‘It’s about our values.’ Sacramento’s new community engagement director gets to work
The office of Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg has a new addition to its Civic Engagement Team that was originally established in 2018.
Chinua Rhodes, a Sacramento native, was hired as the Director of Community Engagement for the mayor’s office. Rhodes is a community organizer and serves as a trustee on the Sacramento City Unified School District board.
The community engagement team organizes residents through civic engagement to ensure they have access to resources and opportunities provided by the city of Sacramento. The engagement team is the direct liaison between the community and the mayor’s office, and its focus is on reaching the underserved.
Rhodes spoke with The Sacramento Bee regarding his new position, on-the-ground work through organizing and his future with the school district.
Note: The following interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Q: You have a new position. Explain what this new position entails, what will you be doing?
A: I have a new job. It’s at the office of Mayor Steinberg in the office of Community Engagement. I’m the Director of Community Engagement for the mayor’s office.
Q: Can you tell me what you’ll be doing as the Director of Community Engagement for the city of Sacramento working with the mayor’s office?
A: My job is to oversee the mayor’s Office of Communication. Most importantly, how I see it is to build strong connections with agencies, community-based organizations, community members and other service providers to really increase the mayor’s office’s ability to serve and advocate on behalf of our residents.
Q: So Director of Community Engagement, what exactly does that mean to Chinua?
A: I think that’s a really good question. I think it’s really engaging the Sacramento community, in its entirety, with the understanding that the core of the city isn’t just about geography. It’s about people, and it’s about our values.
Q: How did your experience prepare you for this new task? I imagine you’re going to be doing a plethora of other things now as it relates to the community.
A: I think that to make a long story short, I’ve always striven to be a coalition builder. Someone who builds on shared values, builds on relationships despite differences and bridges divides. In the south side, we say, “I’m true to this. I’m not new to this.” And so like the community portion, what we do, and how we engage, has always been at the center of everything I’ve done throughout my career.
Q: Will you still maintain your position with the Board of Education?
A: Yes, I will. Definitely still be a Board of Education trustee, that is a duly elected position by the people. So I will still continue the role of representing Area Five, pertaining to education and all things Sacramento City Unified School District.
Q: Why was that important for you to obtain that position?
A: I think that this position was very unique. I come from a community organizer background. I was always trying to figure out how and what I can do that brings my skill sets forward to engage Sacramentans. I was blessed enough to be able to obtain the position. We’re here, they let us in and if they let us in, we have to do something with it. I look forward to pushing forward and working with the mayor and our communities and hope to engage and really bring voices to the table as we move forward to building the Sacramento we would like to see.
This story was originally published November 15, 2021 at 10:51 AM.