Take the Equity Challenge
In the nonprofit and business sector the work of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) has become a significant focus these past few years. This work is important and challenging. In this blog, I will be focusing on equity. Achieving equity is one of the hardest parts of DEI work. To work towards equity, we must understand clearly what equity means, how to get started in equity work, and how to build equity into our organizations.
Defining ‘Equity’
Let us start by understanding what is equity. You might have seen the memes or illustrations of children at a fence trying to watch a baseball game to explain the meaning of equity. These are good starting points to illustrate the meaning. These memes compare equity to equality. Equity is different from equality.
An article from The Milken Institute School of Public Health uses drawings of two children trying to get apples from a tree to illustrate the difference between equity and equality. For equality, both children are given the same size ladder, but the tree is bent over and only one child can reach the apples: the one closest to the bent part. To illustrate equity, both children are given ladders but different sizes, so they can both reach the apples on the bent tree. The Milken Institute School of Public Health article says, “Equality means each individual or group of people is given the same resources or opportunities. Equity recognizes that each person has different circumstances and allocates the exact resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome.”[i]
The end of the article gives examples of equality and equity in different organizations and public institutions. One example of equality vs equity can be seen in creating budgets. If cuts need to be made in the budget, achieving equality might mean cutting each program budget by the same amount. But achieving equity would take looking at each program individually to see the budgeting needs of each program and making the adjustments accordingly based on the needs. Think about ways that equality and equity play out in your organizations. How can you move toward equity?
Getting Started in Equity Work
Moving now from the meaning of equity, let us look at how you can get started in equity work. One of the quickest ways to get started is having your organization participate in a 21-Day Equity Challenge. Dr. Eddie Moore, Jr created the 21-Day Racial Equity Habit Building Challenge[ii] from the idea that it takes 21 days of doing something for it to become a habit. You can participate in Dr. Moore’s challenges, but recently different organizations are creating 21-Day Challenges for their local communities, counties, or states. Search the internet to find one locally. In my county, The United Way is starting a 21-Day Disability Equity Challenge in August.[iii] Most of the 21-Day challenges have been archived, so you can go back and participate in the challenges, even if you missed the initial dates.
Organizational Equity
After taking the first steps, to continue the work of equity, equity must be built into your organization. Many organizations are taking Human Centered Design one step further and moving towards Equity Centered Design. Equity Centered Design realizes, like the bent tree in the example above, that inequity is built into our systems and we either must redesign the systems or design new equitable systems. It means that when you start a new program or process in your organization, you must start with equity. There are lots of resources that explain the steps of Equity Centered Design and provide you with the tools that you will need. I will list some resources below, which include toolkits. While the 21-Day Challenges can help you get started, the Equity Centered Design can help you continue the course.
Equity work is not easy, but your organization must be willing to take the challenge and start the work today.
Equity Resources:
NWEA Blog, “5 Ways to Include Disability in Equity”, https://www.nwea.org/blog/2021/5-ways-to-include-disability-in-equity-work/, By Stephanie Cawthon, January 26, 2021
NonprofitPro, Budgeting for Equity 3 Steps to Creating a Framework for Lasting Change, https://www.nonprofitpro.com/post/budgeting-for-equity-3-steps-to-creating-a-framework-for-lasting-change/, By Celeste Frye
Race Forward, Creating Cultures and Practices for Racial Equity, https://www.raceforward.org/practice/tools/creating-cultures-and-practices-racial-equity, By Nayantara Sen & Terry Keleher
[i]The Milken Institute School of Public Health, “Equity vs. Equality: What’s the Difference?” https://onlinepublichealth.gwu.edu/resources/equity-vs-equality/, Nov. 5, 2020
[ii] https://www.eddiemoorejr.com/21daychallenge
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