hands working together

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.

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.  

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

Normalize

  • Use a shared racial equity framework
  • Operate with urgency and accountability

Organize

  • Build organizational capacity
  • Partner with stakeholders and community organizations

Operationalize

  • Be data-driven
  • Use racial equity tools

Learn More

Contact

Equity at CARB