Webinar: Advancing Equity Through Better Data Standards

A strong knowledge base is vital to any effort to build broadly and equitably shared prosperity through policy. Disaggregating data – collecting and presenting data for population subgroups by characteristics such as race and ethnicity, gender including gender identity, and sexual orientation – arms policymakers and advocates with the information they need to build opportunity, break down barriers, and advance justice. Current data disaggregation practices are far from perfect, but exciting efforts are underway at the state and federal levels to move data equity forward.

This webinar, held July 19, 2024, focuses on work within the federal government and among local Maryland health agencies and advocates to build data systems that work for all of us.

Speakers:

Meeta Anand (she/her), senior program director of census and data equity at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, discusses recently updated federal standards governing data on race and ethnicity and their implications for equity-forward policy in Maryland and nationwide.

Caroline Medina (they/them), director of policy at the Whitman-Walker Institute, discusses work at the U.S. Census Bureau to enhance responsible data collection on sexual orientation and gender identity, which has historically been extremely limited.

Summer McClellan (she/her), Mental Health Workgroup Coordinator at the Coalition for a Healthier Frederick County, discusses the significance and impact of data disaggregation for addressing and reducing health disparities, as well as the progress and advocacy of the Maryland State Data Disaggregation Action Network Workgroup.

This event was made possible by an award provided by The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights Education Fund. All opinions expressed are those of the speakers and their respective organizations.