Who is the Equity in Data Community of Practice?
We are a group of data users in Connecticut (mostly) who are supporting one another as we work toward integrating more equitable data practices. We focus on racial equity explicitly but not exclusively. Our group is a project of the CTData Collaborative.
Members of our group serve in many kinds of roles related to data, including data analysts, evaluators, or researchers, to data coordinators and GIS analysts, to program managers, case managers, and administrative staff.
Our common thread is that we are each involved in data in some capacity, and we each know the importance of integrating equitable practices into that work.
Why did we form?
At CTData, we have been looking for ways to support a data community of practice. We started this group as an informal lunch discussion in order to understand the interest in this topic of equity and ethics in data. There was a great deal of interest, and so we decided to move forward in developing a community of practice. Beginning in June 2020, our group started meeting monthly to talk about how we could improve our equity in data practice.
What is a community of practice? The term is a modern description of an old idea. Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Traynor, the leading researchers of the concept, define it as "a group of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do, and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly."
Our goal is to become a group that can contribute to a more equitable data culture in Connecticut (or wherever else our members may be located).
While our culture views data as cold and factual, those of us who work in data know that human decision-making is involved in every step of the data process. That means our own perspectives, ideas, and biases inevitably influence the process. In the areas where we don't recognize these blinders we or our institution has, then we will inadvertently, unintentionally cause more harm than good with our data work. We are working together to remove these blinders and identify ways to proactively integrate equitable data practices into our data work.
When do we meet? What should I expect?
We meet on the third Tuesday of each month from 11:30am - 1:00pm ET via Zoom. We do require a simple registration, which you can find on our Event Calendar.
Session topics are lead by the interest of our community members. Every session, there is a short survey that asks what people would like to learn about/discuss in the future. These ideas are then crafted into community conversations, we invite guests to speak about topics within their expertise, or we share how we have approached building equity into our work.
Format: Our monthly sessions are interactive, and everyone contributes to the discussion in some way (sometimes via the chat box).
How can I get involved?
Join us at our next session! Register by going to the CTData Event Calendar.
Actively participate. Most sessions are interactive and conversational. While not required, we appreciate when attendees engage in activities and share their experiences with the group. We invite everyone to turn on their cameras because it is easier to talk with those we can see the faces of, but completely understand if that is not available or comfortable for you.
Blog Posts About Our Sessions
In July, we held a session discussing data visualization design principles centered around equity and accessibility. We explored how our design decisions for data visualizations could potentially exclude parts of our audiences, shaping who can gain insights from the data and who isn't. We also examined what accessibility means, best practices for inclusive design, and heard from several CTData staff members who have made adjustments to their own work.
Our June Community of Practice session was centered around the AISP Toolkit for Centering Racial Equity Throughout Data Integration. We explored how decisions throughout data work, from project design to credit attribution, can either advance equity or reinforce harm.
Our May Community of Practice session focused on evaluating generative AI tools with a risk-aware lens, highlighting key considerations like data handling, model transparency, and ethical safeguards. We also took a look at some practical checklists and evaluation rubrics to help guide responsible AI use in the workplace.
When designing surveys that include LGBTQ+ demographic questions, how do we balance the need for data with respect for privacy and identity? Our March Equity in Data Community of Practice session tackled this challenge by examining real-world examples and developing inclusive, transparent, and trustworthy data collection guidelines.
In January 2025, we held a Community of Practice session focused on the Race and Ethnicity Coding Improvement Project. The Census survey includes a write-in response option under race categories, and to better capture how people racially and ethnically self-identify, the Census Bureau is seeking feedback on its Race and Ethnicity Coding List. Submissions are due by February 18th. These changes will directly impact our understanding of community demographics in Connecticut, ensuring the data reflects the state's rich diversity.
In March, the Equity in Data Community of Practice learned about how to responsibly utilize census data to explore race and ethnicity. We heard from CTData’s own Cynthia Willner (Senior Research Associate) and Jason Cheung (Senior Data Analyst) who shared how race and ethnicity data is collected and how we can use it appropriately in our work. Watch the video of the session in this post.
Our first Equity in Data Community of Practice of 2024 was held on Tuesday, January 16th. We were joined by Mica Knox, from the COMPASS Youth Collaborative, who shared the COMPASS data team’s experience developing effective and accessible dashboards. During this session, we discussed
how to determine what should be included in a dashboard,
how to gain buy-in from staff to ensure its use, and
how COMPASS staff are using it in their planning and decision-making processes.
Our first Equity in Data Community of Practice of 2024 was held on Tuesday, January 16th. We were joined by Mica Knox, from the COMPASS Youth Collaborative, who shared the COMPASS data team’s experience developing effective and accessible dashboards. During this session, we discussed
how to determine what should be included in a dashboard,
how to gain buy-in from staff to ensure its use, and
how COMPASS staff are using it in their planning and decision-making processes.
Each month, the Equity in Data Community of Practice meets to talk about a topic that the group has indicated is of interest to their work. Through our survey results, we know that people are eager to hear from real professionals who are actively integrating equitable principles into their everyday data work. During this session, CTData staff members share their real-world experiences, insights, and actionable strategies for weaving ethical considerations and equity into their everyday data work. Participants had the chance to talk together about what they are doing to integrate equity - to learn from one another and share lessons for the benefit of others.
This past summer the Equity in Data Community of Practice met to learn from the Census Bureau about how to access granular data on nationality, county of origin, and more. Many people turn to data.census.gov for data on the “standard” race and ethnicity categories. But these categories never accurately represented people from different racial groups, and this is becoming more true as the US becomes more diverse. During this meeting, Kanin Reese from the Center for Enterprise Dissemination at the Census Bureau demonstrated how we can utilize the Census Bureau’s Microdata Tool to find data about people living in our state from specific countries of origin, nationalities, languages, ethnicities, and more.
At CTData Conference 2022, Eva Liu and Steve Gates from Chicago Beyond joined us to talk about the seven inequities standing in the way of impact from the guidebook, Why am I Always Being Researched.
Do you have data that contains geographic information (town, zip code, etc.) that you have never put onto a map? What is hiding in there?
Data users - we are gearing up for the last quarter of 2022 with the Equity in Data Community of Practice! We have all learned a great deal together so far in 2022, and the planning team has come up with an exciting fall lineup.
If you are unfamiliar with Equity In Data Community Of Practice, we are a group of data users in Connecticut (mostly) supporting one another as we work toward integrating more equitable data practices. We focus on racial equity explicitly but not exclusively. Our group is a project of the Connecticut Data Collaborative.
This article, about a group of Trinity College students that took an 87-page legal document and turned it into easy-to-read graphics that the people most affected by this agreement might be able to understand and interact with, caught the attention of many. For our June session, we had guests who supported this intriguing data work talk with us about the process they used and what they learned. We hope you find this 60 minute discussion and presentation as useful as we did. And if you’d like to learn more, we hope you’ll join us at next month’s session of the Equity in Data Community of Practice.
Last month, over 40 data users joined together to learn from real-life examples of equitable data practice. We heard from four group members who have attended many of the sessions we have run in the last two years. The discussion was rich, here are some of the highlights.
In our Equity in Data Community of Practice, which has met almost monthly since June 2020, the topic of equitable and ethical demographic data collection (race and ethnicity, gender, ability, etc.) is one that we talk about often. It is a challenging issue for many of us. Last year, Jasmine Johnson, Program Associate for Evaluation and Learning at The Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies and co-author of the report More Than Numbers Resource: A Guide Towards Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, joined us to share the lessons they learned about improving demographic data collection. You can watch the video of the presentation and read more here!
The Equity in Data Community of Practice ended the year on a high note. Our final session on December 21, 2021, was filled with lively discussion, interesting ideas, and data nerds!
We discussed our key takeaways from our previous session, the Do No Harm with Data Viz session of the CTData Conference 2021 and talked about what we’d like to do as a group in 2022.
CTData hosts a monthly gathering of Connecticut data users, the Equity in Data Community of Practice, who are supporting one another to identify ways we can practically integrate equitable practices into our data work. This group hosted an engaging presentation by Alice Feng and Jon Schwabish, co-authors of the report, Do No Harm with Data: Applying Equity Awareness in Data Visualization. You can watch the video, read the brief highlights, and access the links that were shared during the session in this post.
On September 21, 2021 the Connecticut Equity in Data Community of Practice talked about the new CT statute that will standardize the collection of race, ethnicity, and language data across state agencies. This change will have implications for reporting by non-profits and for using state data.
On June 10, 2020, a data community of practice met virtually. This group is made up of Connecticut data creators and users. We gathered to talk about equity and ethics in our data work, especially amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.