Solution

Advance Racial Equity

This solution addresses race as predictor negative life outcomes in Berkeley, California, USA for local communities

Problem Description

Racial equity will be achieved when race can no longer be used to predict life outcomes. The City of Berkeley and all local governments have a responsibility to identify and eliminate institutional barriers to racial equity. Although the City alone cannot eliminate racial inequity, proactive City leadership has the potential to support significant change. The City and several other Bay Area cities and counties, including Oakland and San Francisco, are partnering with the Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE), a national network of local and regional governments working to achieve racial equity, to develop city-specific Racial Equity Action Plans. Working with key stakeholders, the City will develop, implement, and sustain plans to operationalize equity within the City government and influence structural change community-wide.

Building Blocks

Story

"Advance Racial Equity" is 1 of 6 goals of Berkeley’s Resilience Strategy. From natural disasters to wildfires, drought and flooding from climate change to racial inequity, Berkeley’s strategy recognizes that the city’s challenges and opportunities are complex and interconnected. At its core, Berkeley’s Resilience Strategy will focus on multi-stakeholder, multi-benefit problem solving grounded in stronger connections and engagement within the community and across the region. And this strategy fits into a larger focus throughout the Bay Area on building urban resilience to the various threats posed by urban growth, seismic threats, a changing climate, and rising seas. The goals and actions identified in this strategy are grounded in community input, members of our community contributed their insights and ideas through a combination of an online survey, public workshops, City Council meetings, City Commission meetings, and events.

Resources

  • Berkeley’s Resilience Strategy

    Berkeley’s Resilience Strategy – the first in the Bay Area – is designed to advance community preparedness for some of Berkeley’s most pressing physical, social, and economic challenges.

Organisations Involved

Contributed By

  • Dee Williams Ridley, City Manager, Berkeley Resilience Team
  • Timothy Burroughs, Chief Resilience Officer, Berkeley Resilience Team
  • Katie Van Dyke, City of Berkeley

Solution Stage

One of the 7 stages of an innovation. Learn more
STAGE SPECIALIST SKILLS REQUIRED EXAMPLE ACTIVITIES RISK LEVEL AND HANDLING FINANCE REQUIRED KINDS OF EVIDENCE GENERATED GOAL
Developing and testing3
Mix of design and implementation skills
  • Rapid prototyping
  • Service, product and process design
  • Co-design
  • User-design
  • Light-touch evaluation
  • Cost-benefit modelling
  • Randomised control trials
  • High failure rate should be an explicit expectation
  • Visible senior leadership essential
HIGH
  • Grants, convertible grants/loans
MEDIUM
A stronger case with cost and benefit projections developed through practical trials and experiments, involving potential users
Demonstration that the idea works, or evidence to support a reworking of the idea

Submitted By

Janae Futrell

Key Details

Activity