One of the things we've seen at some of our client organizations as well as the communities we are part of, well-intentioned progress towards making decisions that are grounded in equity fall short when there is a continued reliance on top-down hierarchies, paternalism and lack of transparency that still doesn't include those most impacted.
What often ends up happening is that you end up with even more people not feeling heard.
Those who are aligned with power and privilege feel confused and threatened because a different kind of decision making is taking place that doesn't center them, but has not been explained - this often weaponizes equity as the reason no one gets what they need.
And those whose needs are supposedly being prioritized don't experience it that way either, because they weren't given a voice in the process, and they have no reason to trust that their needs are being considered at all.
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