listen
Understanding the community and learning the landscape.
The first fundamental step in creating an equitable and just policy starts with a deep listening process. Whether you are a community leader, organizer, advocate, or policymaker you should constantly be listening to those most impacted by the challenges. Listen and learn how you can build power collectively to create the change you wish to see, ensure that that change aligns with those most impacted.
learn
Building an intersectional and anti-racist political education.
Problems and solutions are plentiful. The challenge is often around what “container” you will identify and view the problems and the solutions in front of you and your community. Any participatory policymaking process should be seen as an opportunity to build an intersectional analysis that is rooted in anti-racist political education and creates strong racial and class solidarity. This process should focus on transforming society, not just creating transactional policy shifts. It is not enough to create diversity, equity, and inclusion in policy and programmatic solutions if the solutions continue to prop up an extractive economic system or a governance system that harms its people.
LEAD
Establishing community power and collective governance.
As you and your community work to build shared political analysis, you also need to start building collective power and governance. Much of this work is figuring out how to transition to a new paradigm: a new level of work that does not replicate the status quo—or the same power dynamics—that returns us to the situation we started from. Simply swapping out one person for another in leadership—but not challenging or changing the model of governance—can recreate harms, continue distrust, or create leadership vacuums.