On May 22, 2025, the Community Data Justice Collaborative (CDJC)—a dynamic partnership between the Black Equity Coalition (BEC) and the City of Pittsburgh—hosted its fifth workshop, continuing the essential work of co-creating a more equitable, community-centered data landscape in our city.
This virtual gathering brought together community leaders, city staff, and data practitioners to deepen our shared understanding of what it means to be a culturally competent data worker and discuss how equity-centered practices can be embedded across job roles and hiring processes in local government.
Revisiting Roles and Responsibilities in Data Work
Kicking off the session, participants revisited public-sector data worker job descriptions discussed in the April workshop, including data stewards and data analysts and reflected on how cultural awareness could be implemented into hiring and training practices. In the discussions, participants emphasized that simply updating job descriptions is not enough. Structural shifts are also required to create culturally-aware:
- Recruitment and screening processes
- Interview questions
- Onboarding experiences
- Ongoing training and skills development
Refining a Cultural Competency Framework
May’s breakout activity focused on reviewing and refining a proposed cultural competency framework for data workers that was first developed in April by group members. Through discussion in breakout-rooms, participants offered feedback on the list, expanded categories, and added insights to ensure the framework reflects the lived experiences of community members and the unique responsibilities of data workers.
Key additions and themes from the discussion included:
- Community engagement skills and experience collaborating
- Awareness of the political landscape and processes
- Compassion for people and knowledge of historic inequities including race, class, gender, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation and data misuse
- Employer should provide resources and continuing education opportunities
- Different skills are required for different data worker positions
- A need to build an infrastructure literacy – this should be at the forefront of community engaged work.
The prioritized list of competencies for data workers will be shared with the city, and members of the group expect to see these reflected in job descriptions, screening processes, interview questions, and training for new hires and the existing workforce.
Introducing the Public Health Informatics Institute
Finally, during the final portion of the workshop, participants were introduced to the Public Health Informatics Institute (PHII)—a national leader in data systems and public health impact. As a technical assistance provider to grantees of de Beaumont Foundation, they’re creating process maps for cities like Baltimore and Portland, PHII will also be collaborating with the Community Data Justice Collaborative (CDJC) to improve how data is requested, tracked, and shared.
This conversation set the stage for the next workshop, where participants will learn more about the City’s data request process, envision a more accessible system (including the potential for a public-facing ticketing tool to track data requests), and define roles for the Black Equity Coalition (BEC) and other community partners to advocate for and assist with data accessibility and equity.
Looking Ahead
As Pittsburgh strives to become a national model for equitable data governance, workshops like these remind us that the most powerful tools we have are community voice and collaboration. The insights and feedback from this session will be compiled into a proposed “Competencies for Data Workers” document that will be reviewed by the City’s Data Governance Committee and, ultimately, help shape future hiring and evaluation standards.
We look forward to continuing this journey at our next Community Data Justice Collaborative workshop later this month at the South Side Market House—with support from PHII. Together, we’re building more than just frameworks; we’re building a data ecosystem rooted in justice, access, and trust.
Stay tuned for future workshops and initiatives as we continue to shape a more just and equitable future for all at: www.BlackEquityCoalition.org
About the Community Data Justice Collaborative (CDJC):
The Black Equity Coalition (BEC), in partnership with the City of Pittsburgh created the Community Data Justice Collaborative (CDJC) as part of the broader Data Justice for Pittsburgh’s Black Neighborhoods project, designed to empower Black residents with decision-making authority over how data is used, governed, and shared in the city. Pittsburgh is one of four U.S. cities selected for the Modern Anti-Racist Data Ecosystems (MADE) for Health Justice initiative, supported by the de Beaumont Foundation. The de Beaumont Foundation sponsored the BEC’s work to assist in accelerating the development of health-focused local data ecosystems that center principles of anti-racism, equity, justice, and community power.
The Community Data Justice Collaborative is a group of residents who engage in decisions that the City of Pittsburgh makes about data, technology, and policies that will serve as the foundation of the City’s emerging data governance process. The BEC will engage the Community Data Justice Collaborative and city data stewards in participatory activities to find agreement around how the city uses data and technology.
