2020 Census Engagement

In 2019 and 2020, mayors and municipalities within the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus participated in the Complete the Count effort. Within the Caucus, 52 municipalities, 1 Council of Government, and 1 township collaborated on strategies to ensure a representative and accurate count for the Chicago region. The Caucus proudly received funding from the Illinois Department of Human Services and the Illinois Secretary of State to help member municipalities reach their traditionally undercounted residents, including immigrants, racial and ethnic minorities, and seniors. While the Caucus efforts were greatly impacted by the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, municipal outreach helped Illinois achieve a 2020 population higher than projected and retain Congressional representation.

The Caucus effort was one of the largest collaborative Census efforts in Illinois, and over 1 year, we:

Shared more than $2M in funding from the State Census Office to fund municipal engagement, education, events, mailings, and marketing to underrepresented residents;
Developed engagement strategies at 3 Ideas Exchanges in winter 2019;
Formed a Peer Advisory Group that met monthly to discuss strategies to reach historically undercounted residents and to engage virtually during the pandemic;
Distributed Census collateral, face masks, hand sanitizer, and other items through a network managed through MMC and the 9 Councils of Government.

For more information, please see these archived materials: