Tyree Davis IV joined the City of Rockville in May to help further the Mayor and Council’s priorities of establishing equity and inclusion as shared values throughout the community and the City of Rockville organization.
Davis’ formal title is “Advisor to the City Manager for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.” This new position is the first of its kind in Rockville government and will be part of the City Manager’s Office, reporting directly to the city manager.
He joined the City of Rockville on May 31, working virtually as he transitioned from Missouri to Maryland. His first day in person at Rockville City Hall was Wednesday, June 8.
“Rockville Reports” asked him about the new role.
What did you do before joining the city?
I served as the community diversity and equity director at Community Partnership of the Ozarks, a leading nonprofit in Springfield, Missouri, that focuses on facilitating and promoting the building of resilient children, healthy families, strong neighborhoods and communities through collaboration, programming and resource development.
It was a unique position, in that I was housed at CPO, but I worked for and in the Springfield community. I served as a diversity, equity and inclusion consultant to various organizations in the community, doing internal work for CPO as well as serving the community in varying efforts pertaining to diversity, equity and inclusion topics. Prior to that, I worked in health-care strategy where I personally focused on inequities that plagued patients.
What is your mission, or what are your goals in this position?
To engage community stakeholders and establish equity and inclusion as shared values across the community and the City of Rockville as an organization. Some of the ways this work is done is by developing, managing and monitoring Rockville’s diversity, equity and inclusion policies and actions, and serving as a liaison for the city with community partners, while also being a change agent who provides leadership and vision to equity and inclusion efforts within the greater community and Rockville.
Something that I would love for the community to be cognizant of is that this will take a team effort. It will not be just one person or one department. For the community to move forward with diversity, equity and inclusion, we all have a responsibility to ensure that everyone who lives, learns and earns in Rockville feels seen, heard and valued.
What else do we need to know?
I love learning about people, so don’t hesitate to reach out to me at [email protected] or 240-314-8112. I look forward to learning more about the community and how we can make it more equitable. Also, I’m big on collaboration. Nobody is expected to carry the burden of the work for an entire organization and this position/department is the same way. I want to hear what people have to say, so we can solve inequities together.
I am not perfect, this work is not perfect, but it will be what we make it and, with that, I hope that we make it move forward.