by 2029 to create a pathway to employment.

on an out-of-state consultant and didn’t put community members on the DEI cabinet — which was established in May 2023, three years after the declaration.The county also lagged in hiring a DEI chief to oversee the action plan. The Civil Service Commission, which runs the process for choosing and retaining county employees, initially didn’t approve the job description because the commission was concerned it would be redundant.

Cephoni Jackson eventually was hired in January. She shared a draft of the yet-to-be-finalized plan, which outlines goals of creating a “culture of belonging,” building more inclusive leadership, and coming up with strategies to retain and develop talent. She wants to establish a committee made up of community members by 2025.The goals don’t have a timeline, and various county leaders are tasked with “championing” each step. Jackson said she’s seeing high energy from employees to begin implementing the action plan, adding: “It’s like the conditions are right for the culture to shift.”It’s progress that’s “more than the bread crumbs they’ve given us,” said Kula Koenig, the chief program officer at Public Health Advocates.

And Phil Serna, the county board member who brought forth the declaration, said it’s important to recognize what has been done — and what still lies ahead.“I think in many respects dealing with racism, addressing racism responsibly, is kind of like painting the Golden Gate Bridge, right?” he said. “As soon as you think you’re done, you’re not. You have to go back and start painting again.”

This story is part of an AP ongoing series exploring the

of what is widely called theMexico’s current outbreak began in March. Officials traced it to an 8-year-old unvaccinated Mennonite boy who visited relatives in Seminole, Texas — at the center of the U.S. outbreak.

Cases rapidly spread through Chihuahua’s 46,000-strong Mennonite community via schools and churches, according to religious and health leaders. From there, they said, it spread to workers in orchards and cheese plants.Farm worker Fernando Pedro Cruz Vencinos tends to an apple orchard in a Mennonite community, the epicenter of a measles outbreak, in Cuauhtemoc, Mexico, Mexico, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Megan Janetsky)

Farm worker Fernando Pedro Cruz Vencinos tends to an apple orchard in a Mennonite community, the epicenter of a measles outbreak, in Cuauhtemoc, Mexico, Mexico, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Megan Janetsky)Gloria Elizabeth Vega, an Indigenous Raramuri woman and single mother, fell sick in March. Because she’s vaccinated, measles didn’t occur to her until she broke out in hives. Her supervisor at the cheese factory — who also caught measles — told her she had to take 10 days of leave and docked her pay 40% for the week, Vega said.