#715 How Not to Engage Historically Marginalized Communities with Chyanne Eyde, Washington, DC

The GovLove episode features Cheyenne Eyde, Deputy Chief of School Planning for DC Public Schools, who openly discusses her missteps in engaging historically marginalized communities. Inspired by a spontaneous session at Civic Tech Toronto, Eyde frames failure as a learning tool rather than a stigma. She argues that authentic service design hinges on hearing directly from the people a program serves, especially in a city like Washington, D.C., where equity gaps are stark. By exposing the limits of traditional surveys and email outreach, she sets the stage for a deeper conversation about why inclusive engagement matters for any local government.

Eyde recounts concrete failures: a community survey that omitted a key subgroup, events that only attracted already‑engaged families, and content that teachers rejected. These setbacks taught her that small‑scale experiments—spending days in elementary schools, testing ideas with a handful of stakeholders—are essential for building the ‘muscle’ to handle larger projects. She emphasizes the uneasy reality of relationship building, describing the need to be vulnerable, to face rejection, and to enlist trusted gatekeepers who can bridge the gap between government staff and residents. Tracking these interactions in a simple stakeholder matrix prevents future blind spots.

Today Eyde’s engagement process resembles a campaign. She begins by mapping audiences, assigning communication frequencies, and allocating extra time to the most active community members. A transparent tracker—often an Excel sheet—ensures each group receives appropriate updates and that political energy in D.C. is harnessed constructively. By openly acknowledging past failures and respecting community input even when decisions diverge, her team cultivates credibility and long‑term trust. For municipal leaders, the takeaway is clear: embed failure analysis, prioritize relational equity, and use data‑informed service design to create programs that truly serve historically marginalized populations.