, transit agencies, park districts, state agencies and others.
Geographic spread. They are from all corners of the U.S. and different sizes of communities.

There are inspiring people working for justice from all angles and using all methods, but Herocrats is focused on a specific type of person described above. We will not be including:

Elected officials or top executives.
People who have already gotten a lot of public attention and awards for their work.
People whose examples are more than 10 years old.
People who have pushed through changes unilaterally.

Self-nominations are encouraged, as are nominations of friends and colleagues. If you nominate someone else, please make sure they’re willing to participate. There is no monetary compensation, nor is there any guarantee that your story will be featured.

The nomination form is here.

The deadline is August 30, 2019. Please contact me with your questions: allison@bellwethermn.com.

Thank you!