Equity Is NOW

What if we didn't need to wait for equity? What if we could make present-moment changes that activate equity now? In our research on the experiences of racialized migrant communities engaged in systems change, we demonstrate that shifting narratives, power relations, access to information and resources are key levers that researchers, innovators and other stakeholders can engage to activate patterns that support equity now, rather than at some unnamed time in the future.

We have run two rounds of a social innovation prototype called "Beyond Borders," which engages racialized migrant people to design, develop and test their own social impact projects. We are engaged in an outcomes and developmental evaluation of this prototype. The impacts to date include: 52 racialized migrants who have developed 43 social impact projects/ventures and engaged over 500 community members in in-depth dialogue around the barriers/enablers to creating lives of meaning as refugee and immigrant communities; increased sense of confidence, enhanced networks, belonging and solidarity between communities; and organizational alignment towards equity in the host organization, including completing a Justice, Equity and Diversity Audit which resulted in significant internal changes in staffing, processes and practices to embody an equity lens now.

Our work pushes the edges of traditional social innovation research and practice by centring equity in the design process. We hope to share our learnings, tools and frames for action to inspire critical reflection that can address the tendency of research and innovation to evade the necessary conversation on the dynamics of power, historical relations between communities, ethnocentrism, salvationism and paternalism which pervade the field.

About the project

Presentation at Innovations in Research, April 13, 2021