Inspired by the Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation’s “A Blueprint for Philanthropic Census Engagement,” leaders from The Leadership Conference Education Fund and Census Counts developed this “Roadmap to the 2030 Census.” The Roadmap includes concrete examples of ways community-based and advocacy organizations, state and local governments, and other partners can engage in census work each year leading to 2030.
Collaborative policy and advocacy work by all stakeholders underlies the Roadmap and includes crucial outcomes such as: ensuring adequate funding for the Census Bureau; advocating for updated questionnaires (including revised race/ethnicity questions and sexual orientation and gender identity — or SOGI — questions); assessing input on operational changes; and legislative and policy recommendations resulting from the experiences and implications of the 2020 Census.
Lessons learned from the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census was challenging to complete due to the COVID-19 pandemic and institutional barriers. During the 2020 Census, the Census Counts campaign, housed at The Leadership Conference Education Fund and co-chaired at the time by NALEO and Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC, brought together community-based organizations across a wide spectrum of advocacy and outreach efforts to ensure that historically undercounted communities and population groups were enumerated in the 2020 Census.
Amid the challenges of the 2020 Census, we created a movement — and with the lessons from 2020 fresh in our minds, we know what is needed to ensure a successful 2030 Census. By investing our time now, we can lay a strong foundation for those who will work to get our communities counted in 2030. A fair and accurate census in 2030 will be determined by actions we take today.
Please note each year’s timeline is based on the rollout of activities by the Census Bureau and may change depending on funding, lessons learned, or operational modifications. This roadmap was launched initially in April 2022 and updated in the spring and autumn of 2023. We will continue to update the information annually (or more frequently, if needed) as the Census Bureau finalizes the 2030 Census design, releases an operational plan, and announces plans for field tests and preparations for the census.
About The Leadership Conference Education Fund
The Leadership Conference Education Fund builds public will for laws and policies that promote and protect the civil and human rights of every person in the United States. The focal issues of voting rights, educational equity, and justice reform are deeply rooted in the organizational history and within the communities represented.
About Census Counts
The Census Counts campaign, which is housed at The Leadership Conference Education Fund, brings together community-based organizations across a wide spectrum of advocacy: civil rights, immigrant, LGBTQ, disability, infant and child, poverty and homelessness, faith-based, labor, health care, education, youth, and more. Through education, training, organizing, and outreach, these organizers and advocates are working to ensure communities the census has historically missed are counted in the census.
How to Stay Involved
About the Roadmap Community
Census Counts and The Leadership Conference Education Fund regularly convene a national community of organizations and people who understand the crucial consequences of an accurate, complete count of all Americans. Community Based Organizations (CBOs), Complete Count Communities, funders, non-profits, for-profits, policymakers, businesses, government entities, data scientists, voting advocates, and people just like you comprise the Roadmap Community. Join us!
