October 30, 2025 | By: Jessica Xiomara García, Co-CEO

In 2020, as the world confronted racial injustice and a global pandemic, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) made a bold move: funding nearly 40 organizations to accelerate their racial equity work through the Equity Learning Lab (ELL), a RWJF program combining coaching and technical assistance for health-focused organizations committed to advancing equity in their work.

Four years later, Learning for Action and Public Equity Group launched the ELL website to share what we learned. From our scan of the landscape, this initiative broke new ground – it was a direct response to RWJF funded partners’ requests for deeper support in centering racial equity in their work. As we continue to find ways to support our clients in light of current attacks on racial equity work, we want to lift up the continued importance of equity work within organizations and highlight a tool organizations can use. The Organizational Equity Reflection Tool (OERT) — a framework that transforms abstract equity commitments into concrete action across nine critical dimensions — stands out as a helpful tool to support organizations’ continued progress on combating  systemic inequities. 

The Challenge at Hand

Organizations struggle to move from aspiration to action on equity. They need practical tools, not just good intentions.

 

An Offer: The Organizational Equity Reflection Tool (OERT)

  • Meets you where you are: Start from any point on the equity continuum without judgement

  • Engages everyone: Gathers input from staff at all levels through surveys, retreats, or discussions.

  • Creates shared language: Provides structure for navigating difficult conversations.

  • Drives real action: Produces concrete goals in an Equity Continuum Plan.

  • Tracks progress: Helps you measure change over time and ensures accountability.

  • Embeds equity deeply: Transforms core systems and culture, not just programs.

In “The Organizational Equity Reflection Tool: Experiences from Four Health-Focused Organizations,” Nasir Husain, explores what happens when health organizations hold up a mirror to their equity practices. The study follows four organizations using the Organizational Equity Reflection Tool (OERT). The OERT draws from Public Equity Group's Equity Continuum toolkit, which recognizes that equity work isn't a destination you reach — it's an ongoing journey without a clear starting line or finish. Rather than offering another checklist, the OERT acts as a catalyst, helping teams see where they truly stand and chart a path forward that creates real change. What makes it powerful?

The Results

“We used the OERT in a team strategic retreat to diagnose where we thought our team was on the continuum and where we wanted to be in three years. It was a great launching-off point for us to define an overarching aim to embed equity into what we do and how we do it, followed by defining specific goals for 2022 to help us move toward that aim.”
— ELL Participant

Organizations using the OERT didn't just talk about equity — they wove it into the fabric of how they operate. They spotted equity gaps in HR, strategy, and decision-making, then they created plans that survived leadership transitions. The tool helped organizations move from curiosity to commitment to embedding more equitable practices.

Your Turn

Now more than ever, as equity gains are being challenged and rolled back, we need more organizations that don't just gesture at equity, but embed it so deeply into their policies and practices that it becomes inseparable from who they are and how they work. The tools, stories, and insights from the Equity Learning Lab are available to support your journey.

 

Curious how this Could Apply to Your Organization? Let’s Talk.

Explore the OERT and ELL resources today. Read our OERT case study. Download ELL the primer. Start your organization's transformation. Because equity work can't wait — and you don't have to figure it out alone. Reach out at: learninglab@learningforaction.com

 

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