Building a shared future of community prosperity requires a shared responsibility to ensure that all people and communities are treated fairly. The Equitable Policy Processes for Multisector Health Efforts tool builds on BHPN’s Healthy Neighborhood Investments and Strategy Map and our organization’s work with multisector coalitions across the country. The resource helps coalitions embed equity at every stage of the policy making process with actionable steps to share power, engage stakeholders, and operationalize equity through public policy that helps create healthier, more equitable, and thriving communities.

The primary purpose of this brief is to explain how programs that use a PYD approach (PYD programs) can embed a racial equity perspective so that they can more effectively engage with, support, and meet the needs of youth and young adults of color whom they serve. It defines positive youth development and racial equity lens, and provides a set of principles to guide all PYD programs in embedding a racial equity perspective in their practices. It also provides information about the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Generation Work initiative, a workforce training model for young adults.

Educational systems in this country have been shaped by the influence of White dominant culture, frequently precluding the authentic partnership of families and stakeholders who are vested in the success of historically marginalized students in their communities. This resource describes characteristics associated with White dominant culture as compared to those rooted in an intentional equity mindset. This resource can be used to assess the cultural norms that currently exist and to think about what changes are needed to create authentic opportunities for partnership that can improve learning conditions and outcomes for historically marginalized populations.