"First, I believe it's essential that everyone understands the difference between equity and equality. From my understanding, equity is our approach to reaching the end goal of equality. Equity means providing equal opportunity and equal access to everyone, no matter their situation. If I were to discover an equity problem in the workplace, I would start by researching which groups felt impacted and what was causing the impact. Then, I would request that my employer create measurable initiatives and a time-based action plan with specific change-focused targets and goals. For instance, in my current position, I heard from an employee that their family did not receive equal treatment regarding company health insurance benefits. I came to find that our spousal health insurance benefits did not mention same-sex partners. I immediately contacted our HR department, who put the wheels in motion to change the language attached to our benefits plan. Although the conflict might feel uncomfortable, I believe it's every employee's responsibility to ensure that the company they work for is highly conscious about equity in policies, procedures, and workflows so that everyone can benefit from an environment that truly supports equality."
