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Systematizing Racial Equity Planning in Government

Program

State of Equity

Highlights

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In 2019, California’s Strategic Growth Council adopted an historic Racial Equity Action Plan. The Plan was developed through SGC’s participation in the Capitol Cohort, a racial equity capacity-building program created by PHI in partnership with the California HiAP Task Force, the Government Alliance on Race and Equity, the California Department of Public Health and The California Endowment.

19 state departments incorporating Racial Equity Action Plans

The lives of California’s residents are shaped in part by decisions at the state level. So PHI’s State of Equity (formerly HiAP) team’s work with the Government Alliance for Race and Equity (GARE) Capitol Cohort, a racial equity capacity building project for California’s state government, holds the potential to bring greater justice and equity to each of its 39 million residents. 19 state departments—including public health, education, corrections and rehabilitation, and housing—prepared Racial Equity Action Plans, focusing on areas such as workforce development, budgeting, community engagement, results-based accountability, and program development.

“Participating in GARE provided CDPH with an opportunity to be purposeful and explicit about finding solutions to racial inequities that may be perpetuated through our institutional processes, operations and policies.” – Dr. Karen Smith, Director of the California Department of Public Health.

In April of 2019, California’s Strategic Growth Council (SGC) officially unanimously adopted an historic Racial Equity Action Plan, developed through their participation in the GARE Capital Cohort. The California SGC—which represents sectors including transportation, health, agriculture, housing, natural resources, and environment—is the first state cabinet-level body in the country to adopt a racial equity plan, and reflects an endorsement that is multi-sectoral and from the highest levels of California state government. Learn more.

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New Public Health Primer: Engaging Community Development for Health Equity

How can the public health and community development sectors to work together to advance health and racial equity? A new primer from PHI’s Build Healthy Places Network and partners provides a roadmap for forging upstream partnerships, with recommendations, strategies and lessons-learned from national, state and local leaders.

Explore the primer

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