Getting Started
Are you unsure of how to apply an equity lens to your data-intensive work, or where to begin? We recommend beginning with one of the steps below:
If you are just starting on your data project using a racial equity lens you should:
Make your Water Boards data open and accessible. This publishing step should be complete PRIOR to you exposing your data and information product(s) to the public.
If you have begun your data project and are getting feedback to do more equity-centered work or you and your team are feeling stuck you should:
Review relevant sections of this Handbook and determine which aspects of the best practices, guidance, and resources can and should be applied to your project.
Other Optional Recommendations
Establish common language to cultivate a collective understanding of underlying concepts and historical context related to advancing and operationalizing racial equity.
Take the Advancing Racial Equity training offered by the Water Boards Training Academy
Review the GARE Framework: Normalize, Organize, and Operationalize
Make your Water Boards data open and accessible
In accordance with the first principle of the Water Board’s Open Data Resolution (Resolution No. 2018-0032; see below), it is the responsibility of Water Boards data stewards to make our data open and accessible to the public.
Make Data Accessible (“Open First”): our organization values transparency and strives to make all critical public data available in machine-readable datasets with metadata and data dictionaries.
When it comes to doing racial equity data work, a critical first step that should occur before we consider taking on additional data related projects (e.g. making maps or other visualizations) is to try to make the data that already exit and for which we steward and/or are responsible, open, transparent, and accessible to the public (as appropriate).
Not only does making data open help improve automation, reproducibility, and transparency of your work, but doing so before you build your data analysis and interpretation tools (e.g. visualizations, reports) makes it easier for the communities we serve to access the data behind our interpretations and can ultimately help build relationships and trust.
Making data open is more than adding a spreadsheet or flat file to a webpage. Truly making your data open involves investing the time and resources required to follow the guidance on open data publishing at the Water Boards, which includes:
- making data machine readable
- formatting data in a way that aligns with common data standards
- ensuring the quality of data is known and documented
- going through data security process
- generating and ensuring all metadata and documentation related to the data is comprehensive and complete
- publishing data and all documentation in an open data platform / format
For more context and guidance on making data and products open and accessible using an equity lens, see the Publish & Share chapter. Contact OIMA (OIMA-Helpdesk@waterboards.ca.gov) for specific guidance or support with navigating through the open data publication process at the Water Boards.
Conduct an Equity Assessment for your project
While it may be tempting to dive right into collecting data and throwing together a map or visualization, taking time to think through what you hope to achieve with your project using an equity lens before you begin is critical!
Ideally every data project using an equity lens, begins with an equity assessment or scoping process. Equity impact analyses are systematic examinations of available data and expert input on how various groups - especially those facing inequity or disparities - are or likely will be affected by a project, policy, program, or process. They aim to minimize unintended adverse outcomes and maximize opportunities and positive outcomes.
The steps to conducting an equity assessment are described in detail on the Planning page, abd are summarized below.
- Step 0: Project Scoping
- Step 1: Describe the selected program, policy, or process, and populations affected by it
- Step 2. Consider historical, societal, and policy context and drivers of disparities
- Step 3. Collect expert input, including from affected community members
- Step 4. Identify information sources and gaps
- Step 5. Analyze program/policy effects - potential or current - on people and communities
- Step 6. Plan for action and accountability
By completing and documenting each step of your equity assessment, you will be able to:
Collect and refine the management questions that are driving the data project so you can focus on the problem you are trying to solve. For example, what does the Water Board need to know to make an informed decision?
Determine what type of data project you are doing? Typical project types include: conducting an equity impact analysis, or developing maps, data visualization or other data communication and reporting tools.
Research for examples of similar data projects, code, maps, project descriptions to help inform your work.
Review relevant sections of this Handbook
This Equity Data Handbook is a curated compilation of emerging and comprehensive (but not exhaustive) best practices, guidance, and resources to help Water Boards staff incorporate racial equity concepts, principles, and practices into their data-related work.
Specifically, each core chapter of this Handbook represents a phase of the data life cycle and dives into curated best practices, guidance, and resources to support Water Boards staff and equity/data practitioners with strategic implementation of that phase of the data life cycle with an equity lens. The Welcome page of this handbook includes a Detailed Table of Contents, which includes a brief description of the type of content that is provided in each chapter.
It is recommended folks take a “choose your own adventure” approach to using this Handbook. The Handbook is meant to serve as a resource that people reference as needed.
This could mean only reviewing chapters relevant to where you are in the data life cycle of your project, as needed. Or maybe folks only want guidance on resources related to a specific phrase or topic, in which case they may instead use the search bar on the left side of the Handbook - typing in whatever topic is of interest and jumping to the sections that pop up in the results. If a practitioner or team feels strongly that they don’t want to begin their project until they have read the entire Handbook “cover to cover”, that works too.
The take home message here is - it is recommended folks use this Handbook in a manner that works for the them and their teams doing the work given the resources and capacity they have at that time.
Join the Racial Equity Data Subcommittee
The Racial Equity Data Subcommittee of the Water Board’s Environmental Justice Roundtable is a group dedicated to building and operationalizing data resources and tools to understand and promote equity in Water Board programs and policies.
If you are looking for community, support, or feedback from like-minded equity and data practitioners at the Water Boards, joining the Racial Equity Data Subcommittee is for you!
Racial Equity Data Subcommittee Reminders:
ALL Water Boards staff are welcome to join the Subcommittee and attend meetings, regardless of their Region, Department or Office or where you sit on an org chart. To join the Subcommittee and be invited to future meetings, please complete the interest form!
There is no expectation of experience or expertise around working with data or doing so with an equity lens – we’re all learning how to do this appropriately and the Subcommittee is a space for all of us to share lessons and learn from one another.
The time commitment needed to participate is limited, flexible, and up to the individual and their supervisor. While the Subcommittee meets for 1-hour approximately every 6 weeks –folks only need to attend when their bandwidth and capacity allow and can skip guilt free when needed.
Other Optional Recommendations
Establish Common Language
When working with a racial equity lens we suggest establishing a common language and definitions to cultivate a collective understanding of underlying concepts and historical context. Creating and agreeing upon a common language can help foster transparency, challenge assumptions, and center the voices of marginalized communities; yet the efficiency of these efforts hinges on a shared language that facilitates understanding and collaboration. By grounding discussions in a common language, we can build trust and empower our team and community.
Establishing a common language and definitions are critical to creating a shared understanding, however we acknowledge that language can be used deliberately to engage and support community anti-racism coalitions and initiatives, or to inflame and divide them. It is important to note that although the language in this Handbook may be commonly used, the list of terms herein is not exhaustive, and may not be the sole definition of a term, and some may disagree with the definitions and their use. For example, in this Handbook we intentionally use the acronym BIPoC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) as a term that seeks to recognize the unique experience of Black and Indigenous People within the United States. We recognize that naming is power, and we remain committed to using language that supports pro-Blackness and Native visibility, while dismantling white supremacy.
Appendix A includes a Glossary and Non-Inclusive Terms to Avoid to establish a common language within this Handbook as it relates to Racial Equity. In addition, data terms used throughout the Handbook will be defined as they arise. A more extensive list of data terms and definitions can also be found in the College of Water Informatics Data Glossary.
Take the Advancing Racial Equity Training
When possible, staff should take the Advancing Racial Equity training series offered by the Water Boards Training Academy to foster a consistent baseline knowledge of racial equity work and the importance of applying a racial equity lens to our work.
Join an Openscapes Champions Cohort at the Water Boards
Openscapes, through their Champions Program, provides a framework for education, integration, and operationalization of open science, equity, communication, and kindness into individual and team collaborations and workflows. Teams that participate in the Champions Program are empowered to evolve and invest in their culture, processes, and workflows so that they can embody the better science for future us mindset.
Water Boards teams are able to join Openscapes Champions Cohorts that are created for and led by Water Boards staff.
For more information and to learn how to join an upcoming Openscapes Champions Cohort at the Water Boards, visit the Openscapes at the Water Boards webpage.
Review the GARE Framework
It’s strongly suggested staff review the framework outlined by the Government Alliance for Racial Equity (GARE) to normalize, organize, and operationalize racial equity throughout data integration (see image below).
In addition staff should also review why it is important to lead with race:
“with the recognition that the creation and perpetuation of racial inequities has been baked into government, and that racial inequities across all indicators for success are deep and pervasive. We also know that other groups of people are still marginalized, including based on gender, sexual orientation, ability and age, to name but a few. Focusing on racial equity provides the opportunity to introduce a framework, tools and resources that can also be applied to other areas of marginalization. It is critical to address all areas of marginalization, and an institutional approach is necessary across the board. As the local and regional government deepens its ability to eliminate racial inequity, it will be better equipped to transform systems and institutions impacting other marginalized groups.”