April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 24

EQUITY
Becoming an Equitable
and Just Organization
By August M. Ball
H
ow do we do this work without causing discomfort or disruption?
This is the question I often receive from potential clients
preparing to begin their journey of racial equity work in the
environmental sector. My answer? You don't.
By pure nature of the work, becoming a just, equitable and inclusive
organization requires disruption - disruption of standard workplace practices
that are rooted in white middle class norms, and therefore, tend to
primarily serve that demographic.
With many individuals within
environmental
organizations
(or
park and recreation agencies) finding
discomfort with even the very
usage of race-based words, it's really
no surprise how little progress
has been made upon the actual
problem of racial homogeneity in
the field. If you can't talk about it,
how will you solve for it?
What I have found through my
own work as a company culture
consultant is that the most effective
way to reach the desired future
state of being an equitable and just
organization requires the following
five steps:
Make peace with the reality
that this work does not have
a finish line. I often compare this
work to getting healthy. We can
drink lots of water, eat heaps of
leafy greens and manage our stress,
but the moment we stop incorpo1
24
Parks & Recreation | APRIL 2 0 22 | PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G
While systemic racism impacts all corners
of our society, we must not forget
that people create systems.
rating healthy practices, our health
declines. The same is true for the
health of our organizational culture.
Being anti-oppressive must be
baked into everything an organization
does. Consequently, if we try
to cheat the process, we may find
ourselves doing irreparable harm.
2
Get a benchmark of where you
are. Don't just track your diversity
metrics. Track your inclusion
and belonging metrics. Make sure
the organizational culture assessment
you are conducting is holistic
and intersectional. You'll want to
be able to compare the responses
from your survey participants by
social demographics. Why is this
important?
First, the data helps
address common pushback from
individuals who feel the problem
PHOTO COURTESY OF CREAM CITY CONSERVATION

April 2022 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of April 2022 - Parks & Recreation

April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - Intro
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - Cover1
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - Cover2
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 1
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 2
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 3
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 4
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 5
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 6
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 7
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 8
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 9
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 10
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 11
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 12
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 13
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 14
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 15
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 16
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 17
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 18
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 19
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 20
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 21
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 22
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 23
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 24
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 25
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 26
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 27
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 28
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 29
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 30
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 31
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 32
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 33
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 34
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 35
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 36
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 37
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 38
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 39
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 40
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 41
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 42
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 43
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 44
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 45
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 46
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 47
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 48
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 49
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 50
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 51
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 52
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 53
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 54
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 55
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - 56
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - Cover3
April 2022 - Parks & Recreation - Cover4
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2024
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2023
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/february-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/january-2022
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/december-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/november-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/october-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/september-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/august-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/july-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/june-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/may-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/april-2021
https://ezine.nrpa.org/nrpa/ParksRecreationMagazine/march-2021
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