The City of East Palo Alto seeks to enhance community engagement and encourage civic participation. To support this work, the City enlisted FUSE Executive Fellow Jerry Chang, who developed a series of new tools and strategies to build partnerships and strengthen collaboration with community members. During the COVID-19 crisis, Chang helped establish virtual community meetings, including a mayoral town hall and public meetings to discuss community and economic development. He also trained staff on how to engage with residents using digital platforms.
When the pandemic exacerbated the hardships residents faced in accessing city services and connecting with one another, Chang devised digital engagement strategies to foster connectedness and build community. He also launched an ongoing series of community conversations called “Elevate EPA,” inviting city and community leaders, residents, and resource partners to share perspectives on the challenges facing East Palo Alto. Hearing diverse viewpoints enabled participants to deepen their understanding of the issues and, ultimately, consider a broader range of possible solutions. Chang also facilitated the formation of several “innovation teams” to develop, prototype, and launch promising community projects, including a summer internship program for local youths and free public WiFi for over 4,000 community members.
