New Conversation Guides Equip Young Leaders to Advance Equity and Inclusion

The Casey Foun­da­tion has devel­oped a set of four guides with meet­ing mate­ri­als for lead­ers to hold facil­i­tat­ed con­ver­sa­tions about dis­man­tling racism with­in sys­tems that affect young people.

The Equi­ty Con­ver­sa­tion Guides for Young Lead­ers and Part­ners pro­vide step-by-step instruc­tions for facil­i­ta­tors to lead groups of young peo­ple in under­stand­ing the his­to­ry of struc­tur­al racism and how it oper­ates today. Groups will learn about impor­tant terms and con­cepts for dis­cussing racism and equi­ty, make group agree­ments that encour­age open and pro­duc­tive con­ver­sa­tion and learn how youth orga­niz­ing has pro­duced last­ing pos­i­tive change. The guides include inter­ac­tive activ­i­ties, hand­outs and posters appro­pri­ate for a data walk.

“The only way we can tru­ly chart the course that will lead to last­ing improve­ments is to rec­og­nize and acknowl­edge racial bias and how it has influ­enced our pub­lic sys­tems,” says San­dra Gas­ca-Gon­za­lez, direc­tor of the Foundation’s Jim Casey Youth Oppor­tu­ni­ties Ini­tia­tive, which pro­duced the guides. ​“Young peo­ple have always stood on the front lines of social and polit­i­cal change, and they can and will be pow­er­ful lead­ers in dis­man­tling the racist struc­tures that stand in the way of oppor­tu­ni­ty and suc­cess­ful adult­hood for all.”

Four guides make up the Equi­ty Con­ver­sa­tion Guides for Young Lead­ers and Part­ners series:

• Under­stand­ing the Basics: Core Con­cepts and Terms
  This doc­u­ment intro­duces foun­da­tion­al knowl­edge about the rel­e­vant con­cepts for advanc­ing equi­ty and inclu­sion. Learn­ing these key con­cepts in peer groups facil­i­tates deep­er dis­cus­sion, intro­spec­tion and crit­i­cal think­ing, allow­ing lead­ers to apply their under­stand­ing of equi­ty from per­son­al expe­ri­ence in their work toward sys­temic change.
   
• Dig­ging Deep: His­tor­i­cal Con­text of Child Wel­fare Systems
  This doc­u­ment takes a com­pre­hen­sive look at how race has oper­at­ed in the child wel­fare and youth jus­tice sys­tems from the 1600s through today. To engage in lead­er­ship and advo­ca­cy in mean­ing­ful ways, young peo­ple must under­stand the con­text of child wel­fare sys­tems and how var­i­ous poli­cies and prac­tices can affect chil­dren and fam­i­lies differently.
   
• Dis­cov­er­ing Self: Iden­ti­ty and Culture
  Some young peo­ple who have been in fos­ter care might iden­ti­fy with sev­er­al cul­tures and com­mu­ni­ties, while some might not know where they come from. Estab­lish­ing one’s place and role in equi­ty and inclu­sion work must include a jour­ney of per­son­al under­stand­ing and reflec­tion. This guide is designed to enable adult facil­i­ta­tors to explore these com­plex themes in a strengths-based envi­ron­ment with young lead­ers and advo­cates who have expe­ri­enced fos­ter care.
   
• Shar­ing Pow­er: His­to­ry and Con­tri­bu­tions of Orga­niz­ing in the Con­tin­u­um of Youth Engagement
  Under­stand­ing the his­tor­i­cal con­text of youth lead­er­ship and advo­ca­cy allows young peo­ple to ful­ly appre­ci­ate the influ­ence they can have and the polit­i­cal dynam­ics involved in advo­ca­cy. This con­ver­sa­tion pro­vides them with an oppor­tu­ni­ty to learn about the cen­tral role that young peo­ple have played in sys­tems change with an equi­ty and inclu­sion lens.

After intro­duc­ing the core con­cepts, facil­i­ta­tors are invit­ed to work through the guides in a way that makes sense for their group.

“These are results-focused guides,” Gas­ca-Gon­za­lez says. ​“We hope they will empow­er young peo­ple to move from under­stand­ing them­selves to build­ing rela­tion­ships to devel­op­ing tan­gi­ble solutions.”

Learn about the Foundation’s sev­en steps to equi­ty and inclusion