GSSW Equity Institute

To give individuals and organizations more pathways to advance diversity, equity, inclusion and justice (DEIJ), Equity Labs has expanded its offerings at the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work.

Equity Labs is a comprehensive consulting, education and upskilling organization focused on creating a more just and equitable world by creating inclusive, equitable workplaces. Through its signature workshops, teams from a single organization engage as a cohort to activate change. Equity Labs also offers consulting services to help organizations transform their infrastructure to center DEIJ.

In fall 2023, Equity Labs introduced its Equity Institute, an opportunity for individuals to engage in DEIJ work. Structured like a course — complete with readings, activities and homework — the institutes are mixed cohorts of up to 25 individuals who meet in virtual weekly sessions over six weeks. Topics span critical reflexivity (an examination of the identities that influence your relationship to the people and world around you), DEIJ literacy and anti-oppression. Participants assess their organization’s products, programs, processes and practices in advancing justice and equity.

“Individuals are conduits for systemic change,” says Equity Labs Executive Director Chenthu Jayton. “The journey starts with an inward look but transitions into acts of interpersonal compassion and resistance and systemic agitation.”

That means, Jayton explains, shaking up the status quo to create more just and equitable outcomes.

Offered in partnership with the University’s Center for Professional Development, Equity Institutes are $600 per person. The closest offering from another university costs $3,600. “We can’t be an organization that stands on values of justice, access and equity and price out the most important people,” says Jayton, who hopes to eventually offer financial aid for the institutes. “We intentionally priced it so those in people-facing roles can afford it.”

Despite the accessible price, the Equity Institute curriculum is every bit as rigorous as the full Equity Labs workshops, Jayton says, noting that the curriculum designers and institute instructors represent a wide range of disciplines to ensure that the program is responsive to virtually any industry participants hail from. Fall institute participants included therapists, University of Denver employees from five departments, City of Denver employees, and employees from the State of Colorado.

“I liked that it was a more advanced space for folx and expanded beyond just reflection and discovery into reflexivity and commitment,” says GSSW Field Education Coordinator Claire Wiley, who completed the institute in the fall. “I brought this up to my team, and we want to find ways to utilize the steps discussed for our own future work.”