January 2022 marked the one-year anniversary of Executive Order 13985, the Biden-Harris Administration’s landmark order on Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government, which has resulted in the development of racial equity action plans across 90 federal agencies. The issuance of the executive order last year signaled a promising shift in the federal government’s understanding of its power to realize the aspirations of racial equity and to transform governing systems and structures to become antiracist and equitable. With the order, the administration also affirmed that the federal government has a role, and indeed an imperative, in designing a nation that works for all.

To meet this moment and assist federal agencies in realizing their racial equity aspirations, PolicyLink and Race Forward co-led a Racial Equity Governing Pilot Project with federal agencies in the fall and winter of 2021 and 2022. Building from For Love of Country: A Path for the Federal Government to Advance Racial Equity, which outlined clear actions agencies could consider to further embed racial equity into their work, this report discusses critical elements of these partnership pilots and lessons to inform and support the longer-term aspirations of the federal government to become actively anti-racist. More specifically, this report describes the work that commenced in partnership with agency offices, considers observations and lessons learned along the way, and discusses efforts that must continue at the federal level to fully realize the intentions of the executive order and move this country toward a more racially just future.

Recognizing the inextricable connection between housing and health, made more evident by the COVID-19 pandemic, 19 housing justice leaders were announced as the 2021 cohort of Ambassadors for Health Equity, a venture led by PolicyLink and supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. These leaders, who are focused on building political power and housing solutions in Black, Brown and Indigenous communities worked together as a cohort to leverage and learn from each other’s expertise, align around a vision for housing and health equity, and propel their work collectively toward more power in the housing justice movement.

Throughout 2021, these leaders came together (virtually) to share ideas and experiences, forge new alliances, and collaborate around promoting health equity in their work. This narrative report and vision presentation is an outcome of their journey in envisioning a transformative system of housing and justice and reinforces the values and infrastructure needed to achieve this vision of healthy communities.

The Columbus regional economy is strong and growing quickly, but racial inequities in the workforce threaten the region’s future prosperity. This report, produced in partnership with Emsi Burning Glass, One Columbus, and the Workforce Innovation Center, provides a comprehensive analysis of long-standing racial gaps in labor market outcomes, the economic impacts of Covid-19, and the racial equity implications of automation. Our in-depth analysis of disaggregated equity indicators and labor market dynamics found that only 42 percent of the region’s workers are in future-ready jobs, that Black workers with an associate’s degree earn on average the same wages as white workers with just a high school diploma, and that eliminating racial inequities in income could boost the Columbus regional economy by about $10 billion a year. The report concludes with actionable solutions to advance workforce equity across the region, informed by the data and shaped by local leaders. Download the report.

Media: Racial Inequities Cost Columbus Economy $10 Billion a Year, Report Finds (The Columbus Dispatch)

The coronavirus had disproportionate economic and health impacts on low-income workers and workers of color and deepened existing inequities along lines of race, class, and gender. In response to the pandemic, most state and many local governments convened task forces of cross-sector leaders to advise on how to respond to the public health and economic crisis. To understand the promise and success of these task forces in relation to racial equity and worker justice, we analyzed the scope, approach, and early outcomes of taskforces in all 50 states and 70 cities. We found that while community and labor representatives on a few task forces succeeded in advancing policies that will benefit low-income workers and workers of color, the majority failed to meaningfully engage with advocates or advance recovery solutions that centered equity. To ensure that future crisis-response task forces advance policies that build an economy that works for all, we must provide meaningful supports to allow advocates and directly impacted community members to participate in decision-making guided by equity principles.

This policy example outlining an approach for the design and implementation of the proposed Community Restoration and Revitalization Fund (CRRF) is a companion to the report, A Blueprint for the Next Generation of Federal Place-Based Policy.  The blueprint offers a two-step process for policy analysis and program design that starts with high-level, analytical questions that help provide the aspirational framework for then addressing a series of specific design decisions. It aims to help federal agency officials, congressional staff, and policy advocates design place-based policies and programs that respond to the priorities of local practitioners to actively address racial inequity and injustice, bridge sectors and policy domains, respect and build community voice and power, deliver sufficient resources and lasting system reforms, and promote continuous learning.