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In the second installment of our two-part series, we continue to highlight Racial Equity Core Teams as drivers of change. Building a Racial Equity Core Team is a dynamic process. The team is often initially led by a Racial Equity Officer/Director, and as capacity expands, people increasingly take on different leadership roles, providing a basis for the continual cultivation and development of new racial equity leadership in the jurisdiction. In operationalizing the jurisdiction’s commitment to advancing racial equity, the work of Racial Equity Core Teams must align with the jurisdiction's strategic plans and priorities and be accountable to its leadership, with direct lines of communication.

The County of Santa Clara shares how upfront training, concrete goals, and clear communication have supported capacity-building and accountability across departments and jurisdiction-wide. 

County of Santa Clara: Organizing from the Inside

The County of Santa Clara’s Public Health Department created a departmental model of racial equity infrastructure, then engaged other departments to take the work countywide. 

The County of Santa Clara’s journey to institutionalize racial equity frameworks, tools, and practices within local government began in 2015, in the Public Health Department (SCCPHD). The department’s strategic planning process identified Racial and Health Equity as a priority, which led to the establishment of a dedicated Racial and Health Equity team. Dr. Analilia Garcia became the department's first Racial and Health Equity Manager, charged with implementing strategies within the Racial and Health Equity priority area.

SCCPHD was introduced to GARE via the Bay Area Health Inequities Initiative (BARHII), and in 2016, a team representing SCCPHD executive leadership, management, and line staff participated in GARE’s first Bay Area Learning Cohort, a year-long learning process about structural racism, the role of government in both creating racial inequities and the responsibility to engage in work that supports racially equitable outcomes, and to learn tools that support implementing practices for racial equity. SCCPHD quickly adopted the GARE Approach (visualize, normalize, organize, operationalize) as the backdrop for the department’s racial and health equity strategies and built a robust workplan that would continue to evolve with SCCPHD’s participation in GARE Implementation Learning Cohorts, during which jurisdictions explored select concepts more deeply to support implementing racial equity concepts and tools in subsequent years. SCCPHD also continued to coordinate teams for GARE Introductory Learning Cohorts, including participation from other County departments. Between 2016 and 2019, over 75 County employees participated in introductory and implementation GARE Learning Cohorts. Led by Dr. Garcia, the group organized internally to build support and outline details for a Countywide office of racial equity to establish infrastructure to implement a local version of the GARE Learning Years.

In 2020, amidst the overwhelming evidence that COVID-19 was exacerbating deep and pervasive racial inequities, the public outcry following the murder of George Floyd spurred the County of Santa Clara’s Board of Supervisors to approve plans to focus on racial equity by establishing the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Belonging (ODEB). ODEB would be responsible for coordinating the implementation of a Countywide racial equity strategy, including: 

• Establishing Countywide racial equity infrastructure 
• Incorporating principles of racial equity and belonging into all County activities, policies, and programs 
• Cultivating and strengthening County partnerships and collaboration to advance racial equity

The Office of Diversity, Equity, and Belonging launched in January 2022 with five dedicated positions: a Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer, a Program Manager, a Senior Research and Evaluation Specialist, a Senior Management Analyst, and a Senior Staff Development and Training Specialist. ODEB sits within the Division of Equity and Social Justice (DESJ), within the Office of the County Executive. After a rigorous external hiring process, Dr. Analilia Garcia was hired as the inaugural Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer and reports directly to Dr. Rocio Luna, one of seven Deputy County Executives.

In addition to the ODEB, the County of Santa Clara’s core team of racial equity practitioners is made up of staff from eleven County departments. Each department has taken a slightly different approach to establishing its racial equity infrastructure. Most departments have dedicated positions for which staff were hired specifically to lead or be a part of a racial equity team. Other departments have staff members carrying out racial equity work as part of their existing duties. 

Of these two approaches to establishing departmental racial equity infrastructure, the County of Santa Clara has seen more long-term benefits from departments having dedicated racial equity staff. For example, having dedicated positions supports departments in recruiting individuals with specific skills or subject matter expertise related to advancing racial equity in government. However, some departments with racial equity action plans are not yet able to dedicate resources to building a racial equity infrastructure. In the cases where a department has a racial equity lead, this strategy has been most successful when the director clearly communicates with the whole department about the racial equity lead’s role and additional duties and reinforces expectations for all department staff to engage in implementing racial equity strategies and activities. 

The County has also engaged community partners in its racial equity work. One example is ODEB’s engagement with the Racial Equity Action Leadership (REAL) Coalition in Santa Clara County. The REAL Coalition is made up of about 140 community-based organizations and has a workgroup dedicated to supporting the County in its commitment to advance racial equity in local government. Drs. Garcia and Luna began building relationships with the REAL Coalition in 2022, and in the fall of 2023 invited the Coalition’s Racial Justice workgroup to co-design the process and direction of the County’s first Racial Equity Strategic Roadmap. This strategic collaboration will allow for transparent accountability for the implementation and evaluation of the County’s racial equity strategies.­­

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Want to learn more about Racial Equity Core Teams? Check out this resource. Created in 2018, it also features story spotlights on the New York City Department of Public Health and Hygiene, the City of St. Paul, Minnesota, King County, Washington, and the City of Asheville, North Carolina.