| Term | Definition | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Advocacy | The act or process of supporting a cause or proposal, often involving actions that lead to a selected issue being addressed. | Center for Community Health and Development at the University of Kansas. (2023). Section 1: Getting an advocacy campaign off the ground. Community Toolbox: Principles of Advocacy. https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/advocacy/advocacy-principles/overview/main |
| Belonging | Having a meaningful voice and the opportunity to participate in the design of political, social, and cultural structures that shape one’s life; the right to both contribute and make demands upon society and political institutions. Belonging requires mutual power, access, and opportunity among all groups and individuals within a shared container, such as an organization or society. | University of California, Berkeley. (2023). Our story. Othering & Belonging Institute. https://belonging.berkeley.edu/our-story |
| BIPOC | A term referring to “Black and/or Indigenous People of Color.” While “POC” or People of Color is often used as well, BIPOC explicitly leads with Black and Indigenous identities, which helps to counter anti-Black racism and invisibilization of Native communities. | Nayantara Sen & Terry Keleher. (2021). Race Forward. Creating Cultures and Practices for Racial Equity: A Toolbox for Advancing Racial Equity for Arts and Cultural Organizations |
| Capacity Building | Capacity-building is defined as the process of developing and strengthening the skills, instincts, abilities, processes and resources that organizations and communities need to survive, adapt, and thrive in a fast-changing world. | United Nations. (n.d.). Capacity-Building. United Nations. https://www.un.org/en/academic-impact/capacity-building |
| Collaborative Governance | A governance structure where multiple stakeholders engage in a collective process to make decisions, often in public policy and service delivery contexts. | Ansell, C., & Gash, A. (2008). Collaborative Governance in Theory and Practice. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 18(4), 543–571. https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/mum032 |
| Community | A group of people with diverse characteristics who are linked by social ties, share common perspectives, and engage in joint action in geographical locations or settings. | MacQueen, K. M., McLellan, E., Metzger, D. S., Kegeles, S., Strauss, R. P., Scotti, R., Blanchard, L., & Trotter, R. T. (2001). What is community? an evidence-based definition for participatory public health. American Journal of Public Health, 91(12), 1929–1938. https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.91.12.1929 |
| Community Development | The process by which community members come together to take collective action and generate solutions to common problems. | Community development. Malden, Massachusetts. (n.d.). https://www.cityofmalden.org/860/Community-Development |
| Community Power | The ability of historically marginalized communities, most impacted by racism and other oppressive systems, to develop and sustain an organized base of people, including leaders who: Act collectively through democratic and other structures to set agendas Shift narratives to uplift power and break down systems that perpetuate inequity Influence who makes decisions, shifting power to those closest to the issues And cultivates ongoing relationships of shared accountability with decision-makers that change systems and advance health equity. | Adapted from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. (n.d.). Lead Local Glossary. Lead Local. https://www.lead-local.org/glossary |
| Equity | Assurance of the conditions for optimal health and well-being for all people. Achieving equity requires valuing all individuals and populations equally, recognizing and rectifying historical injustices, and providing resources according to need. | Definitions. Collaborative for Anti-Racism and Equity. (2023, May 1). https://herenow.org/definitions/ |
| Equitable Community Engagement | A purposeful, planned process where residents, other stakeholders, and municipalities work together to inform decisions including policies, strategic plans, service delivery, budget setting and community funding. It produces a deeper understanding of issues, establishes credibility and trust between residents and government agencies, and fosters confidence in final decisions or outcomes. | BPHC Community Engagement. Boston.gov. (2021, February 19). https://www.boston.gov/government/cabinets/boston-public-health-commission/racial-justice-and-health-equity/bphc-community-engagement |
| Health Disparities | Preventable differences in health outcomes that are experienced by socially, economically, and environmentally disadvantaged populations. Health disparities are linked to discrimination based on race and ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation and gender identity, ability, socioeconomic status, or other characteristics. | Definitions. Collaborative for Anti-Racism and Equity. (2023, May 1). https://herenow.org/definitions/ |
| Inside/ Outside | A strategy or perspective in social movements where change is pursued through both internal influence within institutions (inside) and external pressure or grassroots mobilization (outside). | Adapted from Heller, J. (2017, September 26). Using an inside-outside strategy to build power and advance equity. Human Impact Partners. https://humanimpact.org/using-an-inside-outside-strategy-to-build-power-and-advance-equity/ |
| Marginalization | The process that occurs when members of a dominant group relegate a particular group (minority groups and cultures) to the edge of society by restricting or not allowing them an active voice, identity or place for the purpose of maintaining power. | Nakintu, S. (2021, November 29). Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: Key Terms and Definitions. National Association of Counties. https://www.naco.org/resources/featured/key-terms-definitions-diversity-equity-inclusion#:~:text=M,the%20purpose%20of%20maintaining%20power. |
| Power | Power may also be understood as the ability to influence others and impose one’s beliefs. All power is relational, and the different relationships either reinforce or disrupt one another. The importance of the concept of power to anti-racism is clear: racism cannot be understood without understanding that power is not only an individual relationship but a cultural one, and that power relationships are shifting constantly. Power can be used malignantly and intentionally, but need not be, and individuals within a culture may benefit from power of which they are unaware. | Alberta Civil Liberties Research Centre, “Racism and Power” (2018) / “CARED Glossary” (2020). |
| Racial Equity | The active state in which race does not determine one’s livelihood or success. It is achieved through proactive work to address root causes of inequities to improve social outcomes for all individuals; that is, through the elimination or shifting of policies, practices, attitudes, and cultural messages that reinforce differential outcomes by race or fail to eliminate them. | City of Boston. (2022, January 20). An Executive Order Relative to Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing and the Implementation of the City of Boston’s Assessment of Fair Housing. Boston. |
| Systemic injustices | Injustices that occur when an unjust structure is maintained in a complex system that is self-reinforcing, adaptive, and creates subjects whose identity is shaped to conform to it. | Haslanger, S. (2022). Systemic and Structural Injustice: Is There a Difference? Philosophy, 98(1), 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0031819122000353 |
| Systems Change | An approach that aims to fundamentally shift the components of a system and the pattern of interactions between these parts, such as the root causes of social issues, to ultimately form a new system that behaves in a qualitatively different way. | Systems change: A topic brief for donors. Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. (2022, October 18). https://www.rockpa.org/systems-change-a-topic-brief-for-donors/ |
Conclusion
