Cook County Announces the Selection of The William Everett Group as 2020 Census Program Administrator
CHICAGO, IL--After a robust Request for Proposal (RFP) process, the Cook County Board of Commissioners has selected The William Everett Group, a certified African American-owned and woman-owned business enterprise, to provide program administration services for the County's 2020 Census Complete Count outreach and communications program. Working closely with the Cook County Complete Count Commission and Bureau of Economic Development, the group will increase awareness, promote self-response, and improve the response rate in hard-to-count communities.
Vera Creative, a Latinx and woman-owned full-service marketing and public relations agency, is one of the subconsultants, having extensive experience with outreach, using many platforms, in hard-to-count communities.
"We look forward to working with The William Everett Group, as the 2020 Census is important to every resident of Cook County," said Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle. "To state it clearly, billions of federal dollars are at stake in areas such as transportation, healthcare, affordable housing, and community development, to name a few. An accurate Census helps ensure fair representation at all levels of government including congressional and commissioner districts. So, it is vital that every resident of Cook County is counted.”
The William Everett Group has had extensive experience with large scale projects as well as management consulting and information technology services within Cook County since 2010. Their work on managing the Chicago 311 Community Engagement Project was an 18-month campaign designed to connect Chicago’s residents to the City’s new, modernized 311 non-emergency system. They successfully connected with hundreds of community organizations in over 250 local and regional areas. Their extensive work included a social media campaign and various materials in multiple languages, resulting in outreach that included a strong focus on hard-to-reach communities such as the homeless, African American, LGBTQ, Latinx, physically and mentally disabled residents.
“I am pleased with the selection of The William Everett Group as Cook County’s Census 2020 Program Administrator,” said Cook County Commissioner Stanley Moore (4th District) who serves as chairman of the Cook County Complete Count Census Commission. “I am impressed with their successful track record in working on large private and public sector projects. The William Everett Group’s diverse and inclusive team with extensive experience on prior Census communications and engagement efforts will greatly benefit the County as it seeks to educate the region’s hardest to count communities to participate in the 2020 Census.”
Members of the team include:
- Accenture, a global consulting, data management, technology services and outsourcing company, with 28 studios worldwide.
- The Tallulah Group, an African-American woman-owned firm that includes media and public relations, marketing, community outreach, speechwriting, and executive positioning. The Tallulah group has worked with corporate clients, political campaigns, non-profits, institutions of higher learning and diversity and inclusion firms, among others.
- Vera Creative, a Latinx and woman-owned full-service marketing and public relations agency. Their experience includes corporate, government, and non-profit clients, with an emphasis on reaching minority and hard-to-reach communities in the 2010 Census, including the Latinx community.
"The William Everett Group has comprised a team of Census experts along with community engagement, marketing and media professionals who are passionate about the work we do on behalf of the citizens of Cook County," stated Ellen Rozelle Turner, The William Everett Group’s President and CEO. "We look forward to increasing the awareness and participation of hard to count communities so that they can rightly receive the resources that are afforded to them as a part of the census effort."
The William Everett Group will develop a comprehensive communications and outreach plan, oversee all efforts of the Local Governmental Complete Count Committees (LGCCCs) and Local Complete Count Census Commissions (LCCCs), as well as evaluate and recommend funding to the Complete Count Census Commission for LGCCCs and LCCCs. The grant application along with additional details for municipalities and community organizations who wish to apply is online at: https://www.cookcountyil.gov/census.
In June 2019, the Cook County Board president and the Board of Commissioners established the Cook County Complete County Census Commission to guide the county’s work on the 2020 Census. The county has set aside $2 million to assist in census outreach efforts especially in hard-to-reach communities. For more information about the Cook County Census 2020 efforts, please go to the website at: https://www.cookcountyil.gov/census.