The Equity Mindset

5Testing Assumptions About What Our Cultures Must Be

One of the first times I recall using the term “equity mindset,” I was serving in senior leadership within the New York City mayor's office, focused on advancing programs for youth of color throughout the city. While the word “equity” was thrown around here and there, I was confused about what lens the administration was utilizing to identify the problems it sought to solve. I wasn't even sure we were on the same page about whether equity was a problem‐solving process, or just code for “diversity.” My experience as a public servant has been that many government programs that centered on communities of color, with an expressed mission to address disparities, were actually exacerbating inequities and reinforcing harmful beliefs about marginalized communities.

So many well‐intentioned programs are greenlit without deeper scrutiny into its design. One such program was called the Fatherhood Academy—an offering that involved 14 governmental initiatives providing various services to help “fathers become more active in the lives of their children.” After engaging with community leaders and fellow municipal employees, I recognized there were narratives about fatherhood, particularly Black and Latino fathers, driving how the coalition moved and ultimately designed programs. Probably the strongest assumption was that men of color weren't involved in their children's lives and programs were needed to motivate them to reconnect. The usage ...