As Baltimore launches several initiatives on equity and inclusion, it’s worth tuning into what our neighbors to the south in D.C. have underway.D.C. has managed to avoid the normal somnolence engendered by white papers and focus their work on what really matters: a frank census of the gaps in opportunity faced by its citizens.

In D.C.’s study, Pathways to Inclusion, the goals are clear, and arguably could have been set by any number of cities: first, “creating 5,000 new tech jobs for underrepresented workers,” second, “creating 500 new tech businesses founded by underrepresented entrepreneurs,” and third, “establishing the most inclusive culture among tech ecosystems on the East Coast.” Goals are one thing, how to get there quite another, and here’s where D.C.’s approach is enlightening.

What makes D.C.’s inclusion blueprint of interest to other cities is not these common goals, but the first step taken to accurately measure the “current state of inclusion” in D.C.’s tech community, and identify “the barriers underrepresented communities face.” While there isn’t a city that doesn’t know their future is tied to how well they nurture their tech sector, few recognize that equity and inclusion must play a critical role in realizing that future. The challenge lies in how willing are jurisdictions to benchmark where they stand on inclusiveness.

To assess their baseline, where they were starting from, D.C. measured inclusion through a four-part scorecard, (i) innovation infrastructure (with the report grading them today at 3.3 on a scale of 5), (ii) employment (4.0), (iii) education (3.5), and (iv) entrepreneurship (1.1).D.C. laid out its methodology, which included interviews, focus groups, surveys and data analysis; it showed variances across the score card by census tract. The study is granular and stark, revealing how far some communities have to go. Most importantly, it made where to begin quite clear.

From the D.C. study’s unvarnished measure of its state of tech inclusion comes a clear call to action. Mayor Bowser sees the report not as a static state of affairs but as a tool to transform her city. You can’t change what you’re unwilling to measure. For Baltimore and other cities, the lesson from D.C. is to take the risk to measure what matters and resist spinning the results. Next column, we will see how Pittsburgh is handling their effort to become more inclusive within their tech ecosystem.

With more than 30 years’ experience in law and business, Newt Fowler, a partner in Womble Bond Dickinson’s business practice, advises many investors, entrepreneurs and technology companies, guiding them through all aspects of business planning, financing transactions, technology commercialization and M&A. He’s the pastboard chair of TEDCO and serves on the Board of the Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore. Newt can be reached at newt.fowler@wbd-us.com.