Choose Chicago and the Choose Chicago Foundation: Advancing Impact through Data-Driven Strategies 

Social Impact Framework: Engagement with All Community Populations

What is the issue you were trying to address?

Choose Chicago partnered with MBE certified DEI consultant, The Exeter Group, to conduct an organization-wide Equity Assessment in fall 2021. From this assessment, a multi-year equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) strategic action plan was created. A key finding and recommendation in the assessment was to highlight diversity representation while avoiding tokenism.

Our motivation to undergo this assessment and implement its findings stems from the need to enhance equity, inclusion, and diversity within our industry and local community. This commitment, championed by Senior Leadership and the Choose Chicago Board of Directors, is embedded both within our organization and across the broader tourism economy.

Prior to the Exeter Group assessment, Choose Chicago lacked a data-driven approach and a formalized EDI strategy. While there were various EDI efforts throughout the organization, a cohesive strategy or dedicated focus on EDI had not been established. 

What were the stated objectives of this initiative?

Choose Chicago has taken a thoughtful and consistent approach to implement ongoing EDI dialogues by fostering conversations and connections across the organization to keep EDI top of mind. We also developed an annual calendar of underrepresented cultural celebrations that was shared across departments. Through our EDI department and Choose Compassion Employee Resource Group (ERG), we offer learning opportunities, promote a message of inclusion and an emphasis on the value of various diversity dimensions.

The Choose Compassion ERG began the year by exploring our "why." Staff shared motivations such as curiosity, serving as an advocate or ally, the desire to learn and make a social impact, creating age awareness, having a voice at the table, celebrating workplace diversity, and engaging with diverse communities in our city. This discussion led us to define our "what," resulting in a series of thoughtful cultural learning opportunities for employees throughout the year. 

What were the specific metrics you used to measure the success of your efforts?

Choose Chicago used three types of metrics to measure success: Surveys (internal/external) Social and web analytics, and E-marketing analytics.  

Through surveys, interviews, and focus groups, participants expressed a strong desire for ongoing EDI training and more communication on EDI topics and broader organizational initiatives. They also emphasized the importance of more targeted recruitment practices. This feedback directly shaped our EDI education plan, starting with a leadership training track focused on topics such as mitigating bias in talent management, fostering an inclusive environment, and enhancing cultural competence. We also introduced an onboarding requirement for new hires, which includes a session on bias and systemic racism.

Survey-related qualitative metrics include listening to internal and external stakeholders. This includes Choose Chicago board, staff, partners, youth and community leaders. Their feedback is critical to our success.

Quantitative Metrics are embedded into our EDI scorecard and tie back to Choose Chicago’s strategic plan:

• Tracking total number of partners, total number of diverse partners, and non-diverse partners and their diverse classifications.
• Staff Data – full time, contract employees, age, gender, race/ethnicity
• Tracking Diverse Vendor Spend, total vendor spend for the year, total diverse vendors for the year, percentage of diverse vendor spend for the year.
• Scholarship Data – race/ethnicity, majors, gender, schools
• Workforce Development – number of programs, total hours participants engaged, total number of participants engaged, total partners and strategic partners, number of Choose Chicago department involved 

What were the specific outcomes and results of your efforts?

A cultural learning opportunity we introduced included our Choose Compassion Newsletter. This resource was shared with internal/external stakeholders and had a strong open rate of 35% (above industry standard of 20%).  

Choose Chicago was able to successfully recruit and retain W/MBE owned businesses and increase business engagement with Choose Chicago departments. These actions resulted in increased media exposure, client engagement opportunities, and dedicated marketing content. In turn, we saw increased support of diverse businesses in marginalized communities.

Our annual diverse cultural calendar that highlights underrepresented cultural dates has been used by the Choose Compassion and broader marketing teams to curate content. 

Key website metrics for EDI content include:

• Our cultural guide series, which features a deep dive into Black, Latinx, and Asian history and heritage in Chicago through the eyes of locals, has received almost 10,000 sessions since launching spring 2024.
• Our LGBTQ+ content, representing a diverse range of interests from historical landmarks to Pride celebrations, has received more than 82,000 sessions so far this year.  
• Our accessibility content, aggregated in our Accessibility content hub and featuring first-hand perspectives of Chicagoans with disabilities, has reached over 14,000 sessions so far in 2024. This represents a 115% increase from the same period in 2023.  
• Our Chicago Like a Local blog has featured the perspectives of more than 18 different writers this year, each reflecting a different facet of the city’s diversity. 

Choose Chicago/Choose Chicago Foundation Key Outcomes:

In 2023, Choose Chicago launched its 2023-2025 strategic plan, with a focus on EDI. Now in the second year of implementation, we've achieved key milestones such as formalizing a business diversity policy and establishing organization-wide and departmental diverse spending goals. We have also made notable progress in increasing workforce diversity and completed our first Annual EDI Scorecard, which tracks year-over-year progress in line with our strategic plan. 

Engagement with the Community

To advance equity, we’ve reduced barriers to access for historically excluded groups within the tourism economy. Choose Chicago sponsors community-led events, including IL Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Business Expo, Let’s talk Women March Women’s Bash, Bud Billiken Parade + Festival, and Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Kick Off and Business Expo.  

We also waived first-year membership fees for our Choose Chicago partnership program and have worked to enhance visibility for diverse-owned businesses through media and marketing efforts. Choose Chicago has a dedicated Neighborhood Strategy team focused on promoting the city's neighborhoods through a community listening approach. This team’s efforts have been widely recognized, including the launch of the award-winning "The 77" video series, which highlights the rich history of Chicago’s neighborhoods and promotes diverse-owned businesses. 

Supporting Inclusion in the Workplace  

Choose Compassion created a new employee benefit with Human Resources team “Choose Compassion PTO day” to explore an employee’s cultural heritage or exploration of a different cultural heritage. Choose Compassion also supported the development of the organization’s first EDI scorecard.

Choose Compassion ERG consistently hosted employee events that covered a range of cultural and diversity topics like:

• February: Black History Month Divine 9 Presentation and Panel
• March: Women’s History Month Lunch and Learn, live talk in Pullman, and tour of the Pullman Visitor Center
• April: Celebrate Diversity Staff Potluck + Language Demonstration + Fun with Flags Quiz
• May: Chinatown Tour and Dim Sum Lunch
• June: Juneteenth Conversation featuring Choose Chicago employee speakers and a DuSable Museum expert, along with an office decoration initiative for LGBTQ+ Pride Month
• September: Lunch and Learn for Latinx Heritage Month, featuring Choose Chicago employee speakers 

Creating a Welcoming Environment

The Choose Chicago Sales Team, in collaboration with city and state partners, recently secured the NAACP 127th Annual Convention, which will be held in Chicago in 2026.

Our broader marketing team developed popular digital guides focused on cultural themes, such as Black Culture, Hispanic/Latino Culture, LGBTQ Culture, and Accessibility.

Furthermore, we’ve established partnerships that promote accessibility at our destination and supported diverse talent pipelines through initiatives like the EDI Apprenticeship, the Choose Chicago Foundation scholarship program, and Student Tourism Days, all aimed at increasing awareness of career opportunities in the industry, with a focus on BIPOC talent. 

Investing in Workforce Development  

Choose Chicago and the Choose Chicago Foundation continue to champion careers in hospitality and tourism through student programming and scholarship initiatives. To date, we are on track to award $80,000 in scholarships, which includes three scholarships to young men of color. 

Is there any other information you'd like to share, including any best practices or key lessons learned?

A best practice is to have a data-driven strategy (qualitative and quantitative) to support an EDI strategic action plan for your organization and to hold everyone accountable. The data will reveal gaps in your infrastructure. To my knowledge, a data-driven EDI strategy was not in place prior to my role.  

We are excited about our ongoing progress and goal to make Chicago the most accessible city in the country. In partnership with Fun for the Disabled, we’ve highlighted videos featuring individuals with disabilities at local attractions, now available in the Accessibility section of our website. The Accessibility section of our website also contains several blog posts with information on accessibility for local attractions, venues, and more. Additionally, we've teamed up with the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities to provide customer service training for restaurant and hotel partners on how to better serve guests with disabilities. A 2025 goal is to develop an accessibility taskforce to support ongoing strategy and implementation of resources to make Chicago the most accessible city in the country.  

Key Lessons:  

• Be consistent with building equity, diversity, and inclusion within your organization. Be strategic, focused, and clear on the impact you want to make as an organization. It's easy to go in several directions because there's so much to be done, but you have to be focused. 
• Equity, Diversity and Inclusion initiatives are good for business, but the work doesn't just happen. The organization’s strategy must assign ownership, ongoing commitment and accountability. If it's a priority, make sure it IS a priority and not lip service.  
• Celebrate the small wins! It can be discouraging when results don’t happen as quickly as you like but continue to move forward working collaboratively with your leadership and internal teams to shape culture and behaviors. This contributes to progress!