Affiliation:
1. The Fund for Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93101, USA
2. Evolve Equity Psychology, Inc., Carpinteria, CA 93013, USA
Abstract
We present a community-led equity framework as a foundation for promoting equity on the Central Coast of California. We discuss the key elements of a participatory, community-led evaluation and planning approach for the Central Coast Regional Equity Initiative, which aims to advocate for social, health, environmental, and economic equity through region-wide cross-sector collaboration, community and research-informed action, and an indigenized and decolonized approach. Through a systematic mixed-methods evaluation and planning approach, including Community Consultations and Strategic Action Planning, we found that our community’s lived experience contributes to a deeper understanding of inequities, and that engagement in cross-sector collaboration empowers our community to bridge data with action organizing. The findings demonstrate that engagement in community-led evaluation and planning contributes to a greater readiness for cross-sector collaborative action and a sense of community ownership of solutions to equity issues, and sets the stage for deeper-rooted, long-term success built on genuine reciprocity and trust. We present our community-led equity framework inviting others to adopt systematic community knowledge-base-building that values community wisdom, identifies power imbalance, promotes trust-building through healthy discomfort, and encourages reflective action.
Funder
Blue Shield Foundation
California Wellness Foundation
Cox Communications
Community Foundation San Luis Obispo
Energy Foundation
Interdisciplinary Humanities Center—UCSB
The Fund for Santa Barbara
James Bower Foundation
James Irvine Foundation
McCune Foundation
Office of the Dean of Social Sciences—UCSB
Santa Barbara City College Foundation
Santa Barbara Foundation
The California Endowment
Towbes Foundation
Ventura County Community Foundation
Weingart Foundation
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