During the summer of 2020, I was seeking an organizational equity pretest that could be used by members of a regional collaborative. The collaborative had received a grant to build its capacity, and the capacity or organizational members to forward racial equity. I spent A LOT of time looking at equity tools and found that there are some brilliant equity assessments but I could not find a shorter instrument focused on organizational policies and practices to forward equity.
As a result I took a look at a past instrument that I used in my work in Oregon. I had the privilege of being part of the Oregon Health Authority’s Delivering Equity Leadership Through Action program (DELTA). I learned a lot and I had to take an organizational pretest. After the year-long DELTA program I used this pretest to lead work in the Director’s Office of the Oregon Public Health Division. I found that, in addition to getting some data, the pretest was also a teaching tool as it identified key policies and practices to dismantle barriers to equity. It is concrete and occasionally asks for examples, dollar amounts and other organizationally specific information.
I made some changes to the document to improve clarity, reflect changes in the Affordable Care Act, and get some information about collaborative members. I administered this pretest via survey monkey and the results are informing choices about what types of support collaborative members need to make changes.
Please note that the questions on this pretest have not gone through a formal validation process.
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