Over the summer our office was fortunate to have hosted a cohort of very bright and driven interns, you’ve met them in a few of our previous blog posts you can read HERE. During our time together we had the pleasure and privilege to get to know these wonderful young women and work alongside them on a number of different projects and programs where their fresh perspectives and ideas proved to be invaluable to us. Before they left us to get back to their studies at Harvard and Syracuse University we asked them to summarize the work they completed with us over the 8-week internship and to highlight some of their favorite projects. Please read on to see how their summer went and all the great work that they helped us to accomplish!
Afiya Rahman’s Summer Reflection
This summer, I focused on three key projects. The first project involves the Mayor’s executive order on police reform, specifically action number 13. This project is also in tandem with Governor Cuomo’s executive order 203, requiring local governments in New York to adopt a police reform plan. My fellow intern Amina and me focussed on developing a presentation modeled on the newly created racial policing curriculum. This curriculum will then be delivered to new police recruits, to provide them with historical background and social awareness regarding the City of Syracuse and its history with racial policing. The presentation was then delivered and presented to community stakeholders, who had the opportunity to examine the curriculum and give feedback.
Historical events such as white flight, redlining, and urban renewal are not simply characteristic of Syracuse but have occurred across the country. However, these aspects of Syracuse have shaped the city and the interactions between different groups of people. This curriculum will provide the context surrounding the decimation of the 15th ward, as well as incorporate community feedback and include personal anecdotes and experiences to bring these events to the forefront.
As a resident of Syracuse and a graduate of the Syracuse City School District, I have been involved with community justice organizing. This project takes the curtain back and has allowed me to see the city’s perspective and the processes involved with reform proposals such as this one. This curriculum regards important history that has negatively impacted marginalized communities, and I hope it will provide perspective and increase community involvement in the decision-making process.
Another project I worked on involved developing marketing strategies that can be used to implement the Innovation Academy Training Program, this program strives to encourage and empower boots-on-the-ground city employees, with an emphasis on giving them the tools to develop and improve processes in their workplace. I assisted with reimplementing Innovation Academy for city employees again this year, by developing marketing and branding strategies to get the program ready to launch!
Lastly, I worked on a project in collaboration with the City of Syracuse Central Permit Office. This initiative involves several fronts, one goal involves making the City permitting process more efficient and navigable for the residents of Syracuse. I was involved with gathering information and data from the databases, storing permits applications, and storing that information in an accessible database for people to understand. This project involves many key aspects, such as making sure data is transparent and easily accessible, as well as ensuring city accountability, and allowing city employees to better utilize city resources.
I also had the opportunity to attend the Surveillance Technology Working Group, which aims to review city technologies and ensure that they are implemented safely. This group provides transparency in the city process regarding new technologies and allows residents to provide their opinions and thoughts.
Laveena Lee’s Summer Reflection
Three weeks ago I collaborated on a presentation that was delivered to key staff members about Syracuse’s Data Governance Strategy. While planning and preparing for our first data governance committee, I was able to contribute by adding visualizations and diagrams for our main ideas. With the help of several API team members, I was able to refine my visual representation skills and serve our target audience: other members of City Hall who would be recruited as our data stewards.
Alongside the Data Governance Committee meetings, I enrolled in a four-week Data Governance Sprint offered by GovEx Academy where I took a deep dive into understanding Data Governance in governmental bodies. Data governance consists of the policies, standards, and metrics that are involved with using data. It creates foundations for sustainable, ethical, and efficient management and usage of data. With the Data Governance Sprint, I was able to understand the roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders, and elements of our data strategy, and outline our city’s mission statement. It was also a great opportunity to connect with other cities across North America, enabling us to brainstorm and collaborate on data governance together, voice each other’s concerns, and share proposed solutions.
Another project that I worked on with the team on was survey designing and usability testing for the Syracuse Open Data Portal. Open Data is a key criterion for Syracuse’s What Works Cities certifications, and under the guidance of the team's Innovation Designer, I was able to test the accessibility and relevancy of the platform for its users. After studying different resources and models, I identified user personas to represent the community members who would use the Data Portal as a resource. Once done, I built scenarios of usage revolving around the needs, familiarity of data, and attitudes of the various personas. The survey designing process was exciting for me since I was able to reach out to other Syracuse citizens and ask for their participation. The process has given me an opportunity to try new skillsets and see civic design’s influence on data usage, and a new understanding of user tests. The entire process from brainstorming to implementation and appointment scheduling was very insightful. Putting myself into the shoes of others and knowing how we can make the Open Data Portal more useful sparked new interest and creativity I had not thought of before.
Alongside these projects focused on data utilization, I worked on digitizing datasets for the Greenhouse and Parks department, as they are in need of a new dashboard to make their internal processes smarter. The parks department is still filling out their orders and maps on paper, causing a lot of confusion and disorganization as people have to dig through a lot of unstandardized and scattered data. I worked on restructuring and logging in data from the parks department to be used for a new dashboard. This way, data is centralized and simplified for its users to access. In the beginning, I thought my tasks were very menial and small, but quickly realized how vital building dashboards are for large departments, and they all start with ensuring that data and its maps are accurate, clean, and standardized. In the digital world, it is important to help bridge the digital gap between internal organizations so every department is able to make informed decisions with minimal resources wasted. I feel very fulfilled to have been able to contribute to that.
During my time with the API team, I have been able to grow in confidence and understand the deliverables expected at the end of my internship. The office culture and team member support are huge contributors to my energy and attitude here, everyone is very collaborative and brings different skill sets to the table. No single project would be accomplished without contributions from everyone. I feel that I can interpret my interactions with our team members, Mayor Ben Walsh, and other City Hall members, as well-rounded, insightful, and fruitful lessons. I look forward to beginning the academic year with these rewarding experiences with me.
Amina Salahou’s Summer Reflection
Since starting as a fellow for the API team, there has been an abundant sum to learn and a great quantity to take away from the experience, including the prospect of career development. This summer I focused on three different team projects, rooted in impactful goals.
Engaging with my marketing and event planning skills through developing a marketing strategy plan for the city’s Innovation Academy Training Program, was a new experience. The Innovation Academy Training Program is driven by the API team that strives to, “Establish and cultivate an innovative culture in City Hall.” The Program consists of a series of quarterly 2-day hands-on Innovator Crash Course training for city employees. Additionally, there is an annual Civic Innovation challenge which is a judged competition that puts participants' innovation skills to the test! During this project, API team members provided guidance and insight on previous marketing strategies the team used for successful programming. Leading the development of a marketing guidebook that will be applied to the soon-to-happen Program taught me skills about properly communicating with different audiences, and learning from the city communications departments provided additional insight during this project. The diversification of the projects I worked on, ranging from innovation to data made my experience with the team exceptional.
The second project I worked on was the Syracuse Open Data Portal. The Open Data Portal is a public database accessible to any city citizens who may be curious about city practices or seeking to utilize data. During this project, I knew I wanted to be able to contribute towards making data (that can typically be confusing to users) more approachable and understandable as well as creating space for data to be seen as an applicable tool for solving substantial problems faced, such as lead exposure. Polishing maps with ArcGIS (an online geographic information system service developed by Esri) and exploring the backend of the data portal was an insightful experience, and I look forward to applying such skills in my academic career. An initial edit was the adjustment of a Code Violation Map to reflect the open, closed, and void cases clearly through the use of green, red, and yellow dots. The original map represented the status of each violation in one blue shade.
In addition to visual improvements, conducting lead research was a significant step in expanding the Open Data lead page. The new lead page includes information on the City and Onondaga County Health Lead Departments, how to identify lead at home, and the steps one should take if they are exposed to lead. General information about lead exposure, lead inspections, and a city-wide lead water line map is available to view on the new lead page: Lead Risks
The final project I worked on this summer was Mayor's Executive Order No. 1 Action #13, “Develop and deliver training on the history of racism in Syracuse and the United States, both in the police academy and during in-service training, such that 100% of the membership of SPD receives this training. Additionally, deliver department-wide training in cultural competency for law enforcement.” Working on this project with Afiya, was truly an eye-opening experience. During the summer of 2020 when the Executive Order was passed, I was on the streets organizing with CuseYouthBLM, a local youth lead Black Lives Matter organization, through CuseYouthBLM students across the city hosted a protest, advocated for police reform within the Syracuse City School District, and empowered a local network of change. Working on Executive order #13 (developing a curriculum on the history of racism for SPD) shifted my perspective on what change means to me. Professors at LeMoyne College developed the curriculum and along with Afiya, we were tasked to digest the curriculum into a slide deck that would be shared among community stakeholders. Action #13, which was delegated to the API team was one of the last items of the Executive Order that was put into place 2 years ago.
As a member of GenZ and a local organizer, the change I have contributed to in the past has been fast-paced, although when viewing police reform, such a task comes with large stakes that affect various elements of the community. Although it took much time for this action to occur, the time taken was used to address the needs to be met with community well-being in mind. Contributing to change at a local government level, leaves me with new notions on the way change can look. Impactful change truly occurs every day, even if it is not fueled by a large protest or media attention. Being a part of this project has allowed me to reflect on the ways I can make small changes each day and allows me to be more appreciative of the local efforts that are consistently being made.
Final Sentiments
Our interns have expressed a great deal of gratitude for the opportunity to join this office, and learn from our team’s skillsets, and experiences. They have enjoyed our team culture, collaborative work style, and diverse portfolio of projects. Each of these women has been so appreciative and eager to take this experience and these lessons with them and apply them to their next project or experience.
“I am immensely grateful for the API team and the ability to work on these integral projects, I’ve enjoyed my time here and am excited about the future possibilities for these projects.” - Afiya R.
“Thank you to the entire API Office, the City of Syracuse, and Syracuse University for giving me this experience! I am so happy to have been a part of their work stream and honored to learn.” - Laveena L.
“I look forward to taking the skills, information, and experiences I have learned back to Cambridge through coursework at Harvard, and applying my new skillset to everyday experiences.” - Amina S.