Build Your Equity Why: A 4-Step Guide

Lost for the right words when talking about your organization’s racial equity commitment?

Your Equity Why is a clear statement of why racial equity matters in your day-to-day work. It drives your organization’s leadership, values, behaviors, systems, and processes. Unless your team understands the why of racial equity, executing the “how” of individual strategies is incredibly difficult.

Pick up the Build Your Equity Why: A 4-Step Guide to help you find the words to describe why equity matters in your work.

What is the difference between your Equity Why and a public statement?

Your Equity Why is an internal statement that explains why equity matters to your organization and its work. It anchors your equity approach. You do not have to share it publicly. The power of building your why comes from creating a shared language for how to talk about equity in your work. However, some clients use their Equity Why in their public statements.

Create your Equity Why in four steps:

• Gather the data you use most often

• Identify your organization’s most pressing public policy priorities

• Plan your action steps

• Write your Equity Why

These four steps will help you and your team communicate the value of equity in your everyday work.

Testimonial

Working on our Equity Why helped me understand that [in our organization] racial equity work is presumed and that we are all in the same place in our equity journey.

-A Student, Create Your Equity Why [online course]

I have narrowed down the most important ideas that you need to communicate. The good news is your team likely has the parts already, and it is a matter of using the guide to pull it all together. Pick up the Build Your Equity Why: A 4-Step Guide to help you best communicate why equity matters in your work.

Still unsure? Check out this podcast episode to learn a little more about the importance of your staff and Board having a shared why.