STEP 1:
After identifying goals to address systemic barriers to org change, develop codified strategies to work toward removing barriers for internal and external stakeholders.
Questions to consider:
- Now that you know what areas of your organization’s operation and development are of critical importance to you (domain) what your top priorities are in those areas, and where you need to go (goals), how will you get there (strategies & key actions)?
- Example
- Domain: Adult Culture
- Priority: Inclusion – Adult Culture
- Goal: In year one (2021-2022), 100% of teachers will include anti-racist resources or content – that incorporates intersectionality – in instruction, at least 50% of the time.
- Key Actions
- Summer Pre-Work: Message goal to instructional Leadership, Identify support needs & data collection practices, message to full staff
- Q1: Collect & analyze baseline data, identify support needs & provide PD as early as possible in Q2
- Q2 & Q3: Repeat Q1 goals with ongoing data collection
- Q4: Review year-end data, update EWP’s associated Year 2 Goal
- Example
-
- How are the Characteristics of White Supremacy Culture playing out in our organization?
- How are they prohibiting a deeply embedded commitment to racial equity and inclusion?
- How are they harming our BIPOC stakeholders?
- In your organization/school: what are the characteristics of a “good” employee/”good” leader, “good’ parent or family/”good” community member? Who defines what is “good”? Having this conversation can reveal strategies to dismantle how White Supremacy Culture is impacting stakeholders.
- What do we know about the systemic barriers that are affecting our stakeholders? Based on what we know, craft strategies to remove those barriers and connect them to your goals.
Actions to consider:
- Review Tema Okun’s Characteristics of White Supremacy Culture and discuss which are showing up in your task force. Which antidotes can you commit to implementing in your practice? (3)
- Review the Family Experiences Continuum and discuss which domains are affecting your marginalized stakeholders the most? (2)
- Review current organizational policies, practices, and decision-making processes. These may be either formal or informal. For example, in the area of employment, policies and practices on recruitment, selection, compensation, training, promotion and termination may contain barriers to people based on identities, length of employment at the organization, access to leadership, etc. (1)
- Gather feedback from internal and external stakeholders on the strategies you’ve crafted for each goal. Ask: what do they think is realistic and what do they think might require additional support? (1, 4)
Resources:
STEP 2:
Codify the accountability mechanisms for the shared goals for racial equity, diversity and inclusion.
Questions to consider:
- What mechanisms do we currently use to measure and monitor progress on organizational goals?
- What system can we build to ensure that all staff are held accountable to moving forward our DEI goals?
- Who needs to be involved in monitoring the progress of our DEI goals and commitments?
- What role with the task force play in monitoring progress on DEI goals?
Actions to consider:
- In onboarding of new staff, make it clear that each staff member is responsible for creating and executing on a DEI goal that relates to their role. (1, 2)
- Build progress towards DEI goals as an expectation for each staff & leadership member’s annual performance review. (1, 2)
- Schedule quarterly check-in meetings to review the performance-to-goal tracking of each DEI goal. (2)
- Design a community engagement strategy to ensure that all stakeholders are updated on the organization’s progress and performance on their DEI goals via newsletters, town halls, social media postings, etc. (3)
STEP 3:
Consult with external contractors/experts to support in the adoption of liberatory racial equity practices that could push racial equity goals even further.
Questions to consider:
- Who have we historically contracted with in the past for racial equity consulting?
- Do we want to engage new contractors or reconnect with our previous consultants?
- What do liberatory racial equity practices entail?
- What do our stakeholders believe liberatory racial equity practices look like or feel like?
- What biases in our practices are holding us back from greatness?
Actions to consider:
- Align your racial equity team on a definition for what a liberatory racial equity practice would entail for your organization/school. (1)
- Assess your team’s liberatory thinking practices through the Chicago Public Schools Liberatory Thinking Tool (2)
- Track and mitigate biases (3)