What it looks like when organizations commit to fostering equity
case studies
a snapshot of improvements from 2021 - 2023
57 → 81% of staff rated the organization favorably on equity
58 → 74% were satisfied with how decisions were made
49 → 66% said people are treated fairly and rose every year
Year three was not a clean climb. Voice fell from 87% to 81%, finishing below where it started. Culture and connectedness slipped from 86% to 81%. Opportunities and resources drifted down two points.
But it's important to note that this kind of disorientation that shows up whenever change is taking hold. What mattered here was how leadership responded to it. Transitions were treated as continuity to protect rather than a chance to start over, and no single uncomfortable year was read as a verdict on the whole process. Resistance is to be expected. Having structures in place, and leadership courageous enough to stay close to the work and to their team's needs, is what keeps those structures intact.
Environmental Incentives shows how this work unfolds when an organization stays with the process. They worked with August for three years, including ongoing leadership coaching, and were on track to renew when the 2025 executive orders disrupted their government contracts and their ability to retain staff.
What's still in progress
By the third survey, equity, decision-making, fairness and diversity all sat above where they started, and belonging held at 85%. In the open comments, one person wrote that they had never worked at an organization so committed to inclusivity, respect and purposeful development. Several named leadership's willingness to admit mistakes and try again as the reason they stayed.
BY THE END OF THE ENGAGEMENT
Equity rose 24 points in the first year and held there. Decision-making rose 16 and held. Fairness climbed every year, 49% to 59% to 66%. Diversity climbed every year, 46% to 50% to 56%. Working conditions dipped in the second year and closed above where they began. The survey drew 59 responses in year one and 110 in year three.
Executive leadership remained directly engaged throughout, which is one of the clearest predictors of whether a culture shift takes hold.
The work itself was built as a time-bound workgroup rather than resting with a small, fixed group of passionate staff. A portion of alumni members stayed on each cycle to carry institutional knowledge, new members were onboarded as they completed the appropriate training, and serving on the workgroup was factored into performance reviews. That last piece made clear this was everyone's responsibility rather than a volunteer project a few people carried on top of their real jobs.
The first assessment put equity at 57% favorable, decision-making at 58%, fairness at 49%, and diversity at 46%.
Fifty-nine people responded.
Staff comments were specific. Some roles required a credential taught at only a couple of colleges, which shrank the applicant pool before anyone applied. People could see the path to promotion but not the openings. Decisions often reached the people affected too late for them to have a say.
What changed
The work
Where they started
The results of a three year engagement
Case study 1 | Environmental Incentives
Bonnie Halvorsen | formerly at Learn-Earn-Grow MKE
Even when the tension is thick and the stakes are high, I always feel more confident when August is on my side.
What ACE built lives in the organization rather than in any one person or group of volunteers. ACE created a committee to outlast the task force; the recommendations were written into a plan to run for five years; and the work has somewhere to live and people answerable for it. That's how true change is implemented.
why this will stick
The roadmap they created put a plan into place. They committed to a diversity-hire scorecard updated quarterly, and relationships with five predominantly underrepresented community-serving institutions.
Recruitment widened to community colleges, certificate programs, and people who never pursued a degree. Education requirements came out of job descriptions that didn't need them. And policies and language are under annual review.
The Culture GPS Working Group brought together seven staff from different divisions, departments, and job functions. August co-led it as external diversity consultant alongside ACE's Chief Culture Officer.
The group worked from the ACE-wide Culture Assessment and set up three subcommittees to collect more from staff directly, then brought a list of recommendations back to leadership.
When ACE engaged Cream City Conservation, its aim was to be the first pick for the agencies who funded it, the members who joined them, and the people who worked there. However, its own culture assessment showed the distance between the experience they wanted their employees to have, and the existing workplace culture.
ACE's Executive Leadership Team created a task force to turn its culture assessment into something the organization would act on.
They understood that without a plan, the risk was a lack of follow through.
What changed
The work
Where they started
WHAT THE ENGAGEMENT PUT IN PLACE
- A diversity-hire scorecard, updated quarterly
- Relationships with five community-serving institutions
- Recommendations written into a five-year strategic plan
ACE ran an organization-wide culture assessment, made the task force that reviewed it a permanent committee, and wrote its recommendations into the five-year strategic plan.