Organizational Development & Assessment
Strategic Planning:
Racial equity is fundamental to the society we seek to build and live in. Systematizing racial equity is a fervent journey toward achieving well-being as defined by those most negatively impacted in our society due to our current practices, policies, and procedures. Our end objective is for public and private organizations to offer full and equitable access to opportunities, resources, and leadership so that everyone has the opportunity to fulfill self-actualization. The process of advancing racial equity requires intentionality and strategic planning. Being anti-racist requires us to dismantle deeply entrenched systems of privilege and oppression that have led to inequitable access to opportunities and decision-making processes, and the uneven distribution of benefits. Racial equity initiatives require long term policy agenda, sustainable changes within the organization, and a comprehensive approach to ensure social justice. We must focus on those people and places where needs are greatest to ensure that our decisions, policies, and practices produce gains for all. Together we are stronger! At Racing to Equity, we take advantage of both traditional and modern strategic planning initiatives to ensure that involvement of an equity consultant serves as a “disappearing stitch”—meaning, this work and focus will remain a priority even after our involvement has ceased.
Policy Development, Implementation, and Accountability Plans:
Successful organizations operationalize and prioritize racial equity as core strategies to ensuring transformative change. There is a growing recognition of the importance of equity to organizational development and many agencies and organizations recognize racial equity as a central goal for their strategic goals and programming. However, while equity is sometimes used intuitively in development and programming, it is often the case that its meaning is not clearly understood by every stakeholder in an organization. This is reflected in often shallow analyses about what equity is and what should be done to achieve it systemically. Its importance is recognized, yet the policy priorities for achieving it are not consistently or coherently explored or implemented.
Adopting racial equity as a guiding organizational principle requires adopting and implementing a comprehensive racial equity policy which brings into particular focus the organization’s policies, practices, and procedures. An organizational diagnosis or environmental scan offers us the opportunity to conduct a SWOT analysis with a socially just racial equity lens to investigate and analyze the strengths and weaknesses of one’s organization, as well as external threats and opportunities. This diagnosis also includes a community engagement/stakeholder analysis which provides us with key perceptions of staff, people you serve, and groups or organizations whose interests and concerns are of critical importance to the overall organizational strategic process. We ensure accountability by involving decision-makers who have the authority to mandate that equity be weaved in as a facet of the organization’s DNA, to ensure that this focus will withstand the tests of time and turnover.
Organizational Assessment / Environmental Scan:
Our organizational assessments and environmental scan include a comprehensive analysis of internal and external stakeholder attitudes. To conduct this analysis, we utilize surveys, interviews, and focus groups across racial, gender, and socio-economic identities. Findings are then used to provide a comprehensive report of internal strengths and areas of improvement to better support your organization in making positive changes within your organization, your community, and the world.
The following links provide you with a couple of examples of organizational analysis we have performed:
Data analysis and recommendations:
We will begin with an assessment of the feedback and measurements you already have, and, as needed, deliver a low-impact approach to gather further information, such as interviews, focus groups, surveys, and landscape analysis.
With a clear grounding in context and data, our facilitation will draw out your group’s best thinking. R2E brings all voices to the table and navigates potentially challenging conversations or differences of opinion toward a productive end. Participants will be meaningfully engaged and move toward clear, actionable decisions.
The Racing to Equity team will then partner with your executive leadership team to translate the group’s decisions into a document that clearly and succinctly outlines your mission, vision, values, and your core strategies and goals and how these must manifest in each department of your organization. Services are available as needed to support metrics development, workplan development, and stakeholder communications.
Throughout the process, our team is available to provide executive coaching or consulting services to key leaders to ensure the plan develops and launches in the most productive way possible. Racing to Equity projects deeply engage participants and build ownership for the results. We consistently aim to be a “disappearing stitch” so you can continue to grow and scale successfully long after the consulting engagement is complete.