Epiphanies of Equity
Epiphanies of Equity (EOE) is a social equity consulting, education, and research group in Seattle, Washington. We focus on transformative, intersectional, and taproot solutions for organizations, businesses, and governments looking to increase their progress and success in achieving their social equity mission and goals.
EOE was established in February 2018. Since then, we’ve shared space with over 250 clients
Epiphanies of Equity uses philosophies of change management and leadership, social and organizational psychology, community accountability and rapport-building through resolution and repair, and backward mapping approaches in policy and cultural assessments.
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What is Our Approach?
Photo Description: ChrisTiana standing on stage in a striped blouse reading from a tablet. Their name is projected on the wall behind them.
Social Equity can be understood as the work towards achieving and sustaining societal equity and progress. For this purpose, we focus on the humans who would be designing, implementing, interpreting, and experiencing as the core variable and animating factor of any initiative, policy, goal, or mission – No matter how objective or qualitative it may be.
Epiphanies of Equity’s foundation within social psychology, social construct theory, and change management principles establish our framework and approach to recognize, resolve, and repair all threats and violations of social equity. This includes explicit shows of bias, discrimination, rapport breakdown, inequitable impact, and implicit, unconscious, and unintentional origins of inequity. We work towards pathways of forward progress and deep-rooted resolution by acknowledging humans' infinitely unique and complex nature and facilitating empathetically direct and celebratory journeys from “well-intentioned to well-aware.”
Epiphanies of Equity embrace humans' multi-dimensional, non-linear, complicated, and ever-changing nature when working in the community with each other towards shared goals. We joyfully apply a multi-faceted and intersectional lens that weaves together the shared goals of every member of the community – whether it be a team, department, organization, municipality, or more – into a tapestry of approaches, strategies, tactics, and solutions that provide multiple pathways toward shared goals.
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EOE Core Values
Epiphanies of Equity’s core values begin with adopting the Ten Principles of Disability Justice (Sins Invalid, 2015). The Ten Principles[1], as defined by Sins Invalid and their Executive Director Patty Berne, are:
Intersectionality: “We are many things, and they all impact us… Depending on context, we all have areas where we experience privilege, as well as areas of oppression.”
Leadership of Those Most Impacted: “Lifting up, listening to, reading, following, and highlighting the perspectives of those who are impacted by the systems we fight against. [To] …Keep ourselves grounded in real-world problems and find creative strategies for resistance.”
Anti-Capitalist Politics: “Our worth is not depended on what and how much we can produce.”
Cross-Movement Solidarity: “Disability Justice can only grow into its potential as a movement by aligning itself with racial justice, reproductive justice, queer and trans liberation, prison abolition, environmental justice, anti-police terror, Deaf activism, fat liberation, and other movements working for justice and liberation.”
Recognizing Wholeness: “Each person has an internal experience composed of our own thoughts, sensations, emotions, sexual fantasies, perceptions, and quirks. Disabled people are whole people.
Sustainability: “We value the teachings of our bodies and experiences and use them as a critical guide and reference point to help us move away from urgency and into a deep, slow, transformative, unstoppable wave of justice and collective liberation.”
Commitment to Cross-Disability Solidarity: “We value and honor the insights and participation of all of our community members, even and especially those who are most often left out of political conversations.
Interdependence: “We see the liberation of all living systems and the land as integral to the liberation of our own communities, as we all share one planet.”
Collective Access: “As Black, and brown and queer crips, we bring flexibility and creative nuance to our engagement with each other. We create and explore ways of doing things that go beyond able-bodied and neurotypical norms.
Collective Liberation: “We move together as people with mixed abilities, multi-racial, multi-gender, mixed class, across the sexual spectrum, with a vision that leaves no bodymind behind.”
Epiphanies of Equity’s foundation within social psychology, social construct theory, and change management principles establish our framework and approach to recognize, resolve, and repair all threats and violations of social equity. This includes explicit shows of bias, discrimination, rapport breakdown, inequitable impact, and implicit, unconscious, and unintentional origins of inequity. We work towards pathways of forward progress and deep-rooted resolution by acknowledging humans' infinitely unique and complex nature and facilitating empathetically direct and celebratory journeys from “well-intentioned to well-aware.”
[1] Information retrieved from: tinyurl.com/DJ10Principles
Overview of Services
Organizational Development Through an Equitable Lens
Epiphanies of Equity’s organizational development toolkit lens a variety of approaches towards social equity and transformative community impact.
Our consultants can support clients who need a quick temperature check or policy review to multi-year change management support and guidance.
Photo Description: ChrisTiana ObeySumner standing next to a podium. The podium has a sign that says, “Leading HR Forward, WA State SHRM
Offerings include, but are not limited to:
Comprehensive Organizational Assessments
Organizational Culture Assessments
Social Equity/ DEI Assessments
Policy/ Document Audits
Strategic Planning and Roadmapping
Conflict Resolution and Community Accountability
Qualitative and Multi-Goal Policy Analysis
Community/ Stakeholder Engagement
Executive coaching
Facilitation & caucusing
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Training and Professional Development
We are available for trainings of all sizes, types, and locations! We are able to hold virtual trainings and webinars for up to 500 participants, facilitate professional development opportunities for organizations, teams, departments, and community groups, and customize training series for a length of time or for licensing.
Among our consultant team, we hold a rich array of subject matter expertise. You can read more about EOE’s staff and background on our Meet the Team page.
Some current training and professional development topics include:
Image Description: ChrisTiana giving lecture at MIT. ChrisTiana is standing behind a podium. An ASL interpreter signs beside them
Frameworks and Approaches
Disability Rights, Accessibility, and Disability Justice
Antiracism and Racial Equity
Social Equity 101
Intersectionality and Recognizing the Whole Person
LGBTQIA+ Inclusion, Gender Identity/ Expression, Sexual Orientation
DEI 101 vs Social Equity
Racialized Ableism
Organizational Development
Cultural Humility & Allyship
The PsychoSocial Basis of Equity and Change Barriers
Embedding Equity into Organizational Cultures and Structures
Power-With vs Power-Over (for Executive Leadership and Boards)
Generative Conflict and Community Accountability
Ways to Deconstruct and Debias
Strategies, Tools, and Equitable Policymaking
Equity and Liberatory Strategies for Policy Change
Participatory Action Research and other Liberatory Community Engagement Strategies
Change Management Planning and Strategies for Transformative Change
Accessible and Effective Change Leadership in Systems and Structures
Transformative Targeted Universalism