Alumni

Racial Equity Assessment

To address and prevent systemic racial inequities in UW Alumni & Stakeholder Engagement (ASE), teams will use this assessment when establishing ASE programming and operations. This assessment provides standards, reflective questions, and processes that may help teams advance equity and enhance excellence. Following the recommendations of equity and social justice trainer Scott Winn, the assessment focuses on racial equity because leading with a racial equity lens advances equity for all. As a result, the assessment aims to be fully inclusive and reflects on numerous inequities. 

Table of Contents

 

By using this assessment, ASE teams should be able to identify equity aspirations, objectives, and measurable outcomes. The intended outcomes of using this assessment are:

  1. Diversification of event attendees and program participants 
  2. Insurance that ASE is inclusive with its programming and operations

Instead of trying to change participants to fit our work, we must transform our work to meet all participants where they are. 

This is an iterative process that must remain ongoing. There may be missteps. But with continuous use of this tool, leaders and staff will gain experience building equity into their work. It takes courage to step into this work and commitment to make it successful. Take pride in that fact.  

To demonstrate ASE’s commitment to racial equity and accountability, please review leadership’s Race and Equity Strategic Agenda/Action Plan. This plan outlines ASE’s organizational core areas of focus related to these efforts. 

How to use this assessment

Let this assessment guide and inform throughout the life cycle of your work. This document is very comprehensive. We encourage those unfamiliar with racial equity to be intentional about its use. To assist those who may be more in-depth in diversity, equity, and inclusion work, we have included a one-pager.

Use this assessment at the onset of a program idea before a kick-off meeting or bringing in outside teams (i.e. marketing, other internal teams) as thought partners/support in this process. It’s also useful if all team members working on a program discuss the assessment together. Teams should utilize this assessment when planning programs for each fiscal year.

To start, there is a pre-assessment to help you determine if you should even do the program in the first place. Following the pre-assessment, is the assessment itself which has questions to think about in each section of the planning process. Go through the questions in each section and write out your answers. Some questions may lead to the same conclusions, which is okay. Questions are designed to make you think about aspects of your work from different angles. 

This assessment was created with programming in mind. However, it can be used for work connected to recruitment, retention, and establishing equitable and inclusive practices related to one’s work. The assessment was intended for in-person use; however, it can be adapted for use in a digital format. 

Here are some shared values that will help you engage in this work: experience discomfort, expect and accept non-closure, listen for understanding, allow space for grace (understand and reconcile missteps with compassion), take risks, and welcome differing perspectives.

 

PRE-ASSESSMENT

As you design the season of programming, how are you using an equity lens to decide what programs to do? The goal of the pre-assessment is to explore whether or not your programming idea should go forward. Meant to be “Yes” or “No” responses. If you answer “No” to any of the questions below, you may need to reassess your program.

  • Do you have a racial equity goal? OR Can you identify a racial equity objective?
    • Is your goal tokenizing?  
  • Does this program align with the UW’s Race and Equity Initiative? 
  • By doing this program, are you taking resources away from a program that would bring us closer to racial equity work? 
    • In the digital space, are you just doing something to do it? To make it digital?

Planning

In this section, consider previous practices that may have unintentionally contributed to racial inequity or perpetuated patterns of bias and exclusion. It is important to reflect multiple perspectives during planning while taking into account the process, decisions, content, and how data are interpreted and used. Who is missing from the table? How can other views be incorporated into the process? 

This part of the assessment involves serious reflection and conversations. The earlier you can start, the better.   

Questions to consider when first thinking about planning: 

  • Why are you doing this program?   
    • In the digital space, are you just doing something to do it? To make it digital? 
    • By doing this program, are you taking resources away from a program that would bring us closer to racial equity work?
  • What is your racial equity objective?
    • What are you trying to accomplish with this program? How is this an equitable program? 
    • Is your goal tokenizing?  Does it make your program performative? 
  • Who is this program benefiting? Who will the program actually serve?
    • Who is your intended audience? Who is your likely audience (how can this be diversified)?
    • What measures do you have in place to ensure your service goal will remain?
  • Does your program reflect differing perspectives that are involved in the decision-making and leadership processes?
    • Who is involved with the planning? 
    • Who is authorized to make decisions? 
      • Think about these questions: Does this require executive-level input? If you do not have full authority over the program, what areas of planning can your team impact? Who are program sponsors, and what/who are they representing?
    • Are you connecting with external partners to plan your program/gather input? Do they bring a diversity of views and experiences? 
      • If the answer is NO: How can you help broaden connections and involve more diverse perspectives? Also consider: Why don’t we have these answers internally?
      • When working with external partners: Prior to seeking partnership ask yourself/your team: Are we tapping into already exhausted resources? 
        • If yes, re-evaluate your ask or partner resource. Could the partners be compensated for time and expertise? 
        • If no, as you prepare considering the following: Are you listening, and are you willing to change your program if provided feedback from an external partner? Do they have all the information needed to provide input? How will you actively incorporate their feedback? Don’t invite people to collaborate if you are not able to integrate their feedback. 
  • What support (internal/external) do you need to help make this program more racially equitable?
  • What data can you access and review in the planning of this program? (Please see the Audience and Post-Reflection sections for further context). 
  • What would interest people of color (or other target populations) about this program? Why would they attend? (Please see the Logistics and Marketing section for further context).
  • What barriers to participation might exist for this program? Who is most affected by these barriers? (Please see the Logistics section for further context).
  • What post-reflections can you track for future programming? (Please see the Post-Reflection section for further context). 

ASSESSMENT 

Audience 

In this section, think critically about your audience, evaluating and then questioning your expectations. Your expected audience might be based on past versions of the program, or your personal experience with similar programs. 

Deciding on your aspirational audience is your opportunity to “think big” about what your program can become. Reaching your aspirational audience is challenging by definition. It asks you to step outside how things have always been done and think through the steps toward creating an equitable program. 

Questions to consider when first thinking about your audience: 

  • What is your expected audience? What is its racial makeup?  
  • What is your aspirational audience? How can you get closer to seeing them attend or engage with your program?
  • What data on your audience is available? Where are we getting data? 
    • Think about these questions: Do we know the past racial makeup of attendees? Is demographic data available? What can you segment audience data by (i.e.: racial makeup, location, age, engagement)? 
  • Is your audience exclusive/biased by nature?
    • If the answer is YES: Can you add an inclusive aspect? Have you engaged external partners? 

Logistics

UW alumni are busy people, with careers, families, obligations in their own communities, and demands on their time and money. Consider location, time, costs, and cultural considerations to appeal to different attendees.

Many ASE events take place on the UW Seattle campus. This section challenges you to think beyond northeast Seattle and bring ASE to the people, where they are as opposed to where we want them to be.  

Questions to consider when working on logistics: 

    • Is your program culturally accessible? Consider date, time of day, location, religious holidays, type of food and so on. 
      • Don’t know where to look? Start here: 
      • A few questions to ask your planning team:
        • Is the price accessible? Are there options for those who can’t afford a ticket?
        • Is your event at a venue where some populations might not feel comfortable (i.e., a bar or a church)?
        • If food is being served, are there options for those who follow dietary guidelines (i.e. Halal, Kosher, vegan or vegetarian)?
        • If a meal is being served, how will you accommodate those who pray before mealtime?
        • If alcohol is being served, are plenty of non-alcoholic beverages available? Does alcohol feel imperative to the event, or is it one of many options?
      • Keep in mind that logistics can be inherently biased. For example, Dinner with the Pack is often hosted by community members who live close to campus, where homeowners are mostly upper-class white couples. Another example: If your events are always held on weeknights or weekends, you may be including only 9-5 office workers, while potentially excluding those with alternative schedules.
      • Remember to begin and end your event at the times you advertised. Consider those with time-sensitive accessibility needs (like medication or private transportation), those who take public transportation, those who have childcare commitments, those on their way to work, etc., when beginning and ending your event.
    • Is your program physically accessible? Consider the location of your audience, transportation considerations, mobility challenges, the need for speech and hearing services and so on. 
      • If not accessible, are there alternatives to engage (i.e. online platform or recordings)?
    • Have you researched the history of your content?
      • See Case Study: Membership in the Appendix for an example
    • Are program aspects inclusive? 
      • Have you considered how the need for childcare might impact parent attendees?
      • What costs are associated with accessing your program (i.e. attending, parking costs, etc.)? What costs are necessary for programming? 
      • Are all-gender bathrooms available? 
      • Is technology accessible? 
    • What vendors (tchotchkes, catering, etc.) are you including and supporting? 

Program 

In this section, consider whether your program is inviting to a wide range of attendees. People want to see themselves represented in different aspects of a program, whether it’s through the people on stage or the perspectives and topics that make up the content of the program. 

ASE has a traditional line-up of programs that it hosts year after year. Instead of repeating what’s been done in previous years, take an analytical approach to past practices and think about how to bring more people into the Husky community through these critical engagement opportunities.   

Questions to consider when working out your program: 

  • Who primarily benefits from this program? Describe how the content of this program, in part or in full, is designed to benefit and/or appeal to BIPOC audiences.
  • Do the program presenters (i.e. moderators, emcees, hosts, speakers, etc.) reflect racially and culturally diverse perspectives? 
    • How are people being represented and portrayed? Does your program avoid tokenism?
    • How can we share who speakers are to attract diverse audience and build excitement? 
    • Have you given presenters the opportunity to invite people in their community to attend the event? 
  • What changes, if any, will you make from last year’s program to attract a more racially representative group? How will these changes draw a more diverse crowd?
    • If the answer is NO: What educational component can you add if your expected audience is not racially diverse? 
  • What are your strategies for advancing racial equity in your program?
  • How are we mitigating unintended consequences that exist in your program content? 
  • Are there opportunities to find new people to help with content curation?   

Promotion 

People won’t come to an event or be part of a program if they don’t know about it. Likewise, they won’t take part if they don’t feel like the marketing and promotion is trying to reach them. In this section, think critically about the channels you use to promote a program and if you are reaching a wide range of audiences through those channels. 

People are more likely to take part if they are invited by someone in their community, with an authentic voice that is speaking to them and their experiences. 

Questions to consider during promotion:

    • What relationships and channels can you leverage to promote your program? 
    • Is your marketing inclusive and welcoming? 
      • What messages is it conveying? Are the messages tokenizing? Consider photographs, language, imagery, and other elements of online and print marketing. 
    • Is it appropriate to translate materials or use community or cultural media outlets? 
      • See Appendix for community media outlets
    • Where is your program promoted? Are you getting the word out at locations outside the UW? 

 

  • Who gets access to information first? Can you reserve tickets for audiences you’re trying to reach?

Post-Reflection

Through the assessment and measurement, you can get a picture of how far you’ve come and where your areas for growth are. Your reflections now will more fully inform planning for next year, creating an iterative process and progress over time. 

The way you assess inclusiveness can vary depending on the nature of your program. You will assess a new program differently than one that has been happening for years, a sports and spirit event differently than a student mentorship program. Sometimes a review might be based on attendees. Other times it might be based on process, ways you’ve changed your planning to bring more voices to the table. 

Questions to consider in post-reflections: 

  • Will there be a program debrief with all involved parties?
  • How will you assess the inclusiveness of your program? 
  • Who was missing from your program? Why were they missing?
  • Did you receive any feedback in the post-event survey that will help you design a more inclusive program for next year?
  • Is data tracking necessary? How is data being used? Will data be incorporated into Advance?
  • Is a SWOT analysis appropriate? Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats: What did you learn? What would you do next time?
  • How can you benchmark progress for a repeat program? 

External Resources

Approaches to Power Inequity Within Organizations – a quick description of different power dynamics within organizations

Racial Equity Impact Assessment – a short assessment of how different racial and ethnic groups my be impacted by proposed decisions 

Racial Equity Toolkit: An Opportunity to Operationalize Equity – a toolkit to access policies, program and budget issues related to racial equity published by the Government Alliance on Race and Equity

Staff Diversity Hiring Toolkit – an UW Office of Minority & Diversity resource to help with hiring, retention, and onboarding of diverse candidates

UW Business Diversity & Equity (BD&E) List – a list of diverse UW contract suppliers

Whiteness at Work – webinar on how the norms of whiteness and anti-blackness show up in workplaces.  

Racial Equity Tools – online resources to support work towards achieving racial equity

Community Assessment Tools and Resources – racial equity assessment tools to specifically assess community needs 

Race & Equity at UW – stories highlighting UW’s commitment to race and equity 

Diversity at the UW – UW resources to polices and resources available for the UW community

Appendix 

CASE STUDY: Cyber Monday Membership Campaign

Background:

Membership team decided to offer a UWAA membership deal for Cyber Monday. There were two deals for GOLD and Non-GOLD audiences. For GOLDs, the deal was 2-for-1 (2 years of membership for $30 for the GOLD) and for Non-GOLD, the deal was annual membership for GOLD price of $30. The offer would go out to alumni one week before Cyber Monday and then another email would go out on Cyber Monday.

The theme of the campaign was inspired by the TV show, Friends. Both emails would have Friends-related content. The first email had Huskies sitting on a couch in front of Drumheller Fountain with “Join the Pack” styled like Friends. The email content also had icons and copy that made Friends references.

Problem:

When the first email went out, one person emailed back to make us aware of Friends’ harmful messages. The show has been hurtful especially to BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ communities. During the 20th Anniversary of the series, there was a lot of backlash about the show as people had the chance to re-watch episodes. Not only were the messages explicitly harmful, but the lack of diversity on the show implicitly excludes POCs, portrays a world in which only White people live in New York, and implicitly conveys the message that a White narrative is what matters and is important. With UWAA associating themselves with Friends, the institution unintentionally excludes communities and supports homophobia. 

Action:

The Wednesday before the Thanksgiving holiday, membership and marketing had conversations about how to proceed. There were polarized opinions about the campaigns, where some people including POCs thought the campaign was brilliant. Ultimately, the Membership Director made the call to pull the Friends-themed graphics off the campaign so as not to align ourselves with messages that expressed homophobia, transphobia, and sexism, as well as implicitly marginalized people of color. The decision was based on UWAA values of inclusivity and prioritizing communities of color and LGBTQIA+ communities.

Moving forward:

Some questions arose as we dealt with the situation. 

  • Who makes the final call: Membership or Marketing? Who has final authority over racial equity decisions?
  • Was someone aware of the harm this could cause? Was there safe space for the person to express concerns? 
  • Could we have looked up how communities felt about Friends? One quick internet search resulted in many articles. If we searched “Friends controversy” could that have triggered the conversation earlier?

Community Media Outlets:

Additional Resources: