MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP - A recent poll ranked Meridian Township as the number one place to live in Michigan and gave an A+ in schools, housing and diversity.

But even though the Township has high regards, Human Resources Director, Joyce Marx, says that the Township still needs to strive to be better, and that the poll may have not reflected what the current residents and school systems look like.

One of Meridian Township's 2018 goals is to “continue to maximize recruiting and networking efforts to achieve increased diversity in the workforce".

Marx explained how implicit bias plays into our everyday lives and the hiring process.

"The way we were raised and our attitudes, we need to take a good look and is that getting in the way of us really reaching out and understanding that diversity, it’s really more than just color of skin or male or female," Marx said. "It involves a lot more about our cultural backgrounds and our acceptance of others. So we need to have a more open mind and we need to get into a lot more of the colleges and early recruiting."

Marx has been busy trying to increase diversity in the workforce and appeal to a larger audience.

"Well, there are various ways that we have been working over the last three years to increase our effectiveness in recruiting and hiring," Marx said. "We joined the Lansing Economic Area Partnership Initiative in 2015 and 2016, which was headed up by former trustee Angie Wilson and I. We were involved in several workshops during that year, learning more about diversity, especially in the tri-county area."