OPERATIONALISING

EQUITY IN

GRANTMAKINGFozia Irfan

CEO Beds and Luton Community Foundation

DEI Coalition

Conditions of Use

◦ This presentation was prepared for the DEI coalition in the UK and is the

culmination of substantial research, analysis and effort.

◦ I would request that if you wish to share this presentation, authorship is explicitly

acknowledged and permission is obtained.

◦ I hope that you all find this presentation of benefit and if you do have any

comments or questions, I can be contacted below.

Good Luck!

Fozia Irfan @irfan_fozia fozia.irfan@blcf.org.uk

Introduction◦ Based on the Annie E Casey Foundation

“Results Count – Path to Equity’

https://www.aecf.org/resources/introduction-to-the-results-count-path-to-equity/

◦ Achieve better outcomes for all while addressing factors that contribute to inequities and block access to opportunity by intentionally:

• examining and attending to systemic factors;

• using targeted universalism; and

• distinguishing between equality and equity

Pre-RequisitesTime – this requires commitment and a long-term strategy to implement

Resources – do you have the capacity in your teams to do this work?

Authority – does the person responsible have the authority to lead change and do they have the support of the team and the Board?

Challenges – identify the challenges and obstacles from the outset. Adaptive challenges don’t come with a manual or expert to call. Instead, the people involved in the challenge must create the solution together.

Success

depends on…

• the ability of people to

coordinate and align on a

wider scale;

• willingness to change

beliefs and habits to take

up new roles;

• willingness to challenge

established practice; and

• combining expertise with

flexibility.This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

Mental Models and Equity

Mental models play an important role in shaping our understanding of the root causes of

disparities and the strategies we identify to close those gaps.

Questions to Consider

1. What mental models about disparities do you hold that have shaped your work?

2. What are some of the mental models your foundation team and Board holds about:

•disparities?

•poverty?

•achievement?

4. Which of these have has the greatest influence?

6 steps to Developing an Equity Programme

STEP 1. DEFINE THE POPULATION.

STEP 2. DEFINE THE RESULT STATEMENT.

STEP 3. USE TREND LINES TO SET THE BASELINE

AND TARGETS.

STEP 4. USE FACTOR ANALYSIS TO

UNDERSTAND THE WHY.

STEP 5. DEVELOP THE STRATEGY

STEP 6. IMPLEMENT PERFORMANCE

MEASURES

Step 1 – Defining the Population

◦ Remember Targeted Universalism (session 2b)? We want to develop complex strategies that deliver

positive results for the Whole Population by focussing our contribution on an intervention with the

Programme Population.

◦ Identify and differentiate ‘Whole Population’ and the ‘Programme Population’ ie disadvantaged

population you want to focus on. (Identify using data on disparities)

◦ The Whole Population includes members of a defined group in a particular area, and the Program

Population is a subset of the Whole Population that is meant to benefit from a particular intervention.

Whole Population Programme Population

School Age Children in Luton Bangladeshi Boys in Luton

18-25 year olds in Bedfordshire Young people formerly in care in Beds.

University graduates seeking

employment in the UK

University graduates who identify as

LGBTQ seeking employment

Step 2. Build the ‘Result Statement’ you want to see:

◦ Population: Individuals such as children, youth, families, households, residents, etc. Can also include

specific groups such as “all children under the age of 5,” “all refugees” or “all families below 200 percent

of the poverty line.”

◦ Place: The place or geographic area of the population — neighbourhood, city, county etc.

◦ Condition of well-being: The quality-of-life condition(s) desired for the population that should be

available to and experienced by ALL members of the population.

Examples of Result Statements:

• All children in Bedfordshire are ready for school.

• All babies in Luton are born healthy.

• All students in Farley Hill finish high school and are prepared for college and career.

• All low-income families in the UK have safe, stable and affordable housing.

By the end of

Step 2:

Identified the disparity you want to focus on from data

Identified the whole population and the programme population you want to work with

Defined the Result Statement ie your overall objective

Your Turn:These are some real statistics – for each statement, identify1. The Whole Population2. The Programme Population3. The Result Statement

◦ For key stage one pupils in Luton who are new to speaking the English language only

24% achieved the expected level of Reading, Writing and Maths in 2018.

◦ Only 15% of SEN pupils in Luton achieved levels 4-9 in English and Maths GCSEs in 2018

compared to 26% nationally.

◦ 74% of students attending schools in Luton overall achieve the expected standard of

reading, writing and maths (RWM) compared to just 43% of students at schools in the

Dallow Ward.

• For key stage one pupils in Luton who are new to speaking the English language only 24% achieved the expected level of Reading,

Writing and Maths in 2018.

✓ The Whole Population = Key Stage 1 Pupils in Luton

✓ The Programme Population = Key Stage 1 Pupils in Luton who are new to speaking English

✓ The Result Statement = All Children in Luton have a high level of educational achievement

• Only 15% of SEN pupils in Luton achieved levels 4-9 in English and Maths GCSEs in 2018 compared to 26% nationally.

✓ The Whole Population = could be either UK SEN pupils/ Luton SEN pupils/ Luton non-Sen

✓ The Programme Population = SEN pupils undertaking GCSES

✓ The Result Statement = All SEN children in Luton have a high level of educational achievement

• 74% of students attending schools in Luton overall achieve the expected standard of reading, writing and maths (RWM) compared

to just 43% of students at schools in the Dallow Ward.

✓ The Whole Population – All students attending schools in Luton

✓ The Programme Population – Students in the Dallow Ward

✓ The Result Statement – All young people in Luton have a high level of RWM

Step 3. Using Trend Lines to Deepen the Analysis

Trend lines chart the past to the current moment establish the baseline to guide the work and measurement of progress.

Remember that the underlying focus of equity is in addressing disparities – its about closing the gap

Therefore there is a focus on actual data, using baseline figures and projections so that you can monitor progress

Essentially it will show you whether or not what you are funding is working to address disparities

(But remember its not just about the data and this is long term!)

Plotting your Baseline/Trend Lines

Luto

n R

WM

ach

ieve

men

t If nothing changes Whole population Targeted Prog. Population

Number of Students Current Projection

Disparity gap

remains the same

or widens

Plot out what you would like to achieve

Luto

n R

WM

ach

ieve

men

t Narrowing the gap Whole population Targeted Prog. Population

Number of Students Current Projection

Within 5 years,

targeted

population

has higher

levels of

achievement

and you have

narrowed the

gap

Step 4. Factor Analysis – Understanding the Why

◦ Important to understand the factors

which may increase or decrease the

disparity gap

◦ There are restricting factors

decreasing the trend and contributing

factors increasing the trend

◦ This is about systems thinking –

carefully researching the factors whilst

being aware that we work in

complexity and causality can be

difficult to pin down

Think about

the Iceberg

What factors are seen and

what are unseen?

https://waterscenterst.org

/about/about-the-waters-

center/

Factor Analysis for Homelessness

Example Factor Analysis - Disconnection in Young People

Questions for

Factor Analysis

How do we know these are

the contributing or restrictive

factors (evidence vs. mental

models)?

How is this driving the trend?

(Ask the “Five Whys” to get

to root causes.)

Is it the same for the target

population as it is for the

whole population? How

does available research

and data illuminate a

different pathway for the

target population?

If this factor shifted, what

effect would that have and

how big a contribution

would that make to turning

the curve?

What does available

evidence (research,

experience, network

knowledge) tell us about

what factors can be

addressed to substantive

effect?

Who was involved in the

process? How were those

most burdened in terms of

the result included in the

validation process?

Prioritise your

factorsWhat are the two or three factors that if shifted individually and/or as a group would constructively disrupt systems, make a big contribution to population-level change and close disparity gaps (or help us understand the way forward) in a powerful manner?

What information do you need in a Data Development Agenda: Given what are emerging as your priority factors, what data development work will you need to do to validate the factors for the whole and targeted population?

Now its your turn

Your foundation has decided to focus on gender inequality and

after carrying out the above four steps, the area they want to work

on is addressing the gender gap in pay.

◦ Set out a factor analysis of what you think may be the

contributing factors to the gender pay gap.

◦ Set out who you would involve in your research to help you

identify contributing factors.

Recap – what

have you

done so far

Step 4 Completed a Factor Analysis and prioritised 2/3 important factors that you want to focus your funding on

Step 3 Used Trend Lines to set baselines and targets

Step 2 Defined your Result Statement – what you want to achieve

Step 1 Defined your population, who you want to work with

Setting your strategy – How?

◦ Result — who will be better off and how?

◦ What are your Targeted factor(s)?

◦ Which Level(s) of iceberg your strategy is

aiming toward:

◦ Who will do this?

◦ What will they have to do to achieve the

result(s)?

◦ By when (time frame/timeline)?

◦ How much will you do to achieve your

result(s)?

A Successful

Strategy must:1. Be informed by

data-driven analysis:

responsive to most

important universal

and targeted factors

2. Conduct an equity

impact analysis to

ensure equitable

results

3. Work at multiple

levels: addresses more

than one factor (e.g.,

families and larger

community) and

addresses changes at

practice, policy and

system levels

4. Reflects systems

thinking: consider

“iceberg” graphic

5. Be Actionable:

capacity exists or can

be built

6. Potential

improvement at

scale: likelihood of

moving toward the

desired result at the

population level

7. Evidence informed:

supported by best

available evidence or

experience

8. Realistic and future

focused: responsive

to social, economic

and political

environments

currently and how

they may change

over time

Equity Impact

Analysis- 6

questions to ask

1. Are all marginalised groups who are affected by the policy, practice, strategy or decision at the table, and what are their roles?

2. How will the proposed strategy affect each group positively and negatively? What are potential unintended consequences for each group?

3. How will the proposed strategy be perceived by each group?

4. Does the strategy worsen or ignore existing disparities, and how do you know?

5. Based on the above responses, what revisions are needed to the strategy?

6. If the strategy is wildly successful, what access and opportunity gaps will it address?

Step 6

Performance

Measures

Need to answer 4 Questions

Who is better off?

What difference did

we make?

How much did we do?

How well did we do it?

Enable you to identify and be accountable for your contribution to achieving equitable results and develop a working hypothesis about the most powerful contribution you

can make in your role.

Developing Performance Measures

• What subset of the whole population

will be better off if the strategy

succeeds? How will you know?

• What differences in policy, practice,

behaviour, structures and systems will

occur if the strategy succeeds? How will

you know?

• What are the key component parts of

the strategy? Who owns each part?

• How will the owners of each strategy

component know they are making a

positive contribution?

Example Performance Measures– Ensure young people in foster care leave school with higher educational achievement levels

% of youth in foster care with five GCSE’s

% of older youth in care with stable placements

% of schools with equitable discipline policies relating to young people in care

% of young people receiving mentoring and wraparound support

% of young people who enrol in post-16 further education

6 steps to Developing an Equity Programme

STEP 1. DEFINE THE POPULATION.

STEP 2. DEFINE THE RESULT STATEMENT.

STEP 3. USE TREND LINES TO SET THE BASELINE

AND TARGETS.

STEP 4. USE FACTOR ANALYSIS TO

UNDERSTAND THE WHY.

STEP 5. DEVELOP THE STRATEGY

STEP 6. IMPLEMENT PERFORMANCE

MEASURES

Remember!

When working

with

communities

Work inclusively with those experiencing

inequitable results to refine your

programme population and result

statement and the indicators you will use to measure progress

When involving community members,

be aware of power dynamics and

inequities in your relationship

Don’t burden communities or

create extractive relationships

Leaders should be appropriately

suspicious of their own analysis — people

cannot always detect their own biases and the mental models that influence them

as leaders

Consider multiple perspectives

Focus on contribution not attribution

This work is messy, adaptive and tough –

be prepared

(small steps consider grantmaking checklist)

So what? What can you take back?