Why Equity?

Evanston Cradle to Career believes all children and families must have access to the resources and opportunities they need to thrive and enjoy full, healthy lives.

Equity is good for everyone.

Equity speaks to fairness and requires that systems, policies and decisions are made in ways that allow ALL people to reach their full potential.

Evanston is a great place to live, work, learn, and play. Yet, long-standing inequities and social injustices in Evanston disproportionately affect children and families of color and those from lower-income homes.

Evanston Cradle to Career, which includes many nonprofit, civic, and faith-based organizations in our community, was created specifically to address this inequity. There is a tremendous amount of work to be done and true equity cannot be achieved until we are able to make inroads in tackling the fundamental inequities around poverty, housing, safety, education, and systemic racism that exist in our community.

As the above graphic indicates, equality and equity are different. Inequities arise because of systemic disadvantages, and equity demands that these issues be corrected or removed so that all people have equal opportunities to grow, thrive, and lead fruitful lives.

Evanstonians are known to say that we value diversity. If that is truly the case, we must value the needs, priorities, and contributions of every resident and make sure that the least heard voices are included, and have opportunities to address specific concerns.

To achieve equity in Evanston, EC2C is committed to changing the systems that undermine positive, equitable outcomes for our children and families. We can no longer allow race, place, or socio-economic status to hinder our young people from the best opportunities in life. To this end, we challenge the heads of systems that impact Evanston children and families, including those within the EC2C partnership, to assess and remedy the policies and practices that create disadvantages. Using data, we work to identify key areas of interventions and devise strategies to assess gaps, better coordinate opportunities, and realign programs that respond to the real needs of our youth. We share the belief that when equitable opportunities are in place every child is positioned to succeed —in their classrooms, neighborhoods, families, and into their careers and adult lives.

We all benefit when equity is realized. Every child, every family — the entire community — flourishes.