Below you will find “equity in action” definitions from Frederickson Center board members. We hope these descriptions will help you think through how social equity comes to life every day across our society. If you would like to add your definition to this page, please send it to us for review!
The North Star for Justice and Leadership
I define equity as: The unwavering commitment to dismantling structural barriers through the lens of fairness, creating opportunities to ensure that every individual—regardless of race, gender, socioeconomic status or lived experience—can fully participate in and benefit from society. Grounded in academic training in public administration and ethics and a professional journey across national civil rights organizations, government agencies and grassroots initiatives, equity is more than a guiding principle; it is a call to action. It is the intentional practice of identifying disparities, interrogating systems and designing policies and programs that rectify historic and ongoing injustice.
Equity requires data-informed strategies and the moral courage to center voices traditionally excluded. Equity means reckoning with harm and rebuilding trust through community-centered approaches. It is not sameness or charity. It is justice manifested in policy, practice and culture. Whether advancing equity through budget audits, educational reforms or institutional accountability frameworks, like the great homegrown Maryland philosopher John Rawls stated, equity is fundamentally about fairness in the application of policy, practice and culture.
I see equity as the North Star for justice and leadership. If applied correctly, it requires self-reflection, empathy, rigor and persistent engagement across every level of governance and civic life. Equity is the essence of inclusive democracy and the foundation of lasting peace.
Georgia Noone-Sherrod, Board Member, Frederickson Center and DPA Student, University of Baltimore
Everyone in Our Community Can Be Successful
Equity means that everyone in our community can be successful, regardless of where they started from in life. Equity means that all people have access to resources, education, housing and food.
Equity is based on living in a society, which in turn means that we have a duty and responsibility to care for each other, rather than care only about ourselves. An equitable society is one where we all benefit when we all do well, and we all suffer when some are not doing well. I believe that every student should be able to graduate, that each family can have a home, that everyone can have enough to eat.
Equity as a principle in public administration stands in contrast to a zero-sum game where there is competition for limited resources and competition is paramount. It's not that those situations don't exist, but there are many circumstances where a situation is turned into a zero-sum game when it doesn't have to be.
Equity also stands in contrast to equal. People should be treated with equality, and we should create a society where we strive for equal life outcomes. But that doesn't mean that everyone should get the same thing. Some students need tutoring and some don't, an equitable system allows all students to succeed, and it may mean that some students need more attention or resources than others. We each need different things to succeed, and if we are equitable then we are OK with that.
Equity also means we have come to terms with our society, that we acknowledge that know we don't treat everyone the same, that we don't all start on the same starting line in life. Equity is a philosophy that can apply to any society but is essential in a society where history has shown persistent unfair and unequal treatment of people of color, immigrants, religious minorities and others. Equitable service delivery and policies, thinking about what a particular group may need to be successful, gives us an approach to address how to help those who are discriminated against or who have been harmed.
Michael Jacobson, Board Member, Frederickson Center and Deputy Director, King County Office of Performance, Strategy and Budget