Equity Scoring
As a society, we measure what we value and we value what we measure. If we truly want to create an equitable and inclusive society, we must measure how well our policies, investments, and decisions stack up to that goal. This is why the Institute on Race, Power, and Political Economy and the Brookings Institution have partnered to produce research that contributes to the advancement and development of racial equity assessment and scoring at local, state, and national levels.
Reports
Measuring what matters for racial progress: Local and state innovation in racial equity impact assessment
By Richard McGahey, Xavier de Souza Briggs, Sarah Treuhaft, and Jessika Sherman
June 2023
This report documents the important progress that community advocates and government equity leaders have made to implement racial equity impact assessment across a range of policy arenas and functions. In this report, we analyze six cases of innovative racial equity impact assessment (REIA) efforts from localities and states around the country:
Keeping promises while keeping score: Gauging the impacts of policy proposals on racial equity
By Xavier de Souza Briggs and Richard M. McGahey
October 2022
This paper describes the remarkable progress that local governments have made over the past several years to apply racial equity impact assessment to policymaking. For these assessments to become broadly transformative and supported, the authors call for greater public sector capacity, additional allies, and more generative projects that show the idea in action and deliver visible, valued results in communities.
Additional Publications
Just as we score policies’ budget impact, we should score for racial equity as well
In this blog post, Darrick Hamilton and Andre Perry call for the OMB to establish a scoring system to measure equity—just as the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) scores bills with regard to impact on the federal budget.
To keep promises of achieving racial equity, let’s start keeping score - The Boston Globe
In this opinion piece for The Boston Globe, project team members Xavier de Souza Briggs, Darrick Hamilton, Richard McGahey, and Andre Perry advocate that governments at all levels should assess proposed policies and budgets for how much they would either promote or undermine racial equity and inclusion (and other forms of equity).