California Air Resources Board (CARB) Racial Equity Inventory

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Over the next three years, the Institute for Social Transformation is partnering with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and USC’s Equity Research Institute to improve how environmental justice and racial equity are incorporated into the agency’s efforts to fight air pollution. A community advisory group will enhance our team’s approach to inventory programs, identify barriers, and provide an action plan to better protect California communities of color that face the worst air quality challenges.

On October 22, 2020, CARB adopted  Resolution 20-33, establishing an explicit commitment to advance racial equity and social justice measures in all CARB actions. This directive guides much of CARB’s racial equity work. It also supports CARB’s efforts to address Governor Newsom’s Executive Order N-16-22, which requires state entities to embed racial equity strategies in their work, in part by developing or updating strategic plans to promote equity and respond to identified disparities. As described in CARB’s Racial Equity Framework and Model for Change, a crucial element of CARB’s racial equity work is identifying, developing, and using data to drive organizational change.  

To help fulfill this commitment, CARB has partnered with scholars at the UC Santa Cruz Institute for Social Transformation—led by Institute Faculty Fellow J. Mijin Cha—as well as with the University of Southern California’s Equity Research Institute to conduct a racial equity Inventory.   

The Racial Equity Inventory will have the following four phases over the next few years (2025-2027):  

1. Gather data, research, and design a methodology to measure CARB actions on racial equity and environmental justice.  
2. Implement a pilot with selected CARB division(s); then analyze and refine the methodology.  
3. Implement and analyze an CARB wide inventory with actionable recommendations.  
4. Share information and build staff capacity on strategies to embed racial equity and environmental justice.  

This process aims to meaningfully incorporate community perspectives. So, Institute for Social Transformation scholars (in collaboration with CARB staff) are convening a Community Partner Workgroup—comprised of community leaders and racial equity and environmental justice experts—to help design the methodologies used for conducting the Racial Equity Inventory and provide feedback on final Racial Equity Inventory report to inform CARB’s future work. 

Preliminary results after pilot implementation concludes will be shared publicly. A public final Racial Equity Inventory report will also be made available at the end.  

Campus + Community helps to support this project.

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CARB Racial Equity Inventory Community Partner Workgroup Members

• Daniel Ress, Senior Attorney at the Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment (Kern County)
• Angel S. Fernandez-Bou, Senior Climate Scientist at Union of Concerned Scientists and President of the Board of Socio Environmental and Education Network (Merced County)
• Nile Malloy, Climate Justice Director at Climate Justice Director at California Environmental Justice Alliance (San Diego County)
• Lea Murray, Executive Director at Collaborising (Contra Costa County)
• Mariela (Mary) Nambo-Ramirez, Environmental Justice Project Manager at Madera Coalition for Community Justice (Madera County)
• Sergio Ojeda, Lead Artist/Communications Strategist at Imperial Valley Equity and Justice Coalition (Imperial County)
• Eloy Ortiz, Special Projects Manager at Regeneracion Pajaro Valley (Monterey/Santa Cruz County)
• Alejandro Pulido, Growing Futures Manager at 4th Second (Solano County)
• Jesse Ramirez, Director of Urban Planning at City Heights CDC (San Diego County)