As diversity and equity mandates are clawed back in the U.S., a Victoria-based company is working with the City of Los Angeles to help equip public servants with a new tool to help embed fairness into the design of city services.
Victoria innovation firm Tidal Equality has developed the Equity Sequence framework, a program that is designed to surface unmet needs, uncover hidden barriers and amplify underrepresented voices in the workplace.
The program offers anti-bias training and certification, and also provides users access to Equity Sequence resources to help organize and synthesize analyses, capture ideas for equitable innovation, and set achievable goals, timelines, and accountability.
“The City of Los Angeles was eager to bring the Equity Sequence to our employees as we looked to forge more equitable ways of serving our constituents. What we found to be profound about Tidal Equality's Equity Sequence was its universal applicability to all jobs in L.A.,” said Jamie Kim, L.A.'s chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer, in a news release. “As cities look to continuously do more in a way that's better and more efficient, Equity Sequence is a valuable investment to empower a city's workforce to pursue innovation and equity to realize any municipality's goals.”
In 2023, L.A.’s Office of Workplace Equity piloted the Equity Sequence with 150 city employees across departments ranging from airports to zoos, which they say generated dozens of equitable innovations. This month, the city expanded the program to more than 80 additional employees in citizen-facing roles, and made
Equity Sequence certification available to another 150 staff.
Kristen Liesch, co-CEO of Tidal Equality, said she sees this as a model for governments looking to reduce polarization and deliver more effective services.
“Fairness doesn’t have to be divisive,” she said in the release. “We’re not asking people to adopt a new ideology — we’re equipping them to ask better questions so they can deliver smarter, fairer services for everyone."
