Review of Organizational Equity Assessments Published in Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities

A Systematic Review of Organizational Assessments Related to Racism and Equity

CHDI's Jamie LoCurto, Ph.D and Brittany Lange, DPhil, MPH recently co-authored "A Systematic Review of Organizational Assessments Related to Racism and Equity," published in the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. The article highlights the systematic impact of racism on organizations and provides an overview of 21 organizational assessments. It also highlights the utility of organizational assessments in aiding an organization’s progress in becoming an anti-racist and equitable organization and identifies possible ways to improve such assessments in the future. 

This review was sparked by CHDI's participation in the National Child Traumatic Stress Network's (NCTSN) Virtual Summit, “Being Anti-Racist is Central to Trauma-Informed Care: From Awareness to Action,” which identified four key focus areas for organizations moving towards becoming more anti-racist and equitable:

1) Norms and organizational culture
2) Service delivery
3) Organizational policies and practices
4) External messaging, partnerships, and advocacy

LoCurto and Lange collaborated with UConn Health’s summit team members (Rocio Chang and Trisha Pitter) and Marissa Iverson from UConn Health Sciences Library.

In the journal article, LoCurto and Lange note that:

“While there has been substantial growth over the last decade in assessments that measure racism and equity, results indicate a need for more empirically developed and tested assessments to ensure reliability and validity and a more prescriptive structure and process for the administration of the assessment.” 

Read the journal article here.

CHDI's Experience Using an Organizational Equity Assessment

As part of the NCTSN Summit Initiative, CHDI chose to locate and administer an organizational assessment to assess our progress towards becoming a more anti-racist and equitable organization and establish action steps to advance our work in this area. An internal team, led by LoCurto and Lange, researched and analyzed available organizational assessments and recommended using the Transforming Organizational Culture Assessment Tool (TOCA) at CHDI. In 2022 and 2023, CHDI administered the TOCA to staff and used the results to inform our Anti-Racism and Equity Strategic Plan and action steps.

The TOCA and our other ongoing efforts to advance anti-racism have helped CHDI improve communication, collaboration, and accountability related to antiracism through a range of actions, including investing in infrastructure support and prioritizing equity in internal communications, training, and performance reviews.

Learn More About CHDI's Commitment to Anti-Racism and Equity.

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