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We are all connected. We are one nation. And as public servants, we need to understand and live our mission to provide quality statistical data on our nation’s people and economy. Those data connect us; they connect one person to another. They offer the clues to how we can improve our society and how we can help each other by understanding who we are as a nation. It is our connections as the people of this nation that compel us to engage with each other.
Engaging allows us to share and respond to our individual needs that can be used by all, or needs that can vary by age, sex, gender, race/ethnicity, culture, language, health, and other socio-economic attributes. Engaging the public is the key to empowering the public with the data we produce. It allows us to enlighten folks about the incredible value of our data for communities. And, ultimately, it is a powerful catalyst for generating the partnerships and the trust that we need at the community level to motivate participation in our censuses and surveys.
That’s why I’ve spent much time advancing our continuous community-of-the-whole effort. I have engaged with stakeholders, partners, and local communities; with tribes in a nation-to-nation context; with Congress and other elected officials; and with my colleagues in the federal statistical system and the international statistical community. Through engagements like these – with honest, direct, and respectful dialogue – the U.S. Census Bureau’s core values of scientific integrity, transparency, objectivity, and independence can shine through.
We’re constantly assessing how we can improve our statistical programs to better serve and represent our nation’s people, including its underserved groups. An important part of our efforts is a commitment to seek out different perspectives and actively engage the public in our work. Continue reading...
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