Community Representation and Diversity Statements - EEO

The following are the diversity policies and efforts for equal opportunity employment by NPR Illinois and our licensee:

University of Illinois System (licensee) Non-Discrimination Statement
University of Illinois System (licensee) Statement on Sex Discrimination
NPR Illinois' Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Equal Employment Opportunity Filing (EEO)

Community Representation Statement - how the NPR Illinois community is diverse; the extent to which staff and governance represents the community; and the progress made toward representation goals.

How is the community diverse:
Springfield is the capital of Illinois and therefore has a high percentage of government and non-profit employement. A large portion of the potential property tax base is non-revenue generating government buildings.

The largest populations are white (69%) and black (20%) with other groups below 5%.

69% white population
28% educational employment
25% government employment
22% older population
20% black population
13% poverty population
13% non-for-profit employment
8% arts employment
6% veteran population
5% foreign population

Statistics from the US Census. Representing data available Nov. 1 2024.

Staff reflection of community:

8 full-time staff
1.73 full-time equivalants (FTEs)
9.73 TOTAL FTEs

76% White
0% Older
16% Black
8.2% Hispanic
0% Veteran

65% Female
35% Male

Governance reflection of community:

46% White
23% Black
23% Hispanic
8% Asian

62% Male
38% Female

Progress toward representation goals:
The goal of NPR Illinois is to reflect the community and all the diversity within it. Our content consistently reaches this goal. We have made strides locally to improve the voices of various audience cohorts through the LISTEN program. This has involved engagement with the Muslim, Jewish, Indian, Black, interfaith, international, rural, and diverse high school communities. In addition we engaged diverse communites through a series of Un-Debates on foreign policy, immigration, and reproductive rights. We also engage the diverse regional high school community annually with the This I Believe program. Our signature engagement program is the daily Community Voices inteview show of our diverse citizenry.

When able to hire, we welcome and recruit diverse applicants. We have found them in demand and difficult to recruit to Springfield when larger markets can offer more compensation. We continue to strive to achieve these goals. Our licensee, UIS, helps by providing a pipeline of students that can be developed. Frequently these students don't make it through SUCCS (civil service) qualification hurdles when positions are posted.