This letter was submitted as public comment to Ms. Shana J. Banks, Chief, Advisory Committee Branch, Office of Program, Performance and Stakeholder Integration, U.S. Census Bureau, in September 2023 by Gary D. Bass, GDB Consulting & Executive Director Emeritus, Bauman Foundation, Chair, Census Equity Initiative; LaShanda A. Jackson, Executive Director, Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation; Sol Marie Alfonso-Jones, Program Director, Long Island Community Foundation, Chair, Funders’ Committee Census Initiative (FCCI); and David Biemesderfer, President & CEO, United Philanthropy Forum.
Excerpt
Dear Ms. Banks,
We write in response to the August 25, 2023 Notice in the Federal Register soliciting nominations for the 2030 Census Advisory Committee (the “2030 Committee”). We applaud the Census Bureau for creating the 2030 Committee to ensure a strong avenue of input from stakeholders into planning and operations for the decennial. We believe the 2020 Census suffered from the lack of a dedicated decennial advisory committee and from the lack of a philanthropic perspective on its National Advisory Council. We appreciate the opportunity to share why it is important for philanthropy to be represented on the 2030 Committee and to nominate several individuals who have the necessary expertise and relationships within our organizations to represent the perspectives of the philanthropic sector…
