Equity Toolkit

The Mind Trust believes change requires social impact and economic impact. What would it look like if we – as people and the organizations we lead – all made a commitment to an equitable life for everyone? What could happen if we understood the root causes of inequity and could identify the ways that schools, non-profits, businesses, and government could play a role in building a more equitable community?

The Equity Toolkit is a free resource brought to you by The Mind Trust and Beloved Community. The intended audience for this toolkit are schools, districts, and committees who are tasked with developing a racial equity, diversity or inclusion initiative.

Find the full resource at EquityToolkit.org

This Equity Toolkit contains 3 phases that have been identified to support organizations or schools in operationalizing racial equity. The phases include:

• Phase 1, Mobilize Yourself: How do you mobilize yourself for racial equity work? Mobilizing the self to operationalize racial equity work into organizational practices. 
• Phase 2, Mobilize Stakeholders: How do you mobilize stakeholders in your org? Mobilizing stakeholders to operationalize racial equity into organizational practices. 
• Phase 3, Mobilize Organization-Wide: How do we mobilize for organizational-wide racial equity? Mobilizing organizational- wide change to operationalize racial equity.

Each phase contains 3 stages (developing, mid-level, high) and steps to lead organizational committees through the process of operationalizing racial equity into their school/district/school. Each stage includes: Questions to consider, actions to consider, and resources are built into each sub-phase. We recommend that you move through each phase sequentially, with the reminder that teams can be in several phases at one time. Teams can also circle back to phases depending on the particular racial equity, diversity or inclusion initiative they may be focused on at the moment.

Watch the video overview of the Equity Toolkit

Development of the Equity Toolkit

The Mind Trust partnered with Beloved Community, a nonprofit organization that develops sustainable solutions for racial and economic equity, to develop the toolkit. Additionally, The Mind Trust connected with Indianapolis professionals working in DEI roles to gain feedback on the types of resources needed to help teams continuously improve, assess, and take action on equity commitments and goals. 

How to use the toolkit

The toolkit serves as a self-assessment tool. In order to determine which phase your school/district/organization is currently in, follow these simple steps:

1. Read through the high level descriptions of each phase to determine which phase your school/district/organization is currently located.. Note that Phase 1 is all about the deep individual work that is required of anyone who is moving forward a racial equity, diversity, or inclusion initiative in their workplace. Phase 1 should occur parallel to the other phases, while Phase 2 and 3 can occur in a more sequential manner.
2. Once you’ve determined the Phase, decide on the Stage. In order to decide on the stage, reflect on how much time your school/district/organization has spent on racial equity, diversity or inclusion initiatives.

Dive into the toolkit now

Equity Toolkit Coaching for Schools

The Mind Trust is also investing in coaching for Indianapolis schools in Center Township to help them develop and implement equity work within their school communities. Thank you to our coaches for supporting schools with this important work!

• Orpheus Williams, Head Coach; Senior Partner of Engagements – The Equity Lab
• Ashanti Murdock-Ash, Managing Director of Talent & Equity – KIPP Indy Public Schools
• Nicole Carey, Founder – Indy Equity Collaborative
• Tony DelaRosa, Director of Teacher Leadership Development – TFA Miami-Dade & Founder of TonyRosaSpeaks