General questions or feedback on the Toolkit?
Start Guide
This toolkit is not intended to be linear. We know that there are many entry points into the work of embedding equity. Don’t know which tools you should use to begin? Choose what best describes your organization below to receive recommendations.
Select a section
Toolkit Section:
Examine History
The tools in this section guide organizations toward understanding how a site is connected to legacies, both good and bad.
Click below for tool recommendations:
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We need to review census and other data to learn more about demographics of equity in our area (ethnic and racial self-identification, age distribution, income distribution, etc.).
Use Tool 1: Know Your Demographics
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We have not built many relationships with local cultural institutions and we do not know enough about community-based organizations currently active in our area.
Use Tool 2: Map Community Assets
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We want to learn more about significant historic equity milestones for our communities through dialogue with neighborhood stakeholders and research.
Use Tool 3: Create a Timeline
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We have done some or all of the above — but not in collaboration with community stakeholders.
Use Tool 4: Connect the Dots
Toolkit Section:
Center Equity
The tools in this section will help you make sure that everyone in your organization has a shared understanding of equity and how you can work to advance equity.
Click below for tool recommendations:
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We need a long-term vision for addressing current equity issues in the communities we serve.
Use Tool 5: Craft a Theory of Change
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We need to craft an action plan for achieving long-term change that aligns with our established mission and has full board support.
Use Tool 6: Craft a Theory of Action
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We want to incorporate an equity lens into our park operations and community-oriented programs.
Use Tool 7: Review Your Initiatives
Toolkit Section:
Prepare Internally
Readying an organization to invest funds, staff time, and relationships into equity work can be daunting. The tools in this section will help you better understand your current relationship to equity and how to deepen it.
Click below for tool recommendations:
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We want to design a budget to establish or expand community partnership(s) that further our vision of equity-based change.
Use Tool 9: Examine Your Budget
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We need to build more stable external relationships and establish a transparent process for collaboration to better engage community partners.
Use Tool 10: Share Power
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We want to draft a public equity statement with actionable commitments, goals, and resources.
Use Tool 11: Publicly Commit
Toolkit Section:
Build Partnerships
No organization can address inequity alone. The tools in this section will help you build and strengthen community partnerships.
Click below for tool recommendations:
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We need more partners that align with our equity-based goals.
Use Tool 12: Align with Partners
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We want to identify partnership gaps to leverage and advance our equity goals.
Use Tool 13: Review Your Partner Network
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We need a targeted engagement strategy to further our goals.
Use Tool 14: Review Your Community Network
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We want to strengthen our relationships with our community partners to make a greater impact.
Use Tool 15: Maximize Your Impact
Toolkit Section:
Ensure Progress
The tools in this section will help you draw a clear line between your organization’s goals, activities, and resources. Remember: Tracking progress doesn’t mark the end of the equity journey. The goal is continual improvement.
Click below for tool recommendations:
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We are ready to set goals that align with our Theory of Change and Theory of Action, and select metrics to measure our progress.
Use Tool 16: Create a Work Plan
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We want to better understand what we need to measure to know if we’re making progress.
Use Tool 17: Track Your Work
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We need to document our work to communicate internally and with stakeholders about the impact we’re hoping to make.
Use Tool 18: Tell Your Story
General questions or feedback on the Toolkit?