Self-Guided Curriculum • Community First Friday Forums

Equity Reset: Anti-Racism
Learning & Development


Racism & inequity are products of design. They can be redesigned.”

What is an “Equity Reset”?

“Equity Reset” is an ongoing & evolving approach to racial equity learning, development, & action. It is a way to operationalize Berkeley Lab’s organizational value of stewardship, and embody the behaviors and practices essential to sustaining a diverse, inclusive, equitable work culture. An Equity Reset calls for the interruption of business-as-usual and the recurring allocation of time and attention–two of our most precious resources– towards anti-racism work.

Our common mode of urgency and business-as-usual creates little time for reflection and thoughtful action; our pace of life eclipses our awareness. Therefore, strategic “Equity Resets” stop the clock so that we can reflect on our language, ideas, hunches, actions, etc. in the context of transformation. Without carving out moments to think and reset, our brains default to the familiar and the known, making a repeat of past practices that perpetuate inequity likely*.

What Is the Goal of the “Equity Reset”?

In offering an opt-in racial equity curriculum & learning forums for the Berkeley Lab community, our objective is to enable self-motivated Lab employees, particularly Lab leadership, to take personal and active ownership over antiracism learning & practice within their teams, areas, divisions, and beyond.

The goal of the Equity Reset approach is to move each of us from being passive participants in race conversations into active ones, from feeling powerless and confused in the face of systemic racial [and other forms of] inequity to feeling a sense of ownership and purpose around our own practice of antiracism at Berkeley Lab, in our professional lives, and beyond.

What Do We Stand to Lose?

When we do not dedicate time, attention, and effort to equity and anti-racism work, we see more emotional reactivity, distraction, disruption, and poor community outcomes overall. All of this is extremely costly on many dimensions (social, emotional, financial, etc.) and result in the persisting feeling among employees that their core needs are unmet and unaddressed.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

Being antiracist is different for white people than it is for people of color. For white people, being antiracist evolves with their racial identity development. They must acknowledge and understand their privilege, work to change their internalized racism, and interrupt racism when they see it. For people of color, it means recognizing how race and racism have been internalized, and whether it has been applied to other people of color.

*Adapted from National Museum of African American History & Culture (NMAAHC)


An invitation: 2 Levels of Learning

There are two levels of learning that will need to happen concurrently as part of Equity Reset:

INDIVIDUAL/TEAM LEVEL

Each employee is invited to work through the Equity Reset curriculum solo or in a self-organized peer learning circle.

COMMUNITY LEVEL 

On the First Friday of every monththe Lab's IDEA Office & Learning & Culture (L&C) Office will hold structured, facilitated Equity Reset orientations & forums for employees across the Lab to exchange learnings & to workshop and assess progress on their anti-racism commitments. Learn more about our First Friday Community Forums.