​RACIAL EQUITY LENS

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION ASSESSMENT

Why Do an Assessment?

There are a number of reasons to conduct a Diversity and Inclusion assessment, often called a "Corporate Culture Audit", one of the most important is to examine the systemic ways that an organization is validating individuals, creating equitable and inclusive environments, and staying on course with its core values. This examination will help determine how welcoming the organization is to minorities, women, people of color and a diverse religious groups and will help determine the success of these groups.

We all have been indoctrinated by the societies from which we come from. It is clear that our up bringing and socialization has had an impact on our paradigms and the thought of changing these norms can be overwhelming. Because of this it can be said that we all have adapted to the bias of our cultural or governmental groups.
Organizations are no different, they are made of people who have been exposed to limited or misguided educational experiences full of gaps, bias history and incomplete stories.

With this in mind we suggest that these assessments be done prior to an act of discrimination, bigotry, homophobic or sexist incident occurring. The knee jerk response to "fouls" committed in the work place rips away any chance of authentic learning and makes the re-learning of new skills difficult. An assessment provides data that will aid in creating action plans, bolstering equity policies, affirming institutional structures, expanding educational frameworks and establishing interventions that help to build the capacity of the organization to better serve clients and establishing a learning nurturing environment for staff and employees.

Our Fees

Our fees are on a sliding scale based on the breath and depth of the assessment process, the organization size and the methods selected for data collection. An 8 Hour one shot session with a limited scope (one work group) is $2500 which includes both formal and informal interviews with a 10 page report.

An organizational wide assessment depending on the scope could range between $15,000-$30,000. The size of the organization, the scope and the number of work groups will help to determine that overall cost of this type of intervention. The organizational assessment comes with a full documentation of methods, recommendations and a 20 page document on CD to be shared with others.


The Assessment Approach

Our approach to climate assessment is unique in several ways:

   
We work to provide a framework that support the personal experiences, stories and focus group experiences with empirical data gathered through surveys, data collection protocols to provide a number of practical, research based best practices the will increase your organizations effectiveness. The  focus group protocols and survey are developed with your input, the organizations culture in mind as well as looking at the appreciate models for collecting data,conducting interviews and building partnerships. It our aim to build a tool that is easy to apply and one that meets your specif needs

• We work to provide a framework that supports the personal experiences,
  stories and focus group experiences with empirical data gathered through
  surveys, data collection protocols to provide a number of practical, research
  based best practices the will increase your organizations effectiveness.

• The  focus group protocols and survey are developed with your input, the
  organizations culture in mind as well as looking at the appreciate models for
  collecting data,conducting interviews and building partnerships. It our aim to
  build a tool that is easy to apply and one that meets your specif needs



• All our instrument are built from the ground up we adapt many of our tools
  to meet a number of organizational challenges and time frames. Relevance and
  authenticity are the drivers for any process we suggest and any tool that we
  implement. .
  


• The models that we use examine the culture of an organization with the
  fabric of oppression as the lens by which we look at the organizational
  dynamics. The "Fabric" a frame work that compares  socioeconomic along side ,
  gender issues, racial constructs, language, sexual orientation, disability and
  many other identities. This frame work allows us to examine how each of those
  can be impacted by our organizational practices and how the play a role in
  creating inequity if our organizations.


• It is clear that a number tools need to be design and developed give the
  diverse nature of our organizations and their constituents. We will implore
  strategies that meet the depth and breath of the experiences of those in the
  organization, providing us with a 360 degree view of the organization.


• You can count on strategies and recommendations that are not only derived
  form the assessment but are congruent with the best practices of similar
  organization. We also help to institute ongoing development and assessment
  practices among staff so that this process continues long after our direct
  contact has ended. The majority of our work is direct services, we will use the
  assessment process to create plans that we can help you further though our
  consulting and coaching
  programs.
  
  


• All our instrument are built from the ground up we adapt many of our tools to meet a number of organizational challenges and time frames. Relevance and authenticity are the drivers for any process we suggest and any tool that we implement.

• The models that we use examine the culture of an organization with the fabric of oppression as the lens by which we look at the organizational dynamics. The "Fabric" a frame work that compares  socioeconomic along side , gender issues, racial constructs, language, sexual orientation, disability and many other identities. This frame work allows us to examine how each of those can be impacted by our organizational practices and how the play a role in creating inequity if our organizations.

• It is clear that a number tools need to be design and developed give the diverse nature of our organizations and their constituents. We will implore strategies that meet the depth and breath of the experiences of those in the organization, providing us with a 360 degree view of the organization. 

You can count on strategies and recommendations that are not only derived form the assessment but are congruent with the best practices of similar organization. We also help to institute ongoing development and assessment practices among staff so that this process continues long after our direct contact has ended. The majority of our work is direct services, we will use the assessment process to create plans that we can help you further though our consulting and coaching programs.


We use a number data gathering methods

Your organization provide information is a number of different ways and mediums and so it important to use a variety of methods to collect data. We will work with you to create a collaborative process that meets and build on your organizations natural cultural norms. Our gathering process can be broken down into 2 parts Ethnographic and Political observations


Ethnographic Observations

These observation help us get a "feel" for the norms, both written and unwritten, of the organizations. These activities collect the reality and the perceptions of the people that are in the organizations, those served by the organization and the constituents that have a direct stake in the advancement of the organization.

1. Focus Groups
   
2. Paper or Online Surveys
3. Focus Groups
4. Formal Interviews
5. Talking Circles
6. Brainstorming Sessions
   
   

Political

In the part of our data collection we will examine policies and procedures and look for the ipmact they have on increasing or decreasing inequity in the organizations. Typically organizations do not look at their policies witha diversity and inclusion lens , this often lead to unintended adverse impacts.

1. Discrimination Analysis
2. Equity Policy Analysis
   
3. Human Resource Policy Review
4. Education and Advancement Analysis
5. Implicit Bias Analysis
6. Sexual Harassment Policy Analysis
7. ADA Policy Analysis
8. LEAP Plan Review
   

Sample Fees

• 8 hour day with one our consultants $2,500   
  
• Small Group and Survey construction $2,500
• Focus groups, site visits, assessments, surveys, focus groups  $10,000
• Policy Analysis  $3,000
• All assessments with written reports $5,000

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Racial Equity Toolkit

What is a Racial Equity Lens?
A “racial equity lens” brings into focus the ways in which race and ethnicity shape access to goods, jobs, services, money and power. It provides a focus on how systemic racism has limited access to opportunity, treatment, and outcomes, both today and historically.

Racial Equity Lens allows organizations to analyze Policies or Program that have a racial impact on the distribution of benefits or burdens. This can include work on many levels, such as:

• infrastructure projects that affect property value
• policies that affect access to services
• hiring and contracting policies and practices
• public involvement processes that affect who provides input
• the creation of high-level program goals and levels of service.
  
  Racial Justice
  Racial justice can be used synonymously with racial equity and social justice. Racial justice is about systemic oppression. Racism, Sexism and Oppression are the products and replication of racism and must be understood as a systemic issues to grasp its full impacts. Racial justice also entails the systematic advancement and sustaining of equity. It is not just the absence of discrimination and inequities, but also the need for deliberate systems and supports to achieve sustainable racial equity.