E & E Lens 5 P'sWhat Is The Equity and Empowerment Lens?  

The Equity and Empowerment Lens (with a racial justice focus) is a transformative quality improvement tool used to improve planning, decision-making, and resource allocation leading to more racially equitable policies and programs. At its core, it is a set of principles, reflective questions, and processes that focuses at the individual, institutional, and systemic levels by:

  • deconstructing what is not working around racial equity;
  • reconstructing and supporting what is working;
  • shifting the way we make decisions and think about this work; and
  • healing and transforming our structures, our environments, and ourselves.

Introductory Letter To New Materials:  A deeply honest and informative executive summary of our definitions, our main approach, our materials, our goals for the work

Foundational Assumptions:  The guiding concepts and research that underlie the Logic Model, integrating trauma, healing, neuroscience

Logic Model:   A look at transformative change towards racial equity at the individual, institutional, and systemic levels

Quality Improvement Cycle:  Our quality improvement process, incorporating reflection and purpose

5P’s Worksheet:  A worksheet with the major questions in the areas of People, Place, Process, Power, and Purpose

Resources:   The sources for the above work

Equity & Empowerment Lens Teaching Tools

Equity and Empowerment Lens Social Determinants (Four Ps) (1.34 MB)

Equity Vs. Equality Adapted from the Office of Equity and Human Rights City of Portland See full citation (1.92 MB)

Six Outcome Areas (665.93 KB)