Vision for Racial Equity

A Vision for Change

en español

CARB commits to just social change by working at all levels within the organization and externally to address environmental injustices and advance racial equity in the achievement of its mission. CARB works toward a future where all Californians breathe healthy and clean air, benefit from actions to address climate change, and where race is no longer a predictor of life outcomes.

Help Shape the California Air Resources Board’s Approach to Advancing Racial Equity

Applications due January 13, 2025, by 11:59 PM PST, via an online application portal

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is developing a racial equity impact analysis tool, known as CARB’s Racial Equity Lens (REL), to advance the agency’s vision for racial equity— a future where all Californians equitably breathe healthy and clean air, benefit from actions to address climate change, and where race is no longer a predictor of life outcomes.

CARB is seeking 5 passionate community leaders and racial justice experts to help shape CARB’s REL and to inform staff’s approach to implementing the tool.

This process of shaping CARB’s REL, also referred to as ground truthing, aims to validate data and information by comparing it with direct, real-world observations or measurements from community members the tool is intended to serve. It is an essential exercise to ensure that CARB’s REL is effective and viable, not only in theory but also in practice, and that staff’s implementation of the tool achieves the outcomes communities are most interested in.

Community experts will help to refine the tool and inform CARB’s implementation approach by providing written feedback and participating in five meetings between March to June 2025. Compensation will be provided.

Additional background information on CARB’s REL as well as community expert eligibility, anticipated project schedule, compensation, and responsibilities and expectations can be found here: CARB's Racial Equity Lens - Community Expert Solicitation

Virtual Community Meeting

We invite you to learn more about CARB’s REL and get answers to your questions about the application process for the Community Expert Solicitation at an upcoming virtual meeting. This meeting will be conducted in English, with Spanish interpretation available. Event materials, including the staff presentation and meeting recording, will be posted on CARB’s Equity webpage.

Date: January 07, 2025
Time: 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. PST
Virtual Location: Zoom Meeting
Dial in: (877)336-1831
Conference Code: 231099

More Information

Public Solicitation – Help Co-develop CARB’s Racial Equity Inventory

Applications due January 10, 2025, by 5 P.M. Pacific Standard Time.

The California Air Resources Board’s (CARB’s) Office of Racial Equity has partnered with scholars from the Institute for Social Transformation at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC-IST) as well as with the University of Southern California's Equity Research Institute to conduct a Racial Equity Inventory. This effort aims to assess how well racial equity is currently integrated into CARB’s work, identify any barriers to advancing racial equity, and develop actionable recommendations to enhance our commitment to being an anti-racist organization.

UCSC-IST is seeking 10 passionate community leaders and racial justice experts to join the Racial Equity Inventory’s Community Partner Workgroup. Over the next several years (2025-2027), this group will co-develop the Racial Equity Inventory by advising UCSC-IST partners and CARB staff, helping to shape policies and practices that advance racial equity in California’s air quality and climate efforts. Compensation will be provided for community partners’ time and expertise.

To learn more about eligibility and how to apply, please visit the UCSC-IST application portal.

Apply Now

Our Approach

CARB has developed a Racial Equity Framework that provides a shared foundation for an anti-racist organization. The Framework is not an action plan—rather it communicates a model of organizational change and a few key ideas to guide action planning to advance racial equity at all levels of the organization. This framework describes racial equity as both:

An outcome—achieving racial equity means race will no longer predict life outcomes and outcomes for all groups are improved, and
A process—ensuring those impacted by structural racial inequities are meaningfully involved in the creation and implementation of CARB’s policies, programs and practices that impact their lives.

CARB commits to using existing authorities and resources to address environmental injustice, the root cause of which is structural racism, including by incorporating the 17 EJ principles that were adopted in the 1991 First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit and by using a racial equity lens, which is a set of questions to center equity through an assessment, in all CARB’s programs, policies, and regulations.

Model of Change

CARB will be deliberate in our use of approaches that are specifically aligned with anti-racist organizations. CARB is using the Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE) Model of Change: Normalize, Organize, and Operationalize.

Model of Change Vision - Normalize, Organize, Operationalize