Six Ways Funders Can Support Equity-Focused Communities of Practice
/By Giannina Fehler-Cabral, Meghan Hunt, Anna Saltzman, and Clare Nolan
The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation supports organizations in Kansas City to provide residents with the opportunity to achieve economic stability, mobility, and prosperity regardless of race, gender, or geography.
In order to cultivate a shared understanding of racial equity, diversity, and inclusion (REDI) amongst those who serve Kansas City, the foundation partnered with the National Equity Project to facilitate an 18-month community of practice (CoP) amongst 14 organizations across a range of issue areas. Through monthly facilitated sessions, NEP employed its Liberatory Design approach, which uses design principles to intentionally embrace complexity, reflect, iterate, and experiment to reimagine and redesign more equitable systems. Through the CoP, participants were invited to see and understand the history and effects of racial oppression in Kansas City, engage with one another to better understand these challenges, take action within their own organizations by designing and trying potential solutions to advance REDI goals, and identify opportunities for collective efforts.
Throughout the 18-month process, Engage R+D conducted surveys and interviews with CoP members, observed a sample of CoP meetings, and hosted a series of learning sessions to help participants document and reflect on their experiences. The evaluation was intentionally participatory; through the learning sessions, CoP members reflected on data and themes that surfaced through the evaluation, made sense of them together, and discussed what was needed going forward. In the final learning session, participants were guided to co-write the story of the community of practice and developed the headlines that would frame each section of the resulting evaluation brief.
What surfaced were insights, not only pertinent to barriers and facilitators for organizations collectively working toward racial equity, but also concrete opportunities for funders to provide a support system in communities of practice. Check out our full brief and reflections, as well as some of our summary insights on ways foundations can support Communities of Practice with a focus on racial equity:
Consider readiness factors when doing outreach. Organizations that had a clear commitment to advancing equity, buy-in from leadership, sufficient support (capacity and resources) to apply learning back to their organizations, and who were able to maintain consistent attendance over the course of the CoP, showed more promise in advancing their REDI goals.
Clarify leadership. While NEP provided the framework and tools, facilitated conversations, and provided coaching, the evaluation findings suggest that the CoP would have benefited from a leading entity to guide group decisions, coordinate partners, and facilitate strategic conversations to lead toward collective action. It would be helpful for funders (and other types of CoP hosts) to take on this leadership role or actively cultivate leaders among participating organizations over time. Being clear about roles from the start may also mitigate uncomfortable funder-grantee power dynamics.
Be realistic in setting organizational and collective REDI goals. While most participating organizations had a clearer sense of working toward organizational REDI goals, there was less clarity around what type of collective goals the CoP could work on. Recognizing that equity work requires embracing complexity and continuous iteration, expecting anything beyond organizational shifts may not have been realistic for an 18-month process. Funders and REDI CoP facilitators can set expectations early on about what capacities may be nurtured over the course of 18 months that would set the foundation for longer-term collaboration and collective action.
Plan for turnover and limited organizational capacity. Staff turnover was common across participating organizations. While the CoP facilitators and funder or host may not be able to predict turnover, they can facilitate support for incoming new members (e.g., an orientation meeting that includes an overview of CoP, goals, documentation on the efforts so far, and resources to assist with outreach in their respective organizations).
Gauge overall pace, structure, and format of the CoP. Tracking participation and engagement can help assess the need to revisit the existing structure of the CoP. Recognizing that senior organizational leaders, in particular, have competing demands, what other structures can be put in place to maximize their participation? Asking for ongoing feedback from participants about when, how, and how long sessions are held may surface practical and innovative solutions that can bring more ownership of the overall learning experience.
Engage external facilitators. The participating organizations appreciated and embraced National Equity Project’s Liberatory Design framework. Racial equity work requires a guiding framework that considers the complexity and iterative nature of transformative change, and NEP’s approach to understanding the barriers and facilitators of designing for equity at multiple levels resonated with individuals. Funders looking to convene a racial equity CoP should consider bringing in external facilitators who have expertise in equity-focused leadership development and systems change.
