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Embed Equity Principles with hands underneath
Definition: Integrate equity principles throughout the organization's programmatic and operational plans, policies, and procedures; including budget, human resources, procurement, data, and decision-making.

Why It Matters: Internal policies and procedures are often outdated and do not address equity in their Human Resources (HR) practices, strategic and operational plans, resource allocation, and funding, so emphasizing equity throughout the organization sets the tone for how equity is prioritized internally and therefore, externally. Embedding equity principles within your own organization serves as a model for external partners building their own equity capacity and infrastructure.
 
LHJ Spotlight: Contra Costa County
Type Title Description
Examples Change Internal Practices & Processes As part of Human Impact Partners' Health Equity Guide, the Change Internal Practices and Processes strategy addresses how to change internal practices and align internal processes to advance equity. Difficult work must be done to reveal how current policies and practices support or impede equity, and barriers must be removed to advance equity work.
Examples Health Equity Guide - Additional Resources This is a suite of resources intended to help health departments change internal practices and processes. Resources include Contracting for Equity, Developing an Equity Impact Statement, Equitable Hiring Handbook, and more.
Templates State Health Department Organizational Self-Assessment for Achieving Health Equity: Toolkit and Guide to Implementation The State Health Department Organizational Self-Assessment for Achieving Health Equity: (Self-Assessment) can help health departments establish a baseline measure of capacity and areas for improvement to incorporate equity. This Self-Assessment is designed to help guide strategic planning and organizational development, as well as initiate conversations around equity.
Guides Health Equity Performance Measures Toolkit: A Guide for Local Health Departments The Center for Public Health Systems (CPHS) at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health and the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) developed this toolkit for all Local Health Departments (LHDs) who are interested in learning more about performance measures and how they can support LHD health equity initiatives. This toolkit is especially appropriate for public health professionals at LHDs who are curious about health equity performance measures (HEPM) but have not yet taken steps to design HEPM, or who are in the beginning steps of designing performance measures to assess progress and support improvement in health equity programs and initiatives at their LHD.
Type Title Description
Trainings Serving Diverse Communities: Building Cultural Competence and Humility into the Workplace This training discusses culture, cultural competence, cultural humility, and the differences between them. Three online resources are included in this training to promote cultural competency and humility.
Trainings Changing Internal Practices to Advance Health Equity Human Impact Partners (HIP) presents a training for organizations interested in addressing barriers to integrating health equity into their department. The program confirms the role of local health departments in addressing the roots of health inequity, addresses change management and different levels of influence in staff around equity initiatives, and gives examples of how to use internal actions to advance health equity. The reframing tools in this training are also very useful to all organizations in their equity discussions.
Webinars Advancing Health Equity in Local Health Departments: 4- Part Webinar Series Organized by Human Impact Partners, these webinars were co-sponsored with the Government Alliance on Race and Equity, the National Collaborative for Health Equity, and NACCHO’s Health Equity and Social Justice Committee. Each webinar focuses on a set of strategic practices to help health departments build internal infrastructure, work across government agencies, foster community partnerships, and champion transformative change to advance health equity.
Guides A Practitioner’s Guide for Advancing Health Equity: Community Strategies for Preventing Chronic Disease This Health Equity Guide includes strategies and tools to incorporate equity into foundational skills of public health. This guide touches on the integration of health equity into local practices such as building organizational capacity, engaging the community, developing partnerships, identifying health inequities, and conducting evaluations for various public health initiatives.
Articles Equity & Inclusion: The Roots of Organizational Well-Being This article discusses the need to go beyond simply adopting standard diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices in order to build healthy and resilient organizations. Strategies include building capacity to develop new skills, creating an environment where DEI can grow, and implementing equitable systems internally and externally.
2023 CA LHJ Examples Butte County Resources to Embed Equity Principles Butte County Public Health prioritizes equity in its Strategic Plan and lists “advancing equity” as a strategic priority. In 2022, the department revised its Health Promotion and Health Education Program Development Guide, highlighting addressing at-risk populations, health equity, and social determinants of health. The Health Equity Team creates various tools to help staff incorporate equity into their work, such as a Health Equity Flyer Checklist, an Equity Site Assessment Checklist, and hosts monthly internal meetings. They also invite guest speakers from the community representing diverse populations to enhance staff's cultural competency. Moreover, the department completed a DEI Guidance document, urging staff to integrate health equity principles into both internal and external activities.
2023 CA LHJ Examples Humboldt County Public Health: Health Equity Checklist Humboldt County Public Health developed the Health Equity Checklist to integrate programmatic, policy, and operational strategies focused on advancing equity into the county's programs and initiatives. The Health Equity Checklist was piloted with programs in the Healthy Communities Division to practice with implementation and collect feedback on the tool. After piloting the checklist, Public Health developed the corresponding policy and procedure document on how to facilitate onboarding to programs. Equity staff have supported additional programs in different Public Health Divisions with implementation of the health equity checklist with the goal of expanding to branch-wide implementation.
Type Title Description
Examples Santa Clara Develops Infrastructure to Address Racial & Health Equity Example A case study examining how Santa Clara County Public Health Department in California is developing internal infrastructure to advance racial and health equity. Strategies include developing racial and health equity committees and workgroups, developing equity trainings for staff, and engaging community partners wherever possible. The outcomes and impacts of their work are also discussed.
Frameworks Operationalizing Equity Operationalizing Equity looks at how the Annie E. Casey Foundation is embedding equity principles in its grantmaking and administrative operations. The report includes tools for operationalizing equity work and examines how tying race equity to an organization's mission can help staff shift their priorities over time.