Equity is a part of all missions–here’s why
Explore how your mission connects to equity, racial justice and other fights—whether or not it is explicitly stated.
Blog
So, you think race, equity and inclusion aren't relevant to your mission?
A cheeky take on why equity, inclusion and diversity are a part of every organization's mission—whether or not it’s apparent.
Nonprofit AF
Blog
Seeing, Reckoning & Acting: A Practice Toward Deep Equity
Explore deep equity and what it takes to advance equity and liberation within organizations, networks and beyond.
Management Assistance Group (MAG)
Video
Brass Tacks: Telling the Truth About Equity with Kerrien Suarez
Explore how the Executive Director of Equity in the Center keeps equity at the center of their mission.
Up With Community
Article
Systems Change & Deep Equity: Pathways Toward Sustainable Impact, Beyond “Eureka!,” Unawareness & Unwitting Harm
This monograph illuminates essential dimensions of approaches to Systems Change, which are intimately connected with Deep Equity. It also offers ideas about how to bring racial — and other intersecting aspects of equity — more deeply and centrally into your systems change work.
Change Elemental
Article
Seeing, Reckoning & Acting: A Practice Toward Deep Equity
What transformation toward deep equity is and what it takes to advance equity and liberation (with a strong emphasis on racial equity), within our organizations, networks and beyond.
Change Elemental
Article
Systems Change with an Equity Lens: Community Interventions that Shift Power and Center Race
What does transformative systems change look like in the field? Where are we seeing real shifts in power and lasting transformation? What is different about the approaches led by people of color, women, immigrants and others groups who are leading this work and often on the periphery of dominant narratives about systems change?
Change Elemental
Article
The Curb-Cut Effect
Exploring the direct and indirect benefits to society at-large of increasing equity for all communities.
Stanford Social Innovation Review
Article
Practicing the Elements of a Liberating Ecosystem
Continuous and synchronous attention to these elements is foundational to being in “right relationship” with change—to advancing transformation toward love, dignity and justice.
Change Elemental
Resources
Assessing Equity and Applying an Equity Commitment in Our Campaigns
As Erik writes, equity "is not a box to tick off... [it] is a practice." Here, Erik offers a set of tools that can be applied to campaigns, projects or general team work habits to keep the focus on equity.
Erik Peterson, Bending the Arc Strategies
E-Book
Where Does it Hurt? Health and Disharmony in Organizational Ecosystems
Here Ora Grodsky presents a framework for viewing organizational challenges and opportunities within the context of the four layers of organizational ecosystems. All of the layers are living subsystems within the ecosystem. And all living systems require tending over time to maintain or restore health. This framework can be used to understand how the different layers influence each other and the ecosystem as a whole, and to identify and design appropriate interventions to foster, create, or restore organizational harmony.
Ora Grodsky
Blog
DEI Approach is No Longer Relevant: Operationalizing Racial Justice in Non-Profit Organizations by Maggie Potapchuk, MP Associates
Start or deepen your organization’s work to align with racial equity by increasing your confidence to take risks, honoring your justice warrior ancestors by acting with integrity and through solidarity, remembering that racial justice work is done in right relationship and accountability to communities.
Medium: Race
Examples of equity work – understanding the field
Models for how to best design equity explorations.Article
Five Elements of a Thriving Justice Ecosystem: Pursuing Deep Equity
Better understand “deep equity” and how to make a systematic shift toward it.
Management Assistant Group (MAG) through Non-Profit Quarterly (NPQ)
Case Study
Systemic Change and Equity
Understand systems thinking and why it is an essential skill for systemic change related to equity.
Equity-centered capacity building network (ECCBN)
Presentation
Equity in the Center: Data Walk Slides
Explore Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) gaps in organizations and why these gaps persist.
Equity in the Center
Report
Awake to Woke to Work: Building a Race Equity Culture (Full Report)
Better understand the race equity cycle in the workplace and successful strategies for dismantling it.
Equity in the Center
Report
Building a Race Equity Culture in the Social Center
A resource for organizations interested in adopting a Race Equity Culture. This is an abbreviated version of the full report.
Equity in the Center
Website
Race to Lead
Learn about the racial leadership gap through data on the gap in race and leadership, and special reports that go in-depth on these issues.
Building Movement Project
SWITCH PATHWAYS
A problem is a sign of what is blocking our impact or progress—it is the symptom. An issue is the underlying cause of one or more problems that we can directly address. We must take time to fully understand our problems and issues, and the root causes of both in order to choose the most strategic focus for our learning.
Visit this Pathway 
Teams often begin change projects before they have clarified language, aligned their intent, and determined how a change project will connect to their larger strategic goals. Spending more time clarifying frameworks, developing personal and professional commitment to change, as well as better understanding the outcomes of the project will set a stronger foundation for success.
Visit this Pathway 
We often try to solve a problem without understanding it fully. This is like performing surgery on someone’s leg without understanding how their heart works. Understanding the challenges we’re trying to tackle, and understanding better the world around us, is similarly integral to our change-making efforts.
Visit this Pathway 
Major strategic initiatives need the solid foundation of a healthy organization to flourish. This includes effective internal communications, focused decision-making, useful performance evaluation, life-giving management, and conflict resolution.
Visit this Pathway 
Breaking the status quo and opening up new possibilities for equity and freedom in our work requires innovative experiments. Teams must ensure that all members have the ability to act on the vision and goals they are co-creating.
Visit this Pathway 
Our minds cannot move toward racial justice, equity or transformation if our bodies are not prepared for change. This pathway offers those preparations that we have found most beneficial to adult learning.
Visit this Pathway 
Explore the interviews, frameworks, templates and articles created and published by Up With Community.Visit this Pathway GROW COMMUNITY
Giving thanks: We share these resources in gratitude to all of our teachers and with appreciation for the value they have brought us. The field guide is a living resource that we are consistently adding to. We receive no payment or kickbacks for sharing. Access and use of these resources should be done at one’s own discretion. If you see a resource you like, we encourage you to reach out to the author.
Have a resource to add? We are always looking to expand the resources we can share. If you have a tool/resource/link you would like to share with UWC and its partners, please email us: research@upwithcommunity.org.
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