2026 SAG Award Winners

City of Seattle and City of Seattle

Project Goal

The Racial and Social Equity (RSE) Index is a tool for informing the design, prioritization, and evaluation of place-based programs, planning initiatives, and investments. The index combines three subindices; Race, English Learners, and Origins; Socioeconomic Disadvantage; and Health Disadvantage and Disability.
The City demographer in Seattle’s Office of Planning & Community Development (OPCD) designed the RSE Index in 2017 in collaboration with the Mayor’s Office, Office for Civil Rights, and additional departments. These colleagues were seeking a map of population-based data that they, and teams across the City, could use to further the City’s Race and Social Justice Initiative.
The RSE Index addresses this need by providing a common foundation of mapped data to help identify where equity priority populations make up a relatively large proportions of neighborhood residents. Having this common base keeps departments from reinventing the wheel and makes it easier to align efforts.
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Business Problem Solved

To help people learn about the RSE Index, we published a mapping app and Users’ Guide and presented to a variety of groups. Many teams across the City organization began using the index to inform equitable service delivery. Community groups, students, and journalists tapped into this resource. Other cities reached out for advice on building their own index.
Even as teams at the City applied the RSE index in increasingly impactful and sophisticated ways, some of our analysts and decision makers were unaware of it. A survey found others were unsure how to use technology to apply it.
The recent launch of our Citywide Data Strategy provided an opportunity to take awareness and institutionalization of the RSE Index to the next level. As part of this strategy, our Data Analytics & Racial Equity group and Information Technology Department (Seattle IT) co-hosted a GeoEquity Showcase, enabling teams across the City to inspire colleagues by sharing examples of how they use the RSE Index.

Technology Implemented

We developed the RSE Index using several tools, including ArcGIS Pro, R, and Excel. Esri’s recent R-ArcGIS Bridge has enabled future updates to be seamless, with the updated index written directly to a file geodatabase from R-Studio.
We maintain a Sidebar Instant App for exploring the RSE Index, showing both the composite RSE Index as well as the indicators that contribute to it. The app also leverages Esri’s ArcGIS Living Atlas to enable users to overlay additional demographics.
We provide access to the index on Seattle’s Open Data portal, ArcGIS Online, and the City’s internal ArcGIS Portal. Broad sharing and integration with R, Tableau, and Power BI enable GIS analysts at the City to use the RSE Index with GIS data about City programs and capital investments to show where targeting further investments could advance equity. In workshops, we sometimes use paper maps and old-school physical transparencies to show how the RSE Index can be used with other data.

Development Team Biography

The Office of Planning & Community Development (OPCD) developed and maintains the RSE Index. The project team includes Diana Canzoneri, City Demographer; Phillip Carnell, Planning & Equity Data Analyst; and Jennifer Pettyjohn, GIS Analyst.
The Citywide GeoEquity Initiative planning team includes:
• Seattle IT: Harvey Arnone, Stephen Beimborn, Zinta Smidchens, Brandy Balansay.
• Data Analytics & Racial Equity Co-Leads: Diana Canzoneri and Phillip Carnell, OPCD; Carmie Estandian, Office of Labor Standards; Janis Jordan, Innovation & Performance Team; Wayne Liou, Seattle Public Utilities (SPU); Joon Sohn, Seattle City Light; Ryan Turner-Brady, SPU.
GeoEquity Showcase presentation topics included human services, emergency management, sustainability, transportation, parks and recreation, utilities, and more.
Communications by Megan Erb & Tony White, Seattle IT; Sarah Graves, OPCD.
Special thanks to Esri’s Raynah Kamau and Michael Green for sharing GeoEquity best practices with us.