The URJ's Equity Indicator
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Complete the Equity Indicator Today!Frequently Asked Questions
The Equity Indicator tracks the progress of congregations and other Jewish communities (e.g., schools, camps, and others) on key measures of creating communities of belonging and building anti-oppressive ecosystems.
An equitable Jewish community is defined as a space and place where all people have the opportunity to feel affirmed, safe, celebrated, and to experience a sense of belonging. This includes people from all races and ethnic identities, sexualities, genders, disabilities, relationship statuses, ages, family configurations, body types, socio-economic backgrounds, and other often underrepresented identities. We want individuals to bring their full, authentic selves to our spaces and feel inspired to co-create communities that value diverse lived experiences, are vibrant and varied, and recognize the essentialness of Jewish diversity.
Want to learn more about the Equity Indicator? Come join us for one (or both!) of our Info Sessions on Tuesday, June 10, 3:00 - 3:45 PM ET and Wednesday, June 11, 12:00 - 12:45 PM ET. Register Now.
The Equity Indicator measures some key indicators of an equitable/inclusive community. After the Equity Indicator is completed, the URJ will provide the community with actionable steps to begin making strides in their REDI work. Ultimately this should result in a higher score one year later and, eventually and most importantly, a more equitable community.
The Equity Indicator utilizes 15 key indicators to assess your equity "score"; however please note that this cannot, and could never, be an exhaustive list of equitable practices.
The work of becoming an equitable and inclusive community is constant, consistent, ever evolving, and likely will never be "complete."
Ultimately your initial score gives you a baseline understanding of where you are in terms of implementing a broad set of REDI measures.
Based on our conversations with people with diverse lived experience (Jews of Color, members of the LGBTQ+ community, people with disabilities, etc.), surveys, and other research, we've identified the indicators in this tool as key measurable indicators of behavior that contribute to creating meaningful, safe, and belonging communities.
One person from your community is to be tasked as the single person to input the information into the online Equity Indicator.
In the congregational setting, we anticipate the Executive Director (or a comparable position, e.g., a trusted volunteer), would be the best person to take this survey. The person inputting the information into the Equity Indicator does not necessarily have to know all the answers (and likely will not!), however this person should know who/where to seek out the answers. Each community is to submit only one form in the online Equity Indicator Survey Link.
Please visit the Equity Indicator Glossary of Terms. If you have any further questions, please contact Aliza Greenberg.
Have no fear. The Equity Indicator is an analytic tool that can be used over time to measure progress and help guide movement toward creating a more equitable community. Your score is not a judgement of being “good” or “bad,” but rather a way to create a roadmap of what your next steps might include. The more honest your feedback, the more useful and relevant your results and suggested next steps will be. Remember, for each section your community has yet to address, included in the results of the indicator, you will receive strategies and resources to address these areas. Once again, this isn’t about being a “good” or “bad,” it’s about having the courage to continually assess our communities and always being open to prioritizing equity. You’ve got this and ALL our communities have room for improvement!
Many of our communities have partially addressed many of the items listed in the Equity Indicator, however, the more honest your feedback, the more useful and relevant your results and suggested next steps will be. It will not serve your community to over generalize, exaggerate your DEI efforts, or for your responses to not reflect the specifics in the Equity Indicator questions. For example, if you consider the question "Does your staff/lay leadership receive annual LGBTQ+ inclusion training," and your community took a training two years ago, but not this past year, then that answer would be no. We can then suggest relevant trainings and updated resources to your community.
The Equity Indicator purposefully has a narrow area of focus, and in return, can provide robust training and resources around the specific topics that are measured. Other forms of harm and workplace challenges are extremely important and should be addressed through other modalities.
After you click submit, you will receive an email confirming your submission. Within 4-6 weeks, you will receive a response, complete with your score and some practical recommendations on how you can continue to make strides towards creating a more equitable and inclusive community (and ultimately, a higher score in the future!).
This work will always be ongoing, and we hope to be an ally to you along the way. If you would like to hear more about how you can contract a URJ REDI staff consultant to dig into your results and recommendations with you and your team, please email Aliza Greenberg.
The score will only be sent to the email address indicated on the Equity Indicator form, and it is then up to that individual to share the results with the relevant people in their communities. In addition, the score will be accessible to URJ REDI staff and select key members of the URJ programmatic team. Scores from all communities that participate may be averaged and shared in aggregate with the community at large and/or URJ funders, however, except for the individuals mentioned above, individual scores will never be published to the public and will not be shared with anyone else.
Review this form, gather the information, input data, and click submit! We'll be in touch soon with your score and recommendations.
