Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Antiracism – 1 Year Later

Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Antiracism – 1 Year Later

Celebrate Diversity

Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Antiracism – 1 Year Later

Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Antiracism – 1 Year Later 1024 1024 Health Services Los Angeles County

December 2021 marks one year since the launch of the EDIA Initiative. We’ve accomplished so much this year, and there is much more to come.

What’s happened so far?

  • We conducted a comprehensive landscape analysis, learning about all the EDIA work people were already doing at Health Services. Discovering that many of these EDIA efforts were siloed, we knew a priority was to find ways to build on and connect EDIA efforts across Health Services. We also looked outside of Health Services to learn from EDIA efforts at other large health systems. We spoke to architects of these initiatives. One main takeaway from this research was that an inclusive strategic planning structure is essential to the success of EDIA work.
  • We created the EDIA SharePoint website (Site is only accessible to Health Services staff) as a hub for transparent EDIA communications and worked with teams at DHS facilities and departments to get the word out about opportunities for engagement and to share Initiative updates.
  • We collaborated on a strategic planning structure rooted in an inclusive decision-making process. The 8 EDIA Subcommittees range in size from 12-16 members. Each of these includes workforce members, community partners and patients.

Additionally, we supported the creation of 6 DHS-wide Affinity Groups (Site is only accessible to Health Services staff), each developing specific strategic priorities related to their shared affinity.

And, for the first time ever, Health Services created a project code (Site is only accessible to Health Services staff) for EDIA work. Subcommittee members and Affinity Group leadership are allotted dedicated time to participate in the Initiative, and community and patient members are compensated for their work.

  • We provided nearly 100 hours of EDIA capacity building (Site is only accessible to Health Services staff) for Subcommittees and Affinity Groups. During capacity building, participants gained a deeper understanding of EDIA issues on topics such as intersectionality, antiracism, anti-Black racism, embodied resilience, allyship, justice, liberation and more. They gained skills to navigate difficult conversations and trauma-informed and resilience-oriented frameworks engaging in change work.
  • We conducted 33 EDIA Listening Sessions (Site is only accessible to Health Services staff) with more than 350 workforce, community, and patient stakeholders.

So what’s coming in 2022?

EDIA Subcommittees and Affinity Groups are meeting now to develop their strategic priorities. Once those are in place, the EDIA Council, made up of representatives from each of these groups, will meet to draft the strategic plan based on these priorities. In the Spring, there will be another round of stakeholder engagement in the form of listening sessions to give feedback on the draft strategic plan. Based on this feedback, the Council will finalize the EDIA strategic plan by June 2022.

How can YOU make change at Health Services?

There are still so many people who haven’t yet engaged in this process, and we want to hear from you! Be on the lookout for information on the second round of EDIA Listening Sessions coming in Spring 2022. If you want to be directly notified about Listening Sessions, send us an email at helloedia@dhs.lacounty.gov. We’ll email you when these sessions are announced.

We have the opportunity to rebuild culture through every interaction and decision. Come make change with us!

EDIA - One year later