Reclaiming the Power of Our Data

Data are powerful tools that affect every part of our lives, especially our health and well-being. Government agencies, private companies, and other institutions gather, control, and use data to inform critical decisions that affect us individually and collectively. Data are used to determine what policies are made, how communities are governed, and where resources are invested.  

Our employment history, home values, and interactions with the criminal legal system are forms of data that are used to make policies and decisions that affect us all. However, these data are largely rooted in racist systems and discriminatory assumptions that perpetuate inequities and negatively impact how well and how long we live.

We don’t just need to improve our data systems — we need to transform them.  

By creating data systems that center principles of anti-racism, equity, justice, and community power, we can create more accurate and more complete data that shifts power and resources to communities that have been marginalized, drives more equitable and just decisions, and ultimately improves community health and well-being.  

To advance this data transformation, the de Beaumont Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) partnered to create Modernized Anti-racist Data Ecosystems (MADE) for Health Justice, an initiative that is confronting data injustice head-on by putting communities at the heart of data.

MADE for Health Justice

MADE for Health Justice is accelerating the creation of local data ecosystems – interconnected groups of people and organizations that are collaborating to create better data for equitable and just decision-making.  

Four cities, known as the MADE Communities, are working to transform their data by creating ecosystems grounded in anti-racism, equity, justice, and community power. They include: 

• Baltimore City, MD, where the data-driven collective impact nonprofit Baltimore’s Promise and its partners are creating a youth-focused data ecosystem that is advancing educational attainment and economic mobility for young people​. 

• Pittsburgh, PA, where the community collaborative known as the Black Equity Coalition and its partners are developing a local data ecosystem that improves housing quality and the built environment in Black neighborhoods throughout the city. 

• Portland, OR, where an alliance of community organizations collectively known as the Coalition of Communities of Color and its partners are advancing climate justice by creating a local data ecosystem that strengthens the resilience of marginalized and frontline communities. 

• Tucson, AZ, where long-time community hub Tucson Indian Center and its partners are building a local data ecosystem that elevates workforce development and employment opportunities for urban American Indians.

In its first year, MADE for Health Justice and the MADE Communities are demonstrating the power of trust, shared values, accountability, and storytelling when it comes to creating community-led data ecosystems that can transform health and well-being.

Building Trust Through Shared Values and Accountability 

In every community, people and institutions have different degrees and types of power. MADE Communities, which include community-based organizations, government agencies, and non-profits, began wrestling with power differences openly and early. Power dynamics are critical to address when working to create a data ecosystem that thrives.  

To bolster their data ecosystems, MADE Communities engaged in crucial discussions of power, values, and shared accountability. They collaborated on a set of Shared Value Statements that govern their data ecosystem and the people who are involved in and will benefit from it. MADE Communities are using these shared values as a springboard for creating Accountability Agreements, or agreements that more powerful partners in each MADE Community are making to advance and sustain the data ecosystem. This encourages communities to build trust, affirm their organizational commitments to one another, and engage in community-centered data governance approaches.

Creating Stories That Compel Us

Storytelling plays a powerful and pivotal role in MADE for Health Justice. Using videos to document their journey, MADE Communities are revealing what it takes to build local data ecosystems that are rooted in anti-racism, equity, justice, and community power. By amplifying the voices of the community members who will benefit from each data ecosystem, MADE Communities are conveying the strength and people power that exist in each of their cities. These include students in Baltimore, neighbors in Pittsburgh, frontline communities in Portland, and job seekers in Tucson. Through storytelling, MADE Communities are also building long-term support that can help sustain their data ecosystems.

Building a Data Justice Movement Together

We need data justice now more than ever, and we must build this movement together. We invite community leaders, advocates, practitioners, policymakers, funders, and all others inspired by our vision for data justice to join us:

• Jump into the journey: Watch these videos to learn more about the work of MADE for Health Justice and the four MADE Communities. 

• Explore expert insights: Check out resources published by MADE Communities and others that explore the intersections of health, data, equity, and justice. 

• Dive into new discoveries: Look out for our forthcoming Stanford Social Innovation Review series, “Transforming Data for Equity and Justice,” which will explore how data equity and data justice can improve our lives and drive long-lasting change.

Transforming our data systems is necessary and possible. Change is already underway, and we can all be a part of it.