In recent years, the United States has experienced historic efforts to both advance and restrict racial equity initiatives. In January 2021, President Biden issued the first-ever executive order on advancing racial equity. Since then, at least 10 states have passed legislation that seeks to restrict or ban equity initiatives at state agencies or institutions that receive public funds.
Amid this complex landscape, many state and local government staff have continued to pursue equity-focused work, and resources and tools designed to help local governments advance equity in their communities have become widespread. However, it’s often difficult for local officials and staff to figure out which resources fit their needs.
A new project from the Urban Institute addresses this need by matching local leaders to equity-related resources based on a survey of their interests and capacity. To develop the Equity Resource Navigator Survey, we spoke with representatives from 11 jurisdictions across the US to learn how local officials approach equity-related work and its challenges. This included chief equity officers and diversity, equity, and inclusion strategists, as well as those who might not have “equity” in their job title, such as data analysts, communications staff, and program managers. Our team’s collaboration with the Government Alliance on Racial Equity (GARE) and the National League of Cities (NLC) also helped us understand how organizational changes can help advance localities’ equity efforts.
Here’s what we learned from our conversations with local officials and assessment of more than 200 resources local governments can use to advance equity:
- A shared definition of equity is critical to success. Institution-wide commitments, agreements, and structures can help local governments identify resources and tools that align with jurisdiction-wide goals and sustain their equity work in the long term. This can include developing a shared definition of equity and a shared understanding of how historical structural racism (PDF) has produced entrenched inequities and how the local government may perpetuate inequities through its policies, processes, and structures.
Equity work exists along a continuum, and tailored resources can help localities advance. We found that local governments that successfully advance equity in their community often consider equity within an organizational change model. This means they set equity goals, define metrics for assessing progress, implement new processes, assess their progress, and create ways for staff and community members to provide feedback on efforts to advance equity.
For example, agencies that haven’t yet defined equity priorities may need help identifying an applicable framework and guiding questions to set goals (PDF) for equitable policymaking. Other localities that have already implemented a policymaking strategy, however, might find a resource outlining best practices or strategies to achieve their goals (PDF) more useful. Moving along the equity continuum requires teams to reflect on where their agency or department currently is and discuss what supports and resources they would need to move forward.
- Needs, priorities, and strategies may vary across roles, teams, and departments. There isn’t one single way, but several ways, local governments can promote equity in their communities, whether through community engagement, data collection and analysis, or procurement and contracting. Further, not every equity resource or tool will be relevant for staff members at the same agency. A chief financial officer might be interested in innovative ways to embed equity into local revenue strategies, whereas a data scientist might find information on how to center racial equity in data access (PDF) more useful. Teams should consider what kinds of resources different staff members may need to reach shared, jurisdiction-wide equity goals.
- Partnering with other organizations and communities can help you understand what strategies might work best in your community. Though equity tools and resources can advance work in local governments, they aren’t a silver bullet. These resources work best when they enhance ongoing equity efforts.
Partners and peers from across the country can provide essential support in the process, particularly when a jurisdiction’s equity initiatives don’t have buy-in from local leadership. GARE, NLC, and other organizations facilitate peer-learning cohorts and provide racial equity trainings and resources that can promote a local government’s understanding of equity. These supports can help staff pressure-test various tools and resources based on real-world scenarios and understand how they might work within a locality’s political, financial, and legal context.
As states and cities continue to navigate this increasingly complex landscape, localities seeking to advance equity in their communities will need to adapt and consider which approaches and resources will be most effective given their unique circumstances.
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The Urban Institute podcast, Evidence in Action, inspires changemakers to lead with evidence and act with equity. Cohosted by Urban President Sarah Rosen Wartell and Executive Vice President Kimberlyn Leary, every episode features in-depth discussions with experts and leaders on topics ranging from how to advance equity, to designing innovative solutions that achieve community impact, to what it means to practice evidence-based leadership.