About

Race Forward created its Federal Strategies program in the wake of President Biden's historic Executive Order which committed to a whole of government approach to racial equity in 2021. The program through its Federal Initiative on Governing for Race and Equity (FIRE) works to support and advance racial equity in public administration at the federal level.  FIRE has partnered with upwards of a dozen agencies and reached thousands  of federal workers. In our next phase, we will be developing the necessary resilience strategies to sustain the gains our racial justice movement and public servants have made together, as well as preparing and imagining for a future where we transform government towards racial and other forms of equity, and ensure its accountability to all our communities.

Race Forward President Glenn Harris speaking to a moderator at a virtual White House Convening on Equity

Our Goals and Approach

Public administration represents everyday democracy, as it is the arm of government that runs our public systems, implements our public priorities, and serves our communities on a daily basis. Its independence, ability to serve and protect the public, and its relationship with communities impacted by its decisions deeply shape the kind of democracy in which we live. We are committed to a multiracial democracy where public agencies continually advance racial and all other forms of equity, are able to check abuses by the market, deeply engage with and are informed by communities most impacted by its decisions and programs, and deliver just and equitable results.  

Towards these ends, we must both protect our civil institutions and  plan for the future to improve them. Our Federal Strategies program is poised to do both in an interrelated strategy to contribute to our fight for racial equity and democracy and will be launching two new projects: 

  • Defending Equitable Administrative Democracy: The attacks on the independence, mission and capacity of our federal agencies by Project 2025 pose grave risks to an equitable future. We will be monitoring attempts to undermine or dismantle democratic and equitable practices in federal agencies and/or to turn agencies against communities. We are also launching a collaborative of former federal workers to develop, along with our national partners, organizing and narrative strategies to protect and defend the integrity of federal civil servants and agencies.
     
  • Future of Equity Initiative: A racially equitable future depends on accountable and capable leaders at every level of government.  We will be developing a pipeline of future leaders through our Future of Equity Initiative, engaging both former federal workers that hope to return to public service and recent graduates with aspirations to serve as civil servants.  This future also depends on a clear and robust vision and blueprint. Drawing down on the expertise, insight and experience, from our racial equity practitioners from local to federal, we will be assembling and developing this blueprint for building governing power towards the multiracial democracy where all neighborhoods can thrive. 
OUR GOAL AND APPROACH

Resources

  1. White House Convening on Equity webinar
  2. Assessment of Federal Equity Action Plans (in partnership with PolicyLink)
  3. Partnering with Federal Agencies to Advance Racial Equity (in partnership with PolicyLink)
  4. From Project 2025 to Project 2029 toolkit to fight against authoritarianism
  5. Revisiting the Environmental Careers Organization's Diversity Initiative Program
  6. The Federal Collection of Racial Equity Records, preserves equity action plans, training materials, and implementation evidence removed from government websites for use by researchers, advocates, and future administrations.
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