Equity & Human Services

The National Assembly is committed to fostering a culture of meaningful equity and inclusion in the human service sector. We are unique in our ability to inspire and represent services that work across populations, issues, and geographic locales. Our work in equity reflects this unique role and aims to strengthen the sector and move toward the systems changes required to build well-being across our communities.

Further, the National Assembly advocates for social equity of all types. Our goal is to establish the building blocks for initiatives for nonprofit excellence in equity measured in terms of race, gender, sexual orientation, or empowerment of older adults and persons with disabilities. A growing evidence base suggests that greater equity leads to more effective organizations, is a positive investment for businesses, and can spur economic growth.

The ultimate output will be a replicable and scalable set of best practices for human service organizations to address the structural problems surrounding equity and social equality. The example set by the leading organizations in our sector will incentivize other organizations to follow suit. Increasing equity throughout the sector will itself hone the programs human services deliver and, in turn, influence policy and funding.

The National Assembly is proud of an ongoing equity partnership with the National Alliance for Hispanic Health, an organization with a proud 47-year history of delivering front-line health and human services annually to over 15 million in underserved communities. Included in this partnership, the Alliance is providing leadership support and hosting National Assembly’s new national headquarters at the Alliance’s historic headquarters building in Washington, D.C.

Additionally, the National Assembly is a member of the advisory committee of Equity in the Center’s movement to “create a more diverse and equitable talent pipeline so that all people in the US have equal access to opportunities.” In 2016, the National Assembly informally partnered with members to explore the role human service organizations can play in increasing well-being for boys and men of color in the U.S. Our thought leadership report laid the groundwork for the proposed partnerships to expand the National Assembly’s role on issues of organizational equity as a whole. We have also formed a Diversity Equity and Inclusion board task force to determine next steps both internally and externally.

Below are some additional resources on Race, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (REDI) efforts throughout the sector.