City of Kalamazoo selects LGBTQ+ Liaisons

Published on July 15, 2024

The City of Kalamazoo is announcing the selection of designated liaisons to the LGBTQ+ community in Kalamazoo. Tanya Hewitt-Smith, the City’s Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, is the officially designated City Manager’s Office Liaison to the LGBTQ+ community, representing the City Administration. Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety Officer Christina Ellis is the officially designated LGBTQ+ Liaison for Public Safety. She will be the KDPS point of contact for both members of the LGBTQ+ community and officers who interact with the community.

The LGBTQ+ Liaisons serve as an accessible and friendly ear to the City of Kalamazoo’s LGBTQ+ community and elevate community concerns to City leaders and Public Safety leadership. Both roles highlight the City of Kalamazoo’s proactive effort to build and strengthen the relationship between the LGBTQ+ community and the City. The roles also reflect Kalamazoo’s dedication and commitment to DEI and the City’s goal of increasing its score on the City’s Municipal Equality Index (MEI), calculated by the Human Rights Campaign. In 2023, Kalamazoo’s MEI score was 86 out of 100, which is a 12-point increase from 2022. One of the ways the City of Kalamazoo improved its MEI scorecard was by partnering with OutFront Kalamazoo to hold LGBTQ+ trainings for all City staff.

Hewitt-Smith has been DEI director since September 2022. She is responsible for development and advancement of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives directed at achieving the desired outcomes. The department promotes DEI educational opportunities, partners with City departments to review internal processes and policies with an equity lens, and evaluates public programs and projects.

Ellis most recently was nominated and selected as a 2024 LGBTQ+ Leader Award recipient from the National Diversity Council where she was recognized as an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community in Kalamazoo and leadership excellence. The recognition occurred at the 2024 Virtual LGBTQ+ Unity Summit which highlighted the benefits and challenges that accompany the effective inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals in the workplace and explored how organizations can better serve their LGBTQ+ customers and clients.