Incorporating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in a Cross-Sector Postsecondary Attainment Agenda

This Issue Brief focuses on the second CPA pillar – Equity. In this Brief, we discuss how CPA communities have interpreted this pillar, describe how they have applied this principle to influence their partnership and attainment efforts, and discuss what other communities, funders, educators, and community-change stakeholders can learn from their experiences. We draw from data collected through interviews with representatives from all 75 communities shortly after receiving CPA funding, visits to 14 communities, and followup interviews with 10 communities focused specifically on the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion.We conclude the Brief with recommendations about how to deepen the conversation about the diversity, equity, and inclusion imperative in postsecondary, community, and systems change efforts.It is worth noting that when the CPA investment launched, Lumina Foundation was in the process of articulating its own stance on equity, and had not yet released the Equity Imperative, which outlines the Foundation's position on "equity and excellence" in educational attainment. Given the timing of the CPA investment and the forthcoming release of the Equity Imperative, communities began to interpret and internalize the pillar of equity in ways that were most fitting for their respective contexts