Map and better understand racial inequity

Location intelligence can help build a more equitable and just world where a person's race or ethnicity does not impact their outcomes. Mapping and GIS can provide insight into patterns of inequality and bring communities together around a common understanding to drive change.

Government

National, state, and local governments can use GIS to understand, address, and eliminate the gaps that create disparities in their jurisdictions.

View government guidance and tools

Nonprofits

Community organizations can use mapping and analysis tools to clearly identify issues, communicate their missions, and show progress.

Businesses

Businesses can use location intelligence to understand when, where, and how they can reduce burdens and create benefits for people of color.

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GIS workflows to achieve racial equity

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Engage communities and partners

Engage communities and partners through storytelling; crowdsourcing; and sharing initiative-focused content that increases awareness, understanding, and collaboration on the topic of racial inequities and efforts toward racial justice.

Multi-ethnic group sitting in a meeting taking notes

Map and analyze inequities

Apply a racial-equity lens through maps and spatial analysis to reveal and understand inequities in experiences and outcomes within your community. Locate populations of concern, identify barriers to equality, and support informed and equitable decision-making.

Person holding a lap top in an office setting
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Operationalize racial-justice best practices

Design and plan equitable allocations of resources, alleviating burdens on communities of color. Enhance the delivery of services for racially equitable outcomes by using maps and spatial analysis and collecting the right location, demographic, and operational data needed to support racial justice.

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Manage performance for racial equity

Manage and analyze the performance of initiatives and services to understand and measure meaningful impact. Leverage decision-making tools to visualize racial inequities at a glance so that you can adapt strategies and operations accordingly.

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Resources

Racial Equity Community Outreach Solution
Local governments can use this solution to communicate progress on racial-equity initiatives to the general public and other stakeholders.
Read about the solution
Police Transparency Solution
Police Transparency Solution can be used to share information and communicate engagement efforts that build trust with the general public and community stakeholders.
Read the article
Racial Equity GIS Hub
Visit the Racial Equity GIS Hub to find relevant data layers, user examples, training, solutions, and other resources to help in your work for racial justice.
Visit the racial equity hub
Relevant data sources
Explore authoritative geospatial data to visualize and analyze population variables such as race and ethnicity, internet access by age and race, race with highest median income, disability status, and more.
Get data

Stories of GIS for equity and social justice

Learn how others are already using GIS and mapping with a racial equity lens to advance social justice.

ArcGIS StoryMaps

GIS for Racial Equity & Justice

Location intelligence can help build a more equitable world. Learn how mapping and GIS can provide insight into patterns of inequality and bring communities together around a common understanding to drive change.

Explore the story

ArcNews

Putting Indigenous Place-Names and Languages Back on Maps

Existing GIS ecosystems need to be designed in ways that support Indigenous data sovereignty and visibility—for the benefit of all.

Read the article

Podcast

Racial Equity: How Technology Can Accelerate Social Justice

Darlene Flynn, community activist and Director of the Department of Race and Equity in Oakland, California, discusses how technology is being used to dismantle racial inequity across organizations.

Listen now

PODCAST

Digital Transformation at One of the World’s Oldest NGOs: YMCA

Maria-Alicia Serrano, senior director of research, analytics and insights for YMCA, explains the power of data and visualization to match programs and services to member needs. Learn how the Y relies on sophisticated mapping and analysis to strategically improve communities.

Listen now

Industry Blog

San Rafael Supports Minority-Owned Businesses with Open Restaurants

The Northern California city of San Rafael created an interactive online map of open restaurants with an added map layer highlighting minority-owned eateries.

Read the story

ArcNews

Better data fosters deeper understanding

Mapping Black California (MBC) supports better understanding, reporting, and visualization data on Black Californians. The initiative combines the advocacy journalism legacy of the Black press and the data visualization capabilities of geospatial technology to enhance community news and storytelling.

Read the article

ArcNews

GIS—Visualizing Racial Equity

Understanding racial inequities and injustices can be complex and difficult to visualize. GIS is a technology that, at its fundamental level, can break down complexities and reveal patterns over space and time, which can go a long way toward guiding action.

Read the article

ArcNews

People and Places, Not Points and Lines

GIS is being used to examine and explore the issues of redlining, historic zoning codes, Federal Housing Administration policies and more.

Read the article
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GeoNet

Join others in the GIS for Equity and Social Justice community on GeoNet to connect, collaborate, and share best practices on these topics. Ask questions or share your expertise.

Join the conversation

Get GIS help from Esri to address inequity

For urgent GIS help responding to racial inequity, request support from Esri's Disaster Response Program.

Request response assistance

Esri Nonprofit Organization Program

The nonprofit program provides access to the tools you need to bring location intelligence to your organization.

Request help for nonprofits

Contact us to get started