The Racial Equity Anchor Collaborative is composed of nine national racial justice organizations: Advancement Project, Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum, Demos, Faith in Action, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, National Congress of American Indians, National Urban League, Race Forward, and UnidosUS . In 2016, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation asked the Collaborative to design, develop, and implement an initiative to create and strengthen cross-racial collaboration to advance racial equity locally and nationally. The Collaborative with UnidosUS as its fiscal agent, sought to 1) fund and conduct research on the beliefs, challenges, and behaviors of people of color to develop, test, and disseminate multiracial messaging to encourage increased civic participation; 2) use research findings to inform cross-racial efforts to increase civic participation of people of color and to build cross-racial partnerships and networks; and, 3) use cross-racial partnerships and networks to advocate locally and nationally for policies that advance racial equity.
Community Science worked with Collaborative on a process and outcome evaluation of the initiative’s use of tailored, activating messages; data-driven civic engagement; and policy advocacy. Findings showed that the Collaborative increased voter registration and mobilization in cities across six states (Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, Michigan, Minneapolis, and Nevada) and 2020 census participation in cities in Florida and Michigan. Relationships among the nine partners also improved such that they were able to leverage one another’s strengths to advance their respective and collective social justice agendas. Evaluation activities include 1) in-depth document review; 2) systematic analysis of existing primary quantitative data, including social media analytics and UnidosUS reported outreach and voter registration data; 3) review of secondary voter registration and participation data; and 4) one-on-one in-depth interviews with staff and local partners of the nine organizations.
UnidosUS is a non-profit that advocates for Latinos in the areas of civic engagement, civil rights and immigration, education, workforce and the economy, health, and housing.