Tools
Anti-Racism Resources
Your Yoga AllianceRacism and hatred are the opposites of all that yoga teaches us. The recent deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery were all horrific acts of violence. Yoga Alliance has chosen to raise our voice in solidarity with the goal of social justice for all. This page has been created as a resource to provide information for those who seek to be informed about the struggle of African Americans, increase their awareness and empathy and contribute to the cause of social justice. Please bookmark this page—it will be updated frequently. If you wish to suggest resources, to be considered for this page, please email us at info@yogaalliance.org.
Fifty Years Of “The People v. HUD”
Poverty & Race research Action Council (PRRAC)HUD has benefited enormously from strong civil rights advocacy, and many of HUD’s most important regulatory guidelines have emerged from this advocacy. We offer this selected timeline as a tribute to this ongoing history and, we hope, an inspiration to a new generation of civil rights and tenant activists.
The Boston Foundation Racial Equity Capacity Builders Directory
The Boston FoundationAs part of its continued work to support nonprofits as it centers and advances racial equity within its organizations, the Boston Foundation worked with partners to develop a directory of racial equity capacity builders currently serving Greater Boston nonprofit organizations. The directory lists 80 individuals and organizations providing racial equity capacity building services. Please use this as a resource for organizational racial equity goals.
The Ultimate Guide to DEI Investing in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Your Organization
Berrett-Koehler PublishersIn this comprehensive guide, we’ve compiled actionable and accessible resources on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) from the top leaders who have been doing the work to shape the future of a more inclusive economy. Read on for the most important trends and research-backed tools on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
Cambridge College Resource Library for Business Development Program
Cambridge CollegeThe Business Resource Library connects Consultants, Technical Assistance Providers and students to a variety of learning tools, including sample documents and industry trend topics. This library can quickly provide comprehensive information you may need to assist small businesses during their start-up, stabilization and growth phases. These materials can be downloaded from the links below. This library was built with the collaboration of Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation (MGCC), Mel King Institute, Lawyers for Civil Rights, and Technical Assistance providers.
COVID-19 Housing Policy Scorecard
Eviction LabSafe, stable, and decent housing has always been central to ensuring health and stability. Today, with the United States focused on containing the COVID-19 pandemic, the broader and longstanding issue of income and housing insecurity has quickly become paramount to the health of an entire nation.To better understand the steps states have taken to prevent homelessness during and after the pandemic, the Eviction Lab and Columbia Law School’s Professor Emily Benfer have developed a policy scorecard for each state, distilling the contents of thousands of newly-released emergency orders, declarations, and legislation into a clear set of critical measures included in, and left out of, state-level pandemic responses related to eviction and housing.
Arts & Planning Toolkit
MAPCThe Arts and Planning Toolkit has been given a reboot to become better aligned with the needs of municipal planners who are doing arts and culture-related work. Each page now follows a consistent outline of tools, resources, and examples to show how ideas may be put into action.
COVID-19 - Racial Equity & Social Justice Resources
Racial Equity ToolsCOVID-19 Racial Equity & Social Justice list includes information that we hope will help communities and activists as they work to understand and respond to the moment and for the long haul.
Storytelling Toolkit: Lessons Learned from NHT's "Where Will We Live"
National Housing TrustThis toolkit is a guide for advocates to replicate the National Housing Trust’s efforts and successfully employ digital, visual and audio storytelling strategies within their advocacy tactics.
Opportunity360 Community Dashboard
EnterpriseOpportunity360 Community Dashboards provide the information necessary to determine where action is most needed and where established programs and policies have been most successful in any neighborhood in the country. These dashboards now allow data comparison for up to three census tracts, anywhere in the US. In the free Opportunity360 Community Dashboards, you will find over 150 indicators from 27 sources.
Public Policy Resources
BestColleges.comThis guide includes links to free public policy online resources that will help one get a better sense of the entire field.
Public Policy Career Outlook
BestColleges.comThis guide provides you with in-depth information on degree planning including program structures, concentrations, and skill development and application for a Public Policy career.
Earning a Public Policy Master’s Degree
BestColleges.comThis resource will help you learn about the common Master's in Public Policy admission requirements, coursework, and jobs available for graduates.
Characteristics of White Supremacy Culture
Tema Okun, dRworksThis is a list of characteristics of white supremacy culture that show up in our organizations. The characteristics listed below are damaging because they are used as norms and standards without being proactively named or chosen by the group. They are damaging because they promote white supremacy thinking.
Honor Native Land: A Guide and Call to Acknowledgement
Sponsored by: U.S. Department of Arts and CultureCreated in partnership with Native allies and organizations, the Guide offers context about the practice of acknowledgment, gives step-by-step instructions for how to begin wherever you are, and provides tips for moving beyond acknowledgment into action.
Vision, Values, and Voice: A Communications Toolkit
The Opportunity AgendaThis toolkit focuses on the broader goal of identifying universal themes and values that tie together a range of issues.
Rights for Renters Messaging
Public Will Initiative with ToposThis tool reiterates focusing on the positives instead of the negatives when it comes to messaging. Even though the series is called Rights for Renters, it isn’t actually limited to renter issue areas—such as the Critiquing Without Undermining Government brief.
A Progressive’s Style Guide
Hanna Thomas (SumOfUs.org); Anna Hirsch (ActivistEditor.com)A Progressive’s Style Guide is explicitly multi-voiced and is created with the following commitments. 1) We combat discriminatory language. 2) We seek advice or more information when we’re unsure. 3) When writing, speaking, or using images, we aim to use examples that reflect a broad range of identities and perspectives.
Housing Matters
Urban InstituteHousing Matters is an online resource for the most rigorous research and practical information on how a quality, stable, affordable home in a vibrant community contributes to individual and community success.
Momentum: A Race Forward Podcast
Race ForwardA podcast that features movement voices, stories, and strategies for racial justice. Co-hosts Chevon Drew and Hiba Elyass will provide you with their fresh takes on race and pop culture, as well as, uplift narratives of hope, struggle, and joy, as we continue to build the momentum needed to advance racial justice.
Radical Imagination
Angela Glover Blackwell; Powered by PolicyLinkTo imagine radically, means to think big, demand better, and redefine the terms of the struggle; the Radical Imagination podcast delivers all that. The debut season confronts the challenging issues facing our nation, including immigration, the need for big new economic ideas, the impact of climate change, revolutionary approaches to community safety and justice, and more.
Six Maps That Reveal America’s Expanding Racial Diversity
William H. Frey, Brookings InstituteA pre-2020 census look at the wide dispersal of the nation’s Hispanic, Asian and black populations.
The 1619 Project
The New York TimesThe 1619 Project is a major initiative from The New York Times observing the 400th anniversary of the beginning of American slavery. It aims to reframe the country’s history, understanding 1619 as our true founding, and placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of the story we tell ourselves about who we are.
Internalized Racism Inventory
Cultural Bridges to JusticeFundamental questions to ask when taking an internalized racism inventory.
The Move
Ceasar McDowell, Founder; Ayushi Roy, Podcast co-host; Misael Galdamez, Website Author; Julia Curbera, Website AuthorThe Move is a movement to rebuild our public’s muscle for democracy. This movement aims to bring together people of all backgrounds who are seeking to facilitate real civic engagement in today’s democracies. The Move rebuilds our public muscle in three ways: We will partner in the design and implementation of at least one civic engagement project each year. We will provide a collaborative learning and knowledge exchange platform on TheMove.MIT.edu and it’s adjacent social media channels for cities, institutions, and community organizations. We will advance learning, experimentation, and innovation in civic design using eight design principles.
Massachusetts Defense For Eviction (MADE): Self-Guided Eviction Help
Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS)This completely free guided interview is for Massachusetts tenants who are being evicted. It is estimated to take between 25 and 90 minutes for a typical tenant to use on their own. It will help you make sure that you respond to your landlord's eviction case correctly.
Boston Neighborhood Change Interactive Map
Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard UniversityA new interactive mapping tool showing the dramatic demographic, social, and economic changes that have occurred in Greater Boston since 1990. The tool includes data from the 1990 and 2000 decennial censuses and from the American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates for 2010 and 2016.
Prosperity Now Scorecard
Prosperity Now ScorecardA comprehensive resource for data on household financial health, racial economic inequality and policy recommendations to help put everyone in our country on a path to prosperity.
The National Equity Research Database, Boston Edition
Brandeis Institute for Child, Youth and Family PolicyThis is a database of 286 socio-economic indicators on a wide range of subjects, including demography, education, employment, health, housing, earnings and ancestry covering the Boston metropolitan area.
Building Blocks: Connecting People, Places and Policies
Enterprise Community PartnersA podcast for thought-provoking conversations about the current issues, trends, ideas and big questions facing the affordable housing and community development field in the United States.
MASSCAP Trainings: Recorded Webinars
MASSCAPThis resource contains all the past recorded webinars from MASSCAP (Understanding Immigrant Rights, Community Action Impact, Succession Planning, and More!)
Operationalizing Racial Equity & Inclusion at Living Cities: Tools for Getting Started and Keeping At It
Living CitiesThese are some of the resources and contacts LC has shared with organizations who are looking to embed racial equity and inclusion into their work.
Racial Identity Caucusing: A Strategy for Building Anti-Racist Collectives
CrossroadsThis toolkit describes methods for anti-racism work and the value of caucusing
Understanding Systemic Racism
Race Forward"What Is Systemic Racism?" is an 8-part video series that shows how racism shows up in our lives across institutions and society: Wealth Gap, Employment, Housing Discrimination, Government Surveillance, Incarceration, Drug Arrests, Immigration Arrests, Infant Mortality
Rejecting Bigotry, Demanding Action
Opportunity AgendaTogether with UnidosUS, The Opportunity Agenda completed public opinion and messaging research with this goal in mind: to tell a story of American diversity that reflects our values and our aspirations as a country stronger because of our myriad backgrounds, ethnicities, races, experiences – because of the parts of us that may make us different, but ultimately also make us stronger. This research provides guidance for those using their platforms to reject bigotry while demand action.
Rolling Back Inclusion
The Democracy CollaborativeIn order to help communities across the country—both rural and urban—speak up in a moment in which the administration has made clear its intentions to scale back or dismantle these key federal frameworks, we will be tracking the new federal attacks on inclusive community development here, along with state-level measures enabled and encouraged by the new federal context.
Racial Wealth Audit
The Institute on Assets and Social Policy; DemosThis interactive online tool uses real-world examples to help policymakers and advocates explore and understand the causes and effects of the racial wealth gap.
Documentaries about Gentrification
Gentrification Learning CommunityThese films can be used to learn about issues of gentrification in America
Gentrification Learning Community Resources
Gentrification Learning Community-Mel King InstituteThis compendium of resources studied by the gentrification learning community includes broad perspectives for defining and tackling issues of gentrification
Racial Equity Tools
Center for Assessment and Policy DevelopmentThis site offers tools, research, tips, curricula and ideas for people who want to increase their own understanding and to help those working toward justice at every level – in systems, organizations, communities and the culture at large.