Bridging Equity Values and Organizational Implementation: Insights from Public Management, Contracting, and Nonprofit Organizations

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

As equity becomes increasingly central to public administration and nonprofit practice, scholars are investigating the interpersonal, organizational, and sociocultural dynamics that shape its translation from value to practice. This panel brings together three complementary frameworks that interrogate how equity is operationalized within community-based development organizations (CBDOs), public-private service networks, and public sector DEI initiatives. Together, they illustrate a shared concern with the structural and normative forces that mediate the implementation of equity, particularly in contexts marked by racialized histories and power asymmetries.

Dr. Wright investigates the internal governance structures of CBDOs to assess how racial alignment—or mismatch—across organizational tiers (board, executive leadership, senior staff, and frontline staff) influences the adoption of racial equity strategies. Drawing on racialized organizational theory and representative bureaucracy, the study finds that alignment in racial representation enhances the institutionalization of equity strategies, whereas fragmentation hampers reform efforts, underscoring the importance of internal representational dynamics in advancing equity agendas.

Doctoral student Elizabeth Tong turns to the “hollow state” to explore how equity values are interpreted and implemented by nonprofit and government contractors in a workforce and housing initiative. Through rich qualitative data—including interviews, observations, and document analysis—the study identifies how organizational form, frontline staff characteristics, and contract complexity moderate the translation of equity goals into program design and implementations.

Dr. Jurcevic offers a theoretical interrogation of how Whiteness—conceived as a dominant social and institutional force—constrains DEI implementation in public organizations. The paper proposes a four-factor framework explaining how DEI initiatives, even when well-intentioned, may be co-opted by or structured within norms that uphold White dominance. It calls for a critical re-examination of the context in which DEI efforts unfold and urges public sector leaders to consider how systemic Whiteness may undermine genuine equity transformation.

Dr. Hall serves as a discussant for this panel. Dr. Hall is a respected scholar with a robust record of conducting policy interventions that center anti-racist and racial justice lenses.  She has served in both academic and government agencies at the local, state, and federal level – including having served as a Fellow on the White House Social and Behavioral Sciences Team and the Federal Office of Evaluation Sciences at the General Services Administration. Her recent work - Anti-racist by Design - prioritizes the intentiona limplementaiton of social science principles to provide actionable tools for implementing racial jusitce values. Dr. Hall is well positioned to serve as a discussant on these presentations. 

Collectively, these lines of scholarship reveal that equity implementation is not merely a technical challenge but a deeply political and social process shaped by internal representational structures, inter-organizational dynamics, and normative racialized frameworks. The panel advances the field by bridging empirical, applied, and theoretical perspectives and highlighting pathways for more effective and just institutional change.

Policy Area

• Social Equity and Race

Secondary Policy Area

• Public and Nonprofit Management and Finance

Chair

• Crystal C Hall, University of Washington

Discussant

• Crystal C Hall, University of Washington

Organizer

• Ines Jurcevic, University of Washington

Individual Presentations

• Racial Alignment and the Practice of Equity: Examining Internal Governance in Community-Based Development Organizations - Presenting Author: Nathaniel Wright

• How Organizational Implementation of Equity Values Shapes Participant Experiences - Presenting Author: Elizabeth Tong, University of Washington; Non-Presenting Co-Author: Yulan Kim, University of Washington; Non-Presenting Co-Author: Julia Karon, University of Washington; Non-Presenting Co-Author: Rachel Fyall, University of Washington

• Reifying Whiteness? Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Implementation Efforts in Public Management - Presenting Author: Ines Jurcevic, University of Washington

• Balancing Racial Equity & Compliance: A Literature Review of Race-Conscious versus Race-Neutral Policy Approaches and Organizational Impacts - Presenting Author: Julio Jesus Mena Bernal, The University of Texas at Austin