Furthering DEI through Data Products and Analytic Services

These resources can help NNIP Partners think about present and communicate data to advance racial equity in their data and analytic products and services. We include toolkits on presenting data on racial equity and strategies on confronting racism in research. We draw on the ideas and resource laid out in a workshop on "Communicating with Data to Advance Racial Equity" from the Spring 2018 NNIP Partners' Meeting in Atlanta.

Data Collection and Analysis

• Advancing Better Outcomes for All Children: Reporting Data Using a Racial Equity Lens (Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2008)
  • This how-to guide outlines how to produce written material that uses a racial equity lens effectively, giving tips on the overall organization and presentation of data as well as on the narratives that accompany indicators.
• A Guide to Racial and Ethnic Equity Systems Indicators (StriveTogether, 2021)
  • This indicators guide provides examples of systems-level indicators that unearth structural inequities within education, health, food, housing, transportation, financial, legal and other systems that impact the well-being of children, youth and families.
• Counting a Diverse Nation: Disaggregating Data on Race and Ethnicity to Advance a Culture of Health (PolicyLink, 2018)
  • The report’s findings and recommendations are grouped into two broad areas: 1) methods for collecting and analyzing data about race and ethnicity at more detailed levels, and 2) government policies that can enable and enhance data disaggregation.
• Separating Race from Ethnicity in Surveys Risks an Inaccurate Picture of the Latinx Community (Urban Institute, 2019)
  • In this blog, researchers at the Urban Institute describe the challenges of detangling race from ethnicity for the Hispanic/Latinx population. This post provides context around the how the choice to ask race and ethnicity questions separately on surveys can affect the quality of data on Latinxs.

Communications, Messaging, and Visualization

• Rise Above: Countering Fear-Based Messaging (UNIDOS US with Lake Research Partners and The Opportunity Agenda, 2017)
  • The Rise Above initiative is designed to explore and create tools to challenge harmful narratives and present messages that push American audiences to embrace diversity. This short brief includes dos and don’ts for messaging based on opinion research conducted by Lake Research Partners.
• Ten Lessons for Talking about Race, Racism and Racial Justice (The Opportunity Agenda, 2017)
  • The brief introduces 10 guiding rules for communicating about race, racism, and racial justice. It then introduces the "Value, Problem, Solution, Action" (VPSA) approach to implementing them. Successful DEI messaging includes these four components: values: “Values (why the audience should care, and how they will connect the issue to themselves), Problem (framed as a threat to the shared values we have just invoked), Solution (stating what you’re for), and Action (a concrete ask of the audience, to ensure engagement and movement).”
• Reporting on Race in the 21st Century (The Aspen Institute, 2015)
  • At the Forum on Journalism, Race & Society, funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a group of media, policy, and law experts convened to discuss how journalists can better cover race. The goal and ultimate product were a set of recommendations on how newsrooms and reporters can enhance their reporting and contribution on topics of equity and fairness. These guidelines can be applied to any organization conducting analysis, telling stories, or presenting material on race. 
• Powering Health Equity Action with Online Data Tools: 10 Design Principles (PolicyLink and EcoTrust, 2017)
  • While this guide uses health equity as an example for presenting 10 principles for displaying data about race, the lessons can be applied to a wide range of social policy topics. For organizations displaying data online, this toolkit provides principles on framing data with a racial equity lens, each with concrete steps to applying best practices.