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Scaffolding conscientization to mitigate inequities in organizational design

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Scaffolding conscientization to mitigate inequities in organizational design

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Content 1
Scaffolding Conscientization to Mitigate
Inequities in Organizational Design
Capstone Project
By
Everette W. Hill
Doctoral Candidate
University of Southern California
Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work
Doctor of Social Work Program
Dr. Renee Smith-Maddox
May 2023
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Acknowledgements

I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to the individuals who have
contributed to the completion of this Capstone Project.

First, I would like to thank my loving wife Dawn and children-Kaihua, Sierra and Sage-for their
unwavering support throughout this journey. Their encouragement, patience, and understanding
have been essential in allowing me to pursue my academic goals.

I would also like to thank my mom-Marjorie Hill-Buckland and my siblings-Leon, Tiffany and
Marianne-for their belief in me, support, and inspiration. Their belief in me has been a source of
motivation during challenging times.

I am immensely grateful to my colleagues, Ona Porter, Kara Bobroff, Mike Puelle for inspiring
and endorsing me for this opportunity. And members of Cohort 14, who have been invaluable in
shaping my understanding and approaches to macro-social work with unyielding support to see
us all be successful.

To members of the Enchanted Circle of Smoke (ECoS)-Patch, Wayo, and Webbster-who have
helped shape my thinking, strategic development in matters of equity and justice, and greatly
expanded my library of source and reference material.

Special thanks are due to my External Design Partner, Dr. Virginia Necochea, for her guidance,
and unwavering commitment to my project success. Her insightful comments and feedback have
been instrumental in helping me develop and test this work. I would also like to thank Chris
Sylvan, my Saturday breakfast partner, and Antonio L. Maestas, for their thought-partnering,
ideas-testing, piloting process and general encouragement.

Finally, I want to express my appreciation to all the practitioners who provided their
encouragement, critiques, input, and expertise. Without their generosity and willingness to be
vulnerable, share their insights and experiences, this dissertation would not have been possible. I
am grateful for their contributions, which have enriched my understanding of the issues I have
explored in this work.

-everette-

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Table of Contents
I. Abstract…………………………………………………………………......4
II. Introduction………………………………………………………………....5
III. Problems of Practice and Literature Review…………………………..........8
IV. Conceptual Framework………………………………………………….…13
V. Project Description…………………………………………………….......18
VI. Project Structure, Methodology, Testing/Piloting…………………………22
VII. Implementation Strategy……………………………………………….......27
VIII. Conclusion, Implications and Action Plan………………………………....35
References…..………………………………………………………………………….40
Appendix A. Logic Model…………………………………………………………..…51
Appendix B. Theory of Change……………………………………………………..…52
Appendix C. Design Criteria………………………………………………………..….53
Appendix D. Line-Item Budget……………………………………………………..….54
Appendix E. Prototype-Open Circle……………………………………...………...…..55
Appendix F. Prototype Phase I-Critical Analysis………………………………..……..56
Appendix G. Prototype Phase II-Sense of Agency…………………………………..…57
Appendix H. Prototype Phase III-Deliberative Action………………...…………….....58
Appendix I. Prototype-Close Circle…………………………...……………………......59
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Abstract
Macro-social inequities (such as wealth, gender, race, religious, ableist) are replicated by and
within organizations because they are shaped by and reflect larger society. Decision-making
processes that prioritize dominant groups (i.e., organizational hiring, pay, promotions, policies,
and procedures), and communication patterns that reinforce stereotypes (i.e., cultural differences
and norms) in practice environments are how inequities are replicated. Training and leadership
development are common strategies organizations engage to create more equity, which focus on
demographic and compositional diversity of participating groups. While critical, these measures
alone are inadequate. Achieving equity requires design group praxis (experience, skills, practice)
to systematically push beyond colonial constructs to interrogate dominant cultural norms.
The Capstone Project proposing the Critical Analysis, Sense of Agency, Deliberative Action
(CASADA) Model and Intersectional Design Conscientization Protocol (IDCP) framework
intends to systematize scaffolding conscientization (building awareness through critical
examination of power, social and political contexts to make social change) of diverse design
groups (aka organizational teams) in preparation for organizational redesign work that supports
mitigating replication of organizational inequities. Facilitated dialogic and reflexive praxis
enables participants to assess how to mitigate the perpetuation of monoculturalism in
organizational design. This process of unlearning and learning creates new ways to assess the
existence of white supremacy cultural norms in an organizational context. Pre and post-test
methods, supported by motivational interviewing, are used for measuring changes in the
participants’ awareness of monoculturalism and willingness to mitigate it.
Keywords: Conscientization, intersectional equity, mitigating white supremacy culture,
ethnocentric monoculturalism, scaffolding consciousness, design group, demographic diversity
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Introduction

Social inequality is perhaps as old as civilization itself (Fix, 2019). The stratifications of
society, formed naturally around people’s function and roles. Or, as the result of social
interactions grounded in collaboration, or more frequently conflict, causing the powerful to act to
maintain their power; the dynamic of inequities surviving generations is a problem of persistent
perpetuation (Crossman, 2020). It is a problem of a civic and social infrastructure that gives the
inheritors of privilege the ability to continue to oppress, often without consciousness of their
participation (Johnson, 2013). Thus, inequities experienced by socially marginalized peoples are
rooted in the design archetypes, imperatives, and practices that frame and animate our social
systems.
American social systems are also not equitable, yielding outcomes that produce wealth,
education, technology, health care gaps, and overrepresentation of racial, gender and ethnic
minorities in prison, probation, juvenile justice, and low-economic systems (Lee et al., 2022). In
the past few decades, diversity has increased markedly. Over 100 ethnic, racial, and cultural
groups call the United States home-such that America is projected by 2045 to have a total
population of ethnic minorities that would constitute a majority (over 50% of the total U. S.
population)-recognizing more mixed ethnic groups exist but rendering no single ethnic group in
the majority (Frey, 2018).
Yet recent demographic data indicates that the sociological legacy of “interlocking
systems” grounded in the unequal distribution of power through structure, discipline, and
hegemony intersect to create a matrix of domination, which shapes human, and systems
interaction is still efficiently operating (Collins, 2021). In a country of roughly 330 million
people, white men represent nearly 30% of the population yet manages, owns, gatekeeps and
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designs 80% of the country’s systems, products, programs, and opportunities. (Lu, et al, 2020).
Digging deeper, data suggests that middle-aged white men inordinately shape our lives
occupying approximately: 80% of tenured positions in higher education, 80% of the house of
representatives, 84% of the US Senate, 92% of Forbes 400 executive CEO level positions, 90%
of public-school superintendent, 99.9% of athletic team owners and 99% of US Presidents, (at
the time Overcoming Our Racism was written it was 100%, that changed with the election of
Barack Obama in 2008) (Sue, 2003). These data are symptoms of problems related to not only
who our social systems are optimally designed for, but also who gets to design social systems,
utilizing what protocols, and to what level of consciousness (Yu & Dai, 2015).
There are complex and varied reasons for the persistence of inequities. One reason is that
our social systems were designed by European settlers with a “colonizers consciousness,” taking
resources, claiming territory, and designing social systems to protect themselves, their
plundering. As such, “unevenly designed systems that created a matrix for white, Christian, male
domination” (Prendergast, 2019) representing “long-standing patterns of power that emerged as
a result of colonialism…that define culture…is maintained alive in books, in the criteria for
academic performance, in cultural patterns, in common sense, in the self-image of peoples, in
aspirations of self, and so many other aspects of our modern experience. In a way, as modern
subjects we breathe [sic] coloniality all the time and every day” (Almeida, R. et al., 2019).
Another is that our culture is grounded in the Protestant work ethic. As John Tropman
wrote in The Catholic Ethic in American Society: An Exploration of Values (1995), the
protestant work ethic as more rigid (versus communitarianism), more individualistic, supportive
of material acquisition (of which there could not be too much), and less forgiving of the poor, as
those who have acquired greatly are closer to the salvation, and so the reverse must also be true
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(p. 109). The structure of this society, focused on individualism, where one can never have too
much, and charity for only the “deserving poor” is tent-poled by Euro-colonial ethnocentric
monoculturalism-a belief that euro-colonial culture is not only superior, but that others are
inferior as a basis for a society (Lewis, 2021). Finally, there is the recognition that for each
generation, societal inequities find either inheritors who unconsciously perpetuate them, or
champions who take up the cause of ensuring that the inequities that exist perseverate (Callero,
2018). These systemic inequalities represent advantages expressed as systems of privilege or
oppression, that are theorized to have existed since the founding of the country (Johnson, 2017),
and exist throughout all of society. They are realized macro societally, systemically, and
organizationally.
Further still, we understand that merely a diversity of people does not mean a diversity of
thought (Sengupta, 2020). For example, if all the members of a team who look different but were
acculturated in the same environment, the diversity of thought will not only be limited, but it is
also not sufficient (Sengupta, 2020). Because people of color, women, gender non-conforming
folks, the disabled and non-Christians can internalize their “inferior status”, they can
subsequently act in ways that perpetuate the harms of the dominant cultural norms to themselves
and others like them (Collins, 2021).
Complicating these complexities, is the fact that organizations replicate and reflect the
inequalities that exist within our macro systems (Amis et al., 2020). Specifically, organizations
replicate pay inequities between men and women, inequalities in people of color having less
authority in terms of leadership and management positions within organizational structures
(Dobbin and Kalev, 2022), are less equitable in the hiring process (specifically when resumes are
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allowed to be judged including the names of the individuals which often allow for biases), and
regarding upward mobility (Amis et al., 2020).
As one way of addressing these larger societal concerns, in a sphere where there is some
influence, the capstone project sought to develop an intervention that could be deployed at the
organizational level to disrupt the replication of these macro systemic inequities. The capstone
project was to build both a protocol (IDCP) and a model (CASADA) to systematize and create a
replicable, scalable, measurable metacognitive scaffolding process for diverse organizational
design groups to enable them to design methods to mitigate oppressive dominant cultural
norms—such as one right way, worshipping the written word, or using a sense of urgency to
exclude participation in decision-making (Okun, 2021)— within their organizational cultures.
An intervention developed through Design Thinking Design Criteria, must engage a design
group, interrogate white supremacy culture, seek to mitigate oppressive harms, and go beyond
compositional and demographic diversity to strike at the heart of systems redesign—archetypes,
actors, consciousness, and mitigative operative norms.
Problems of Practice and Literature Review
Statement of the Problem
A multicultural society, by definition, is composed of individuals and groups from
diverse cultural backgrounds. When macro-social systems and organizations are designed mono-
culturally around a Euro-colonial archetype, they fail to consider the unique experiences and
needs of individuals and groups from non-dominant cultural backgrounds (Weaver, 2020). This
leads to a lack of representation, participation, and efficiency in these systems for marginalized
communities and perpetuates the marginalization and oppression of those groups. Inequitable
systems prevent individuals from different cultural backgrounds from reaching their full
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potential and contributing to society in meaningful ways (Silk, et al., 2020). This not only harms
individuals and marginalized groups, but also negatively impacts the growth and progress of the
society. It is crucial that organizations actively work to dismantle their mono-cultural
foundations and design inclusively to create a more equitable and just society for all.
Inequities and unfair advantages permeate our social systems. The American Academy of
Social Work and Social Welfare (AASWSW) (https://grandchallengesforsocialwork.org/) in 2020
recognized social problems that are deeply entrenched in the systems that create societal
expectation and identity of the United States. While some Americans are supported, others suffer
from poverty and systemic discriminations that result in adverse outcomes in their lives. One of
the grand challenges highlighted within the Just Society category is Achieving Equal
Opportunity and Justice. This focus area seeks to understand, explain, identify, and disrupt
and/or repair the impacts of generational social injustices.
A major problem of organizations replicating societal inequities is the perpetuation of
systemic bias. Systemic or structural bias refers to the ways in which societal norms and values
influence the design and implementation of organizational policies, practices, and processes,
often resulting in unfair outcomes for marginalized groups (Osta & Vasquez, 2023). For
example, a study of the high-tech sector found that hiring processes often privilege candidates
from prestigious universities and that creates an underrepresentation of women and people of
color (Advancing antiracism, 2023). This perpetuates existing societal inequities and reinforces
stereotypes about who is and isn't qualified for certain roles, leading to a lack of diversity in the
workforce and missed opportunities for innovation and creativity.
A related problem is the lack of diversity and representation in leadership positions.
When leadership teams are not diverse, it can be difficult to recognize and address systemic bias
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and implicit bias, and to design and implement effective diversity, equity, and inclusion
strategies (Dobbin and Kalev, 2022). For example, a study of Fortune 500 companies found that
white women make up 6.8% of those who are now CEOs, whites still make up 92.6% of
the Fortune 500 CEOs. Only 1% of the Fortune 500 CEOs are African Americans, 2.4% are East
Asians or South Asians, and 3.4% are Latinx (Zweigenhaft, 2020). This lack of diversity can
contribute to a culture of homogeneity and limit opportunities for underrepresented groups to
advance in their careers and contribute to organizational decision-making.
Disciplined Assessment of the Problem
Organizations that replicate societal inequities within their systems, processes, and
culture face a range of challenges related to systemic bias, implicit bias, lack of diversity in
leadership positions, and negative consequences for employee well—being and organizational
performance (Assari, 2021). Addressing these challenges requires a sustained commitment to
mitigating the replication of oppressive forces and committing to building infrastructure to
support equity initiatives. Ongoing assessment of organizational policies and practices,
professional development and training, and the development of more inclusive and diverse
leadership teams support the development of a culture of belonging (Kennedy & Jain-Link,
2021). By working to overcome these challenges, organizations can be at the vanguard of
disrupting the perpetuation of socialized inequitable norms and promote a more equitable and
just society. Unconscious mental processes that can influence decision-making, is another factor
that contributes to the replication of societal inequities in organizations. This implicit bias can
manifest in many different aspects of organizational life, including recruitment, selection,
performance evaluation, and promotion.
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The impact of inequities is significant and can affect the well-being and career
advancement of targeted populations. A study of workplace discrimination found that employees
who experienced discrimination reported higher levels of stress and lower job satisfaction
(Roscigno, 2019). However, research and practice initiatives have also shown that addressing
these challenges through intentional diversity efforts can have positive outcomes for
organizations and their employees. A study of Fortune 500 companies found that companies with
higher levels of gender and racial diversity had higher financial returns and were more
innovative (Powers, 2021). Similarly, a study of companies that implemented diversity initiatives
found that they experienced improved employee retention and engagement, better decision-
making, and increased creativity and innovation when employees had choice (Dobbin and Kalev,
2022). While these studies show promise with some interventions, engaging issues only at the
employee or program level is not adequate to overcome systemic oppression.
Multiple Stakeholder Perspectives
The COVID-19 pandemic and the murder of George Floyd exposed and exacerbated
systemic inequities in the education, government, and non-profit sectors, impacting marginalized
communities disproportionately (Kane, 2021). The education sector has seen the COVID-19
pandemic exacerbate existing inequities in access to technology and resources, particularly for
students from low-income and marginalized communities. This has resulted in disparities in
remote learning opportunities, with students from these communities facing additional barriers to
accessing technology and support (Dorn, et, al., 2022). In the government sector, particularly
within government-run programs and health systems, systemic inequities exposed marked
differences in distribution of resources, access, and support. For example, the distribution of
COVID-19 vaccines has been uneven, with marginalized communities facing additional barriers
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to accessing vaccines and receiving adequate information about their availability (Government
Accountability Office, 2021). In the non-profit sector, marginalized communities have faced
increased demand for services, while funding has decreased due to the economic impact of the
pandemic. This has created significant challenges for non-profits serving these communities, as
they are unable to meet the growing need for support. Additionally, non-profits serving
communities of color have faced additional barriers to accessing resources and support,
exacerbating existing disparities (Church, 2022).
Significance and Implications for Targeted Population
Since the murder of George Floyd, philanthropic foundations have developed initiatives
to address systemic inequalities and promote equity in various sectors. The Ford Foundation
pledged $420 million to support gender justice and other social justice causes globally (Ford
Foundation, 2021), while the Rockefeller Foundation pledged $1 billion to promote inclusive
economies and support Covid-19 response efforts (Peralta, 2020). The MacArthur Foundation
pledged $125 million to support organizations working towards racial justice and reforming
criminal justice systems, while the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation pledged $250 million to
support Covid-19 response efforts and ensure equitable access to vaccines, treatments, and tests.
The Kellogg Foundation launched a $90 million Racial Equity 2030 initiative to support
transformative projects to promote racial equity in various sectors, including health, housing,
education, and justice (Racial equity, 2023). Following these dynamic events—a global
pandemic and the killing of many other unarmed black men at the hands of police in the streets
of America—many businesses made commitments to addressing systemic failures. U. S.
companies pledged $50 billion toward racial equity, but only $250 million has been spent
(Nguyen, 2021).
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Organizations in the non-profit/philanthropic sector that pledged or targeted initiatives to
do equity work, have relied heavily on equity and inclusion training programs that focus on
creating more equity through leadership development and cultural sensitivity training programs.
The philanthropic foundations listed above who are making resources available to combat
systemic inequities show evidence of having turned to those resources as well. Unfortunately, it
appears that few have sought interrogation, mitigation, and actively confronting dominant
cultural harms in the structural re-design of their organizational spaces, systems, and cultures as
preferred strategy.
Conceptual Framework
Positionality Statement
As a qualitative social researcher, qualitative approaches, and tools, replete with the
ability for storytelling, facilitated interaction, and participatory technologies align with my sense
of justice and community while working to mitigate the replication of inequities in
organizational systems. As an African American man who grew up in poverty, experienced the
trauma of losing my father as an 8-year-old child and witnessed my mother endure a nervous
breakdown that led to an unsuccessful suicide attempt; I acknowledge shape my perspective of
both the research topics I study and how I study them.
Living in a “majority-minority” “tri-cultural” state (African American is not one of the
tri-cultures—Native American, Latino & White) and being 22 years married to an Indigenous
woman from a still vibrant practicing Native pueblo culture in the Southwest while raising three
children; also influences my worldview. It affects my understanding of power, systems of
vertical and lateral oppressions, and how the proximity to power and the manifestation of
whiteness affects everyone who practices it.
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These experiences inform my awareness of how systems of oppression intersect and
impact marginalized communities. I recognize my biases, privileges, and struggles to overcome
internalized oppressive forces may influence the way I conduct research and interpret data (Hunt
& Riegelman, 2021). Thus, I seek to practice shared accountability and critically examine my
positionality to minimize the potential harm my research could cause and ensure that my work is
inclusive, equitable, and just.
My interests in systems of oppression, how they impact people, (like my poverty-
stricken, African American mother encountering child welfare and mental health systems), how
they are perpetuated unconsciously by dominant beneficiary-actors (Sue, 2004), and who
designed and maintains them; is intimately related to my understanding of the privileges and
oppressions that I inherited through socialization in a western Euro-colonial society.
Design consciousness (Falcon, 2020), conscientization (Concepts used by Paulo
Freire, 2023), and intersectional equity (Understanding Intersectionality, 2022) are foundational
concepts that shape perspectives of my work. At the nexus of these themes, is my conception of
kaleidoscopic ontology-that our existence and what we know about it lie at the intersection of
many realities-not just the rational, scientific, reality espoused through Euro-coloniality. For
example, the knowledge needed to support multicultural societies is greater than Euro-colonial
epistemology. Humanity is greater than peoples chosen by Enlightenment Period philosophers
(Freter, 1970). And BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) or People of Global Majority
(POGM) histories are greater than the history of colonization, indigenous genocide, slavery, and
internment camps.
My work is primarily done in partnership with government, education and non-profit
sector institutions and organizations. Primarily, focused on systems and organizational cultures
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that intersect to replicate and perpetuate macro-society inequities (Amis et al., 2020), while
researching strategies and tools to mitigate their ongoing replication. These are areas where I
have agency. I believe organizations can play a major role in reshaping the society towards
greater equity and justice. Because ultimately, my research is about the systems we leave to
future generations, rendering them incapable of perpetuating any additional inequities.
Theoretical Framework
As a theory of change built on a conscientization framework the CASADA Model and
IDCP outline the steps and processes by which increased awareness and consciousness about
systemic could lead to lasting, transformative change in organizations. This theory includes three
overarching Phases and Six Dialogic Stages that leverage knowledge attainment, awareness-
raising about systemic issues, engagement in critical group and self-reflection, and the
development of actionable policy and plans to disrupt replication of the patterns of inequality
(Cortina & Winter, 2021). Importantly, this theory of change also considers the power dynamics
that exist within organizations and the need for systemic changes to address inequities.
The theory of change for this project is focused on surfacing and contextualizing the
nonconscious archetypes that our society is designed to serve. Bringing them to critical
consciousness through an examination of the dynamic systems and norms that we all inherit,
collective development of intersectional archetypes can empower the actions that can be put into
policy, practice, and organizational culture to mitigate this status quo. A description of the steps
in a theory of change that scaffolds group concept knowledge from unconscious thought to
critical action is as follows:
• Unconscious Thought: Groups may hold unconscious biases, or beliefs about
themselves, others, and the world around them. These thoughts often go unnoticed. For
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example, the white supremacy culture unconscious (Richardson, 2021) is our shared
understanding of who is human and who systems are designed to serve, goes
unchallenged.
• Conscientization: Scaffolding consciousness through dialogue and critical reflection
allows groups to become aware of their unconscious thoughts and challenge them. This
process, conscientization, involves analyzing and questioning the social and cultural
systems that shape group beliefs. For example, because systems are designed for
whiteness, white supremacy culture characteristics (Okun, 2021) become the operative
norms of the macro-society, which get replicated organizationally.
• Concept Knowledge: Groups engaged in conscientization develop a deeper
understanding of the social and cultural systems that shape their beliefs. They gain new
knowledge and concepts that they can use. For example, the concept of ethnocentric
monoculturalism (Sue, 2004), and the limitations of this concept in a multicultural
society.
• Group Learning: Conscientization is a collective process, and as individuals engage in
dialogue and critical reflection, they learn from each other. Group learning is essential to
scaffold concept knowledge because individuals can share their unique perspectives and
experiences. For example, a cross-section of people, working in a small group with safety
in the space, can scaffold their collective understanding of inequity, such that the
organization benefits from this as institutional knowledge.
• Critical Action: Deeper understandings of social and cultural systems that shape beliefs
of the world around them, enables groups to take action to challenge and transform those
systems. Critical action involves using new knowledge and concepts to advocate for
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change and create a more equitable and just society. For example, a non-profit design
group re-writing the Bylaws, policies, practice, talent acquisition framework and ongoing
professional development and training programs for an organization, designing with
whiteness-mitigation as the default, can generate more equity in the culture.
• Intersectional Archetypes: Euro-colonial cultures have designed systems and centered
cultural expectations around a mono-cultural, patriarchal, cis-gendered, wealthy, white,
male archetype (Collins, 2021). Equitable systems designed for multi racial, multi-
cultural societies need intersectional—convergence of different race, gender, religion,
physical abilities—to be developed and centered.
The process of conscientization scaffolds group concept knowledge by bringing nonconscious
thoughts to the surface, developing a deeper understanding of social and cultural systems,
learning collectively, and taking critical action to challenge and transform those systems (Cortina
& Winter, 2021).
Logic Model
The CASADA Model and IDCP logic model demonstrates the process of conscientization
through the IDCP, and how it scaffolds group concept knowledge from nonconscious thought to
critical action through a listing of the inputs, activities, outputs, and outcomes. A detailed logic
model is attached as Appendix A. It illustrates the inputs, such as facilitators and safe learning
environments; activities, such as dialogic reflection and group archetype design; outputs, like
shared concepts and language; and outcomes such ability to recognize and challenge white
supremacy culture and agency to make organizational change.
This logic model demonstrates how the protocol’s activities lead to specific outputs, which in
turn lead to desired outcomes. The model highlights the importance of trained facilitators, a safe
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and supportive learning environment, and resources for critical reflection and analysis. Engaging
in dialogue and critical reflection, participants can develop a deeper understanding of social and
cultural systems, learn collectively, and take critical actions on behalf of their organization to
challenge and transform these systems.
Project Description
Describe Proposed Solution
The Capstone Project proposes the Intersectional Design Conscientization Protocol
(IDCP) within the CASADA Model framework. This model intends to systematize scaffolding
conscientization (building awareness through critical examination of power, social and political
contexts to make social change) of diverse design groups (aka organizational teams) in
preparation for organizational design work that supports mitigating replication of organizational
inequities.
Facilitated dialogic and reflexive praxis enables participants to actively assess how to
mitigate the perpetuation of monoculturalism in organizational design. This process of
unlearning and learning creates new ways to assess the existence of white supremacy cultural
norms in an organizational context (Bowman et al., 2017). Pre and post-test methods, supported
by motivational interviewing, are used for measuring changes in the participants’ awareness of
monoculturalism and willingness to mitigate it.
Solution Landscape
Often, when organizations engage equity work, they rely on training programs,
checklists, and strategies to get people who look different than them into their organizations.
While these strategies can often successfully get people of difference into the space, they often
fail to be inclusive or sustainable and frequent turnover in diverse staff of color is the result with
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no change in the make-up of leadership or management. Mandated training and leadership
development programs are common strategies organizations engage to create more equity
(Dobbin & Kalev, 2022). Often, such efforts focus on demographic (identity categories) and
compositional (numeric representation) diversities of participating groups. While a step forward,
these measures are inadequate, because we know that merely a diversity of people does not
necessarily mean a diversity of thought (Sengupta, 2020). For example, if all the members of a
team look different but were acculturated in the same environment, the diversity of thought will
not only be limited, but is also not sufficient. This illustrates the need to scaffold group
conscientization through interrogation, unlearning, and metacognitive concept scaffolding.
What makes this even more alarming is that while overt sexism, racism, and homophobia
are conscious acts, inequities stemming from ethnocentric monoculturalism are unconscious
products of meeting the expectations of the prevailing cultural patterns of one’s society (Sue,
2004). Another dynamic that makes these complex problems is that we are intersectional
beings—individuals with multiple identities that intersect to make us who we are (Johnson,
2017). Both oppressors and the oppressed come in all forms, if they have access to power.
People who have been acculturated in the United States perpetuate inequities through the
“invisible veil” of ethnocentric monoculturalism (Sue, 2004).
Design Inequality, Design Justice, and Pluriversal Design are all existing design
processes that have contributed to the landscape of attempting to design more equitably. But they
are primarily focused on training, leadership development, demographic and compositional
diversity and creating more equity. It is here at the nexus of these demographic and
compositional equity-focused theories that the concept of scaffolding conscientization—
expanding the body of knowledge, investigating the inherited power dynamics of systems of
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privilege, oppression, and then strategizing to create actionable ways to map and mitigate these
oppressive norms—that an opportunity space for innovation exists (Sloane, 2019).
Description of Prototype
The Capstone Project explicitly seeks to go beyond demographic (identity categories) and
compositional (numeric representation) diversity, beyond the black-white binary, beyond
western epistemologies to expand what we accept as knowledge to accommodate the
replacement of the Euro-colonial monocultural archetype, with an intersectional, multicultural
archetype. Throughout, embracing concepts such as gender non-conforming design, Indigenous
futurism, and Afro futurism (Sengupta, 2020). Although Design Inequality, Design Justice, and
Pluriversal Design create opportunity spaces for innovation these forms of design work pay
limited attention to explicitly interrogating ethnocentric monoculturalism, sparse focus on
mitigation of white supremacy culture, and little attention to organizational development nor to
system design archetypes. Alternatively, the IDCP within the CASADA Model framework is
focused on facilitating and scaffolding changes in consciousness creating opportunities to engage
and integrate other worldviews such as Indigenous and Afro futurism worldviews (Sengupta,
2020).
The capstone prototype is a detailed User Experience (UX) Journey Map. (See Appendix
I) A journey map is a detailed visualization that shows how a user-based persona is feeling
throughout the process of a design experience, using a particular product or process (Stolzoff,
2021). According to Gibbons (2018) a high-fidelity prototype has five characteristics: 1) actor(s),
2) scenario & expectations, 3) journey phases, 4) actions-mindsets-emotions, and 5)
opportunities. This journey map is for the design group moving through the Intersectional Design
Conscientization Protocol (IDCP) within the CASADA Model framework. It details a design
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group experience scaffolding group conscientization—the process of developing a critical
awareness of one’s social reality through reflection and action-within an organization’s redesign
group (Freire Institute, 2023)—to support redevelopment of foundational organizational design
and documents (such a Bylaws, policies & procedures, and talent acquisition/evaluation
frameworks).
Organizations making commitments to equity cultures have as much unlearning to do as
learning. As Mark Bonchek (2017) wrote in an online article for the Harvard Business Review;
“The problem isn’t learning: it’s unlearning. We need to unlearn the mental models that have
grown outdated or obsolete. The process of unlearning has three parts… recognize that the old
mental model is no longer relevant or effective…find or create a new model that can better
achieve your goals…ingrain the new mental habits.” To facilitate the unlearning process,
intentional spaces and processes are needed to interrogate existing inequities to create more
equitable alternatives.
The CASADA Model and IDCP prototype uses a journey map to describe the process for
unlearning existing epistemologies and learning new practices and processes within an
organization’s redesign group. It meets the criteria for a high-fidelity prototype by including the
actors involved, the scenario and expectations design group members can expect the phases of
the protocol for engagement, the actions, mindsets, and emotions participants might experience
and identifies opportunities for insights gained, ownership and metrics (Gibbons, 2018).
Existing Opportunities for Testing/Piloting Prototype
Dr. Virginia Necochea, Executive Director of the New Mexico Environmental Law
Center (NMELC), has been an external design partner and her organization’s on-going equity
work has incorporated the design group praxis of the CASADA Model and IDCP. While there
22
were other design groups within non-profit, government and educational organizations who
informed and provided feedback on iterations of the model; Dr. Necochea represented the
archetype of leader (female, POC, indigenous spiritualist) that does not fit the dominant
narrative, for non-profits nor environmental law centers (not white, not male, not a lawyer).
NMELC represented a primary beneficiary of this intervention, an organization that had declared
a commitment to challenging dominant cultural norms as a means of building a more equitable
organization, but without a process for meeting those obligations.
Project Structure, Methodology, Testing/Piloting
Project Structure
The CASADA Model and Intersectional Design Conscientization Protocol (IDCP) is a
prototype based on scaffolding conscientization of organizational systems designers, or design
groups. The prototype employs metacognitive concept scaffolding, or tiered learning of concepts
that build on each other to develop a more complex analysis (An & Cao, 2014), through a
framework of critical awareness, developing a sense of agency and deliberative group action.
This prototype is appropriate for solving the problem of mitigating systemic inequities within
organizations because it empowers design groups to recognize and address the underlying power
dynamics that perpetuate systemic inequities.
Organizational design processes are often shaped by the dominant, or white supremacy
cultural values and norms of the designers and institutions involved. This often results in the
exclusion or marginalization of other cultures, perspectives, and knowledge (Buzon, 2021).
White supremacy culture refers to the set of values, beliefs, and behaviors that uphold and
reinforce the systemic domination of white people and the exclusion and oppression of people of
color (Okun, 2021). Scaffolding conscientization can support the mitigation of white supremacy
23
culture by providing a framework for critically examining and challenging these systems of
domination and exclusion. Scaffolding conscientization can support the decolonization and
active mitigation of these dynamics during design processes by providing a framework for
critically examining and challenging these dominant cultural values and perspectives.
Scaffolding conscientization involves providing design groups with the necessary
dialogic spaces, tools, resources, and physical/psychological support to critically reflect on their
own assumptions and biases, as well as the broader societal structures that contribute to systemic
inequities (Cortina & Winter, 2021). By engaging in this process of conscientization, designers
can become more aware of the ways in which their designs perpetuate systemic inequities and
can decline to perpetuate these issues through inclusive and equitable design choices. Within
organizations, these choices can affect organizational charters, Bylaws, policies, practices, and
ultimately-culture.
This approach has the potential to break the cycle of replicating inequities in
organizational systems. Focusing on mitigating the manifestation of dominant culture
characteristics in organizational culture, policies, and practice can promote more equitable and
just design, which can result in the creation of systems that better serve historically under-
represented peoples and those from other marginalized communities (Lawhon, et al., 2018).
Overall, a prototype like the CASADA Model and IDCP that are based on scaffolding
conscientization can be powerful tools for mitigating systemic inequities by empowering
designers to recognize and address the root causes of systemic inequities in the American
context, as replicated by organizations.

24
Methodology
Scaffolding conscientization involves providing support and guidance as learners acquire
new skills and knowledge, gradually reducing support as learners become more independent
(Sleeter et al., 2004). Scaffolding conscientization also involves creating safe and inclusive
spaces for dialogue and reflection, as well as actively modeling and promoting anti-oppressive
behaviors and practices. By using scaffolding to support the development of critical
consciousness, design groups can actively challenge and transform white supremacy culture
through a human-centered framework and work towards a more equitable organizations and just
society.
When working with organizational design groups, scaffolding conscientization for
systematically to challenge white supremacy culture can be a useful approach for supporting
individuals in developing critical consciousness and agency in addressing and dismantling
oppressive systems. The CASADA Model and IDCP framework involved providing resources
and facilitation for design groups examining social and cultural conditioning, as well as for
engaging in collective action for organizational change (Cortina & Winter, 2021). It is a human-
centered design approach to organizational change and mitigating inequity.
Human-centered design (HCD) is an approach to problem-solving that places the needs
and experiences of people at the forefront of the design process It involves a deep understanding
of user needs, preferences, and behaviors, and seeks to create solutions that are tailored to meet
those needs. HCD typically involves a cycle of research, ideation, prototyping, and testing, with
a focus on iterating and refining designs based on feedback from users (Kazuhiko, 2014) .
Design thinking as a related methodology, emphasizes empathy, ideation, and
experimentation in the design process. It is a problem-solving approach that draws on the
25
designer's toolkit to integrate the needs of people, the possibilities of technology, and the
requirements for business success (Landry, 2020). As an example of HCD, design thinking also
involves iterative cycles of prototyping and testing, but it is more focused on finding creative and
innovative solutions to complex problems.
Measuring the effectiveness of scaffolding conscientization can be challenging, as it involves
evaluating the development of critical consciousness and agency, which are complex and
multifaceted concepts (Biccieri, 2017). The following strategies were piloted:
• Self-report measures: Informal interviews to assess individuals' self-perceptions of their
own critical consciousness and agency. Feedback from group members was critical, but
with bias and subjectivity understood as contributing factors.
• Observation: Observing group interaction helped evaluate the impact of group-based
interventions for how they applied their critical consciousness in real-world
organizational scenarios.
• Outcome measures: Understanding the endemic nature of white supremacy culture (vs
white extremist violence), beliefs about the limitations of Euro-colonial monoculturalism
and need for multicultural systems that break the cycle of unconscious perpetuation of
inherited social privileges could provide efficacy evidence.
As the research continues around the efficacy of the CASADA Model and IDCP, these
approaches will involve collecting data, set to specific goals, over time to track changes in
individuals' attitudes or actions. It will be necessary to combine multiple approaches to obtain a
more comprehensive understanding of the impact of the intervention, such as how both pre/post-
testing and motivational interviewing were identified for use.

26
Testing/Piloting
This capstone project was designed to scaffold conscientization of an organizational
design group. This was to be achieved through the ongoing development and deployment of the
CASADA Model and IDCP. Because this work utilized Design Thinking processes, it was
essential to develop an experience that could iterate-be repeated with each component and
expansion of the program design-providing an effective testing and piloting strategy. Thus, the
best testing strategy was formative—feedback through individual discussions with participants
and question-and-answer sessions—to gauge the effectiveness of the project at various stages of
development.
This allowed for the identification of potential shortcomings and opportunities for
improvement, thus enabling necessary adjustments to be made between the development of new
prototypes. In the future, once a complete deployment of the entire process is possible, a
summative evaluation at the end of the project could provide insights into the overall success of
scaffolding conscientization in achieving its intended objectives of mitigative policy and practice
to minimize the impact of white supremacy culture in organizational culture and norms.
Piloting the project with a small group was also a crucial strategy to ensure that the
project design was feasible, effective, and sustainable in a real-world setting. This involved
identifying a representative sample of the target population-organizational design group
members-and implemented the project in a controlled and iterative manner. Intermittent
feedback and was obtained to support refined development of the model and the active
implementation framework.
The IDCP within the CASADA Model framework have had some components tested.
The overarching CASADA framework has been tested both as a guiding framework for
27
scaffolding conscientization and as a heuristic for disrupting micro-aggressive behaviors in
organizations for daily praxis. The modules of the IDCP, in two previous iterations, have also
been tested. Each module has undergone iterative changes after each deployment. For example,
the first time Module 1-focused on Euro-colonial epistemologies and how the global project of
colonization has shaped the modern world-the session was facilitated without videography. In
subsequent sessions, videography that succinctly expressed complex concepts was utilized to
make the material more accessible. Pre and post-test measures are expected to be utilized but
have not been developed nor tested. Thus, observation and requests for thoughts from
participants of design groups have been noted. For example, one member of the NMELC design
group—a white, hetero, Christian, male—expressed not only his appreciation for discussions of
unconscious perpetuation, but also expressed his willingness to actively challenge such
happenings.
Implementation Strategy
The capstone project implementation plan was framed by the principles of
Implementation Science. Implementation science is a field of study that focuses on the process of
implementing evidence-based practices, interventions, and policies in real-world settings
Implementation science, 2021). It involves understanding and addressing the various factors that
influence the adoption, implementation, and sustainability of these practices, interventions, and
policies. Drawing on theories and methods from fields such as public health, psychology,
sociology, education, and economics, it aims to identify the most effective and efficient ways to
bring about change in a variety of settings, including healthcare organizations, schools,
community organizations, and government agencies (Implementation science, 2021).
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The goal of implementation science is to bridge the gap between research and practice,
by identifying the best ways to translate evidence-based interventions into real-world settings
(Implementation science, 2021). This improves the quality of programming provided to
individuals, communities, and populations, and ultimately improve outcomes. The project further
utilized the Exploration, Preparation, Implementation, Sustainment, or EPIS, framework. The
EPIS framework is a comprehensive model for implementing evidence-based practices in
organizations (Moullin, et., al, 2020). Each stage of the EPIS framework provided a roadmap for
the capstone project to follow when implementing the CASADA Model and IDCP
conscientization scaffolding framework.
The EPIS Framework’s four stages (EPIS Framework website, 2020) are implemented as
follows: the exploration stage, needs are assessed and resources obtained to support identifying
the goals, objectives, and potential barriers, this was done with partner design groups; the
preparation stage, plans for implementing the IDCP within the CASADA Model framework,
included identifying key stakeholders for the design groups and developing session
modules/materials; the implementation stage, we initiated the CASADA Model and IDCP
facilitating communication, groups, and managing the model stages; and finally, the sustainment
stage, continued success by implementing strategies to support long-term sustainability,
including monitoring progress and making necessary adjustments are executed. As this capstone
was a series of iterative pilots, this phase was not engaged.
CASADA Model and IDCP Implementation
Organizations that declare a commitment to engaging equity work for their organizational
growth become potential users of these interventions. Further, institutions that have a sense of
decolonizing their organizational structures to practice disrupting oppressive systems are
29
uniquely positioned to benefit. As such, organizations that are prepared to build the capacities
needed to interrogate our existing spaces, norms, inheritances, and inequities will go through a
specific phased process. Additionally, before any organization begins the conscientization
scaffolding process, a series of relationship-building, assessment and goal-setting meetings
would have taken place. As well as the seating of the Design Group, who would be poised to go
through the process as trusted envoys of the organization, and designers of more inclusive,
mitigative practice and policy.
Design Group, when undertaking this process, are comprised of up to 10-12 individuals
that are willing to individually “be comfortable with uncomfortability”, on behalf of the equity
learning for the organization to ensure that equity is centered at the core of how an institution
will achieve its mission and embedded in all its systems and processes. Central to the work is
embracing a philosophy that centering equity requires de-centering whiteness, specifically by
learning in practice how to mitigate the characteristics of white supremacy, or dominant culture.
The Design Group must be comprised of individuals who are committed to organizational
success. Members of the Design Group should reflect both descriptive and substantive diversity
(determined partly by who is represented on staff) elements and seek to introspect through
interrogation. Design Group members are recruited from the Board, executive staff, program and
line staff, volunteers/strategic partners, and members of the community, and is a working group
that presents findings and recommendations to the board and executive to potentially adopt,
hence there are both process and product benchmarks.
The CASADA Framework
The CASADA Model framework has three phases, and each phase is animated by the
IDCP Modules where each module scaffolds to the next. Phase I is the Critical Analysis phase,
30
or the CA. In this phase the work is of examining Context and Composition through Modules 1
& 2 are facilitated. Phase II is the Sense of Agency phase, or SA. In this phase, the work is the
exploration of Consciousness and Culture through Modules 3 & 4. This is specifically directed at
surfacing the archetypes that center our social system’s design and the cultural norms that keep it
centered. Phase III is the Deliberative Action phase or DA, where strategic actions that could be
taken to mitigate oppressive dominant cultural forces, particularly as they relate to the redesign
of organizations, policies, practices, systems, and structures. This is done thorough a two-part
final Module 5, that looks at both internal and external deliberate actions that could be taken.
The IDCP Protocol
The Intersectional Design Conscientization Protocol, or the five C’s is intended to scaffold
conscientization for participating design teams. The protocol and framework combine to make
the model. The IDCP follows a five-stage scaffolding process that starts with 1) context, 2)
composition, 3) consciousness, 4) culture, 5) collective action. In animating the CASADA
Model: Module I of IDCP=Context; Module II of IDCP=Composition; Module III
IDCP=Consciousness; Module IV of IDCP=Culture; Module V of IDCP=Collaborative Action.
Each of the IDCP modules is executed in a two-hour session, where each starts with a review of
community agreements, then reflective dialogue of educational materials, learnings, and relevant
organizational activity, next dialogic process around meaningful concepts (such as ethnocentric
monoculturalism, white supremacy culture, intersectional archetypes, etc.), and finishes with the
development of either a product or plan to move to the next module.
Phase I-CA (Modules 1-Context & 2-Composition)
Phase I is Critical Analysis (CA) of Context and Composition. Module 1-Context-
Participants engage the facilitated dialogic process that focuses on the historical context
31
specifically of the western world and of the global project of colonization. This requires an
interrogation of white supremacy culture, the history of the world following the collapse of the
Roman empire to the present, and a recognition that institutions replicate macro social inequities
in their processes, policies, procedures, etc. Module 2: Composition-Participants examine
demographic and compositional diversity to understand diversity beyond the composition of the
group that is sitting there. And understand the operative cultural norms that are at the center of
our design groups practices. We begin to explore what it means to push pass those concepts as
the goal of DEI work, to focus in on Euro-coloniality and how it manifests in spaces, white-
bodied, BIPOC or People of Global Majority (POGM) alike. This phase also focuses on going
beyond colonial epistemologies, the nature of socialization, and how we all inherit roles, systems
and cultures that are not of our making.
Phase II-SA (Modules 3-Consciousness & 4-Culture)
Phase II is Sense of Agency (SA) through Consciousness and Culture. Module 3-
Consciousness- Explores the Founding Fathers Archetype, at the center of our collective
unconscious. The recognition that American societies, systems, and structures are designed
around this monocultural ethnocentric archetype. Yet, we ask those design systems to work
efficiently for a multicultural multi-racial populous. It also requires the development of
intersectional archetypes around which we can design new systems. This requires deep
interrogation and reflection of how we are each intersectional beings, made up of multiple
identities, and how we need new intersectional archetypes to anchor new multicultural systems.
Module 4-Culture-Examines ethnocentric monoculturalism as a societal framework and white
supremacy culture as the set of operative norms that manage our culture. Examining
monoculturalism on a spectrum—from monoculturalism to multiculturalism to omni
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culturalism—allows us to better understand what multi and omni cultural societies might look
like and gives us the ability to begin to ideate systems around multicultural and omni cultural
archetypes. This is a critical aspect of conscientization. Additionally, this examination gives us
the ability to begin to think about what cultural norms that come from cultures outside of western
societies that could become operative norms for a multicultural or omni cultural society.
Phase III-DA (Module 5-Deliberative Action Internal/External)
Phase III is Deliberative Action (DA), through internal and external strategic
collaborative action. Module 5-Deliberative Action-The focus is on what deliberative action,
based on phases one and two, can be taken to mitigate the replication of inequities—such as pay
or hiring—within organizational systems and structures. The design of mitigative policies,
practices and/or structures to disrupt replication of inequities within organizations is a priority of
scaffolding conscientization. Making white supremacy culture and its normative operative values
visible within an organizational culture such that those characteristics can be named, evaluate,
mitigated, and not replicated, is a primary thrust of this approach. Identifying both internal and
external actions that the organization can take is critical. For example, internally, the
organization might decide to adopt an anonymous review policy of job descriptions as part of a
redesigned talent acquisition framework. Externally, an organization might decide to require a
bi-annual equity audit that is not completed until the results have been shared with communities,
and new goals for the coming year developed in partnership with the communities being served.
It is important to note that throughout this process, maintaining safe and inclusive space
for group members through strong, competent facilitation enables honest and respectful dialogue,
encourages critical thinking and self-reflection, and facilitates a collaborative process for
developing and implementing an equitable and just organizational design is critical.
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Challenges and Lessons Learned
Implementing components of the IDCP within the CASADA Model framework, like any
initiative, presented several challenges. What was learned through experience and the capstone
piloting process included resistance from employees (if they feel that it is too disruptive-too fast,
too slow-or if they do not see its relevance to their work); lack of leadership support (itinerant
support for the work makes it difficult to prioritize and sustain); limited resources (projects can
be resource-intensive, requiring funding, training, and time commitments); cultural barriers
(language, concepts around culture versus race, contextualizing colonization for places like New
Mexico that has been twice colonized, first by the Spanish, then by the English and getting
beyond the black-white binary); and sustainability (competing priorities, money, lack of
adherence to new equity policies/procedures, leadership changes, or other factors that may
impact its longevity).
Overcoming these challenges requires a concerted effort from all stakeholders involved,
including employees, leadership, experts, and the broader organizational culture. Organizations
need to build buy-in, provide adequate resources, and develop a culture of learning to create an
environment that supports conscientization scaffolding projects.
Ethical Considerations & Design Justice
Design justice is a framework that aims to ensure that design practices are inclusive,
equitable, and promote social justice (Costanza-Chock, 2020). When implementing a social
justice project within an organization, there are several ethical considerations that need to be
considered from the vantage point of design justice, including power dynamics (within the
organization because the work involves challenging the status quo and questioning authority),
representation (inclusivity and diverse voices from the organization), accessibility (to all
34
individuals is critical, regardless of their abilities or background, privacy (individuals must be
respected, and any data collected kept confidential), and empowerment (empowers individuals to
act and create meaningful change). Resources must be provided to support implementation of
changes effectively.
Financial Picture
The budget for a non-profit implementing the CASADA Model and IDCP would depend
on several factors, including the scope and scale of the project, the number of employees
involved (assumption is all staff, Board and volunteers will participate), and the resources
required. If not on a monthly retainer, a line-item budget for implementing the CASADA Model
and IDCP framework would have facilitation and training costs, materials and technology costs,
personnel costs (some which might be in-kind), communications, evaluation, and possibly
project management costs that could range from $60,000 to over $100,000 (See Appendix D-
Detailed Line-Item Budget). It is important to note that these costs are estimates and will vary
depending on the specific needs and requirements of the organization. For example, most small
non-profits do not have project managers nor communications personnel on staff, so often those
costs would be associated with the facilitators’ contract.
Marketing & Measuring Impact
To market this process to organizations, it will be essential to highlight the potential
benefits, such as increased critical thinking, social justice, and equity in the workplace.
Emphasizing that the process is based on recognized praxis from the field of education and has
been implemented in other organizations can help to persuade potential clients.
Measuring the impact of the CASADA Model and IDCP could be done in several ways
(Biccieri, 2017). Assessing participants' level of understanding of equity, white supremacy, and
35
social justice before and after the process using pre- and post-tests. Tracking key performance
indicators, such as artifacts produced, policies changed, and employee engagement scores to
measure the success of the process. And utilizing surveys and interviews and focus groups with
the design teams to gather feedback from participants to evaluate the effectiveness of the
protocol and identify areas for improvement. Finally, it will be essential to demonstrate how the
process can be sustained long-term, ensuring that the impact is lasting.
Conclusion, Implications and Action Plan

If America is to be prepared for the demographic changes expected in 2045 (Craig, et al.,
2018), our social and institutional systems must be redesigned to a multicultural archetype if we
are to succeed as a nation. As User Experience Designer Jesse Weaver wrote in a post on
Medium (2020), “we can no longer ask only middle-aged, cis-gendered, able-bodied, white,
Christian, wealthy men to design the parameters of our collective lives.” We know that simply
putting different looking people-ethnically, racially, gendered-is not enough to do the work that
is required. So, the fact remains that there is a component of consciousness that impacts systems
design that follows the Einstein axiom that “a problem cannot be solved at the same level of
consciousness with which it was created.” Whiteness, although it benefits white Christian men
most, is a set of values that reinforce a Euro-colonial mentality that everyone-including women
and BIPOC individuals-in our country is socialized around (Okun, 2021). The pernicious nature
of believing in the superiority of whiteness can be internalized and practiced by non-white
peoples. Here and around the world. As the sociologist Charles Mills wrote in The Racial
Contract (2014) wrote, white supremacy is the greatest, political, and social force on earth that
we don’t recognize that it even exists. And that racism is not a bug of the western liberal
tradition, it is a central feature (Bhambra, 2020).
36
The CASADA Model and Intersectional Design, Conscientization Protocol, is designed
to support organizations who seek to mitigate the replication of inequities buoyed by Euro-
colonial mentalities and white supremacy cultural norms at the organizational level. In Bobbie
Harro’s Cycle of Socialization (2021), institutions and organizations play the second most
important role in reinforcing inequities that we all inherit because of being socialized in a
Western society. The CASADA Model and IDCP framework were developed to give designers
an intentional and systematic process that can be replicated, and its outcomes measured to
interrupt the replication of inequities in organizational contexts. In the field of social work, this
focus on an organizational intervention is innovative as it gives practitioners the ability to
practice a macro intervention, impacting organizational design and development (Crampton,
2015).
Implications
The implications of potential positive uptake and impact in the field of
Industrial/Occupational Social Work could be substantial. Currently, the field of social work
focuses almost exclusively on micro interventions, work at the individual, family, and employee
levels (Wurzweiler School, 2022). In the history of Industrial or Occupational Social Work,
focus has been around the welfare status of employees which is still a major thrust of the practice
today (Kurzman, 2013). There are few Industrial Occupational Social Workers, and while there
is a growing number trending since 2012, they lack organizational level interventions, focused
on systems and culture change (Kurzman, 2013).
Conscientization scaffolding initiatives refer to a set of interventions aimed at creating
awareness, critical thinking, and empowerment among people living in disadvantaged situations.
The term “conscientization” was coined by Paulo Freire, a Brazilian educator, and philosopher
37
who is considered one of the pioneers of critical pedagogy (Freire Institute, 2023).
Conscientization scaffolding initiatives could have significant implications for the field of
Industrial/Occupational Social Work and social justice in non-profit, government, and
educational sectors.
One of the most significant implications of deploying the CASADA Model and IDCP in
social work is the promotion of a critical consciousness that enables people to understand and
challenge social inequalities, inside and outside of their organizations. This framework and
protocol could help groups to analyze the root causes of social problems, question dominant
narratives, and develop alternative solutions that address the underlying social structures that
perpetuate poverty, racism, and other forms of oppression. This critical consciousness is essential
when serving the most vulnerable amongst us.
Challenges
Deploying the CASADA Model and IDCP in non-profit, government, and educational
sectors would also present challenges. The resistance of those who benefit from the status quo,
opposing initiatives such as this, could be a major challenge. People who hold power and
privilege may perceive these initiatives as a threat to their position and resist the proposed
changes. Another challenge, especially in non-profits, is the need for resources, capacity, and
time to implement the protocol effectively. Organizations and institutions will need to invest in
“working on their work” to ensure that they have the necessary skills and resources to implement
these initiatives effectively.
Dissemination
Industrial/Occupational Social Work is a specialization focused on the social,
psychological, and physical needs of workers in the workplace and their families. It has been less
38
concerned with the systematic development of equitable organizations (Kurzman, 2013).
Deploying the CASADA Model and IDCP in Industrial/Occupational Social Work could
significantly enhance the effectiveness of social work interventions in promoting worker
empowerment, and equitable organizational development.
First, sharing the CASADA Model and IDCP in Industrial/Occupational Social Work
would require engagement with relevant stakeholders. This would include social workers,
employers, workers, and professional associations. Designing the initiative as a collaborative
effort involving all stakeholders in promoting equitable organizational development, as well as
worker empowerment would be different (Kurzman, 2013), but appropriately expansive.
Next, developing a train-the-trainer program that provides social workers with the
necessary concept knowledge and skills and to implement the CASADA Model and IDCP will
be necessary. The train-the-trainer program would focus on the principles of conscientization,
participatory technologies, intersectional equity, and provide social workers with tools and
techniques to facilitate critical reflection, dialogue, and action.
Then, promoting the CASADA Model and IDCP, leveraging existing networks of macro
social workers, non-profits, and professional associations that can share knowledge and
experiences will be critical. A website, online platform, or app that provides resources and
information, as well as a forum for discussion and collaboration, would be needed. Organizing
workshops, conferences, or other events that promote the model and facilitate the exchange of
ideas and experiences as a community of practice could also be done.
Finally, it will be essential to evaluate the effectiveness of the CASADA Model and
IDCP in promoting more equitable organizational design through consciousness scaffolding.
Evaluation would focus on the challenges, barriers, and impact of the initiative on the
39
development of a sense of collective identity, empowerment to act collectively, and changes in
program, policies, and practices. This would include changes in the orientation of Occupational
(Industrial) Social Workers embracing organizational design macro practice in workplaces, not
solely a focus on the workers (An introduction to macro practice in social work, 2013).
Action Plan
The next immediate step, again using the EPIS framework, will be to design a
participatory field research project. First, Exploration: Update literature reviews, meet with
potential partner organizations, and conduct assessments to potential test groups. The
assessments would involve survey and interviews with relevant organizational leaders to find
partners. Next, Preparation: Prepare for Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR),
including developing a detailed research plan, timeline, and budget. We would also select
appropriate CBPR methods and tools and identify partner organizations willing to pilot the
project and engage with them to co-create the plan to ensure their active participation. Then,
Implementation: We will need to test existing modules, concept materials, and other activities to
evaluate the protocol and raise awareness of the approach to mitigation of white supremacy
culture leading to equity. For evaluation, we could collect both qualitative and quantitative data,
using various methods such as surveys, interviews, and direct observation. Finally, Sustainment:
Once the pilot proves effective, it will be important to sustain use of the model in the field over
time. This will involve ongoing communication with partner organizations to ensure their
continued engagement and support, as well as ongoing analysis of the data to identify emerging
themes and patterns.

40
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50
Appendix A
Logic Model

Evaluation
Collect Data*Analyze and Interpret*Report
Inputs Outputs
Conditions
Priorities
Assumptions External Factors
Organizations
replicate
inequities
as a result
of adopting
macro-system
structures and
norms.
Outcomes
*Increased ability to
recognize and
challenge white
supremacy culture
*Increased ability to
identify/analyze social
and cultural systems
that need redesign
*Enhanced ability to
take critical action to
challenge and
transform these
systems
*Increased sense of
agency and
empowerment to effect
change
*Increased awareness of
white supremacy culture
unconscious among
participants
*Increased knowledge and
understanding of social and
cultural systems that shape
beliefs, operative norms
*Enhanced critical thinking
and analytical skills
*A sense of community,
shared understanding, shard
language and concepts
*Development of action plans
to mitigate issues identified
through critical analysis
*Trained
facilitators/
facilitation skills
*A safe and
supportive
learning
environment
*Resources for
critical
reflection and
analysis,
such as articles,
books,
and videos
*A diverse group of
participants with
different
perspectives
and experiences
Activities
*Facilitate dialogic
reflection to surface
unconscious beliefs
*Critical analysis of social
and cultural systems that
shape organizational
culture
*Facilitate resourcing
participants to understand
these systems
*Participants group-learn,
deepen understandings of
archetypes, systems and
norms
*Facilitators support
participants in identifying
areas for action and
strategies for change
51
Appendix B

Theory of Change

Problem
*Design groups
perpetuate systemic
inequities because
dominant cultural
norms are invisible
Activities
*Facilitated protocol
exposing default
monocultural
values/norms
*Interrogating
dominant culture
through group
scaffolding/dialogic
process
Consciousness
building, precursor
to design processes
Output(s)
*Increased active
consciousness of
archetypes to drive
design imperatives
*Pluraversalist
recognition of
epistemology
*Shift colonizer
narratives/ knowledge
to decenter coloniality
Outcome(s)
*Mitigate prevalence
of dominant culture
norms
*More equitably
designed systems
*Elimination of
unconscious
perpetuation of
inequitable systems,
process and products
Impact(s)
*System optimization
for people reflective
of the population
*More justice in
systemic operations
socially,
organizationally,
institutionally
*Closing of the social
gaps
52
Appendix C

Design Criteria

CRITERIA WIDER OPPORTUNITY SPACE
MUST
• Group praxis
• Connect members to others
• Foster a sense of belonging
• Not be cost prohibitive
• Be user accessible
• Interrogate white supremacy culture
• Go beyond representation
• Can anyone use this?
• Is there an ability to cost share amongst different orgs?
• Could an innovation be approved for a micro-credential?
• What is the possibility of an inter-generational innovation (children/youth paired with older people?)
COULD
• Expand beyond non-profit orgs
• Scale beyond state (national) initiative
• Be a precursor to any design process
• Model could serve several uses
• Move to online/video technology for self-directed use
• Develop infrastructure for both telephone and video to provide access to members
SHOULD
• Be replicable
• Be scalable
• Be testable/measurable
• What constitutes progress/growth?
• Extend beyond connection to equity and racism to prevention of all oppressions
WON’T
• Replace existing design justice, design inequality, other DEI initiatives
• Completely mitigate social inequities by itself
• Won’t be a box-checking endeavor
• Be accessible to groups looking for an easy fix
• Change pre-Covid systemic inequities as a singular intervention
• Be effective if it cannot scale
• Address perceptual or physiological needs connected to social inequality (this is process for orgs)
53
Appendix D

Line-Item Budget

Prototype
Implementation
Line-Item Budget
• Personnel Costs: $50,000
• Director/Project Manager @40%: $30,000
• Communication Coordinator @ 25%: $10,000
• Stakeholder Engagement Coordinator @ 25%: $10,000
• Training Costs: $20,000
• Facilitators & trainer(s): $10,000
• Training materials: $5,000
• Staff time: $5,000
• Resource Costs: $25,000
• Materials development: $10,000
• Project management tools: $5,000
• Technology: $10,000
• Implementation Costs: $30,000
• Design interventions: $20,000
• Follow-up evaluation: $5,000
• Feedback mechanisms: $5,000
• Evaluation Costs: $10,000
• Data collection and analysis: $5,000
• Reporting: $5,000
• Total Cost: $135,000
Note: Staff costs, represented a % of total salary, could be
obviated if they are categorized as In-Kind costs; space for
training would also be considered an In-Kind contribution
54
Appendix E

Prototype-Open Circle

IDCP
IDCP
55
Appendix F

Prototype Phase I-Critical Analysis

IDCP
56
Appendix G

Prototype Phase II-Sense of Agency

IDCP
57
Appendix H

Phase III-Deliberative Action

IDCP
58
Appendix I

Prototype-Close Circle

IDCP

Abstract (if available)

Abstract Abstract
Macro-social inequities (such as wealth, gender, race, religious, ableist) are replicated by and within organizations because they are shaped by and reflect larger society. Decision-making processes that prioritize dominant groups (i.e., organizational hiring, pay, promotions, policies, and procedures), and communication patterns that reinforce stereotypes (i.e., cultural differences and norms) in practice environments are how inequities are replicated. Training and leadership development are common strategies organizations engage to create more equity, which focus on demographic and compositional diversity of participating groups. While critical, these measures alone are inadequate. Achieving equity requires design group praxis (experience, skills, practice) to systematically push beyond colonial constructs to interrogate dominant cultural norms.
The Capstone Project proposing the Critical Analysis, Sense of Agency, Deliberative Action (CASADA) Model and Intersectional Design Conscientization Protocol (IDCP) framework intends to systematize scaffolding conscientization (building awareness through critical examination of power, social and political contexts to make social change) of diverse design groups (aka organizational teams) in preparation for organizational redesign work that supports mitigating replication of organizational inequities. Facilitated dialogic and reflexive praxis enables participants to assess how to mitigate the perpetuation of monoculturalism in organizational design. This process of unlearning and learning creates new ways to assess the existence of white supremacy cultural norms in an organizational context. Pre and post-test methods, supported by motivational interviewing, are used for measuring changes in the participants’ awareness of monoculturalism and willingness to mitigate it.

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Creator Hill, Everette Wesley (author)

Core Title Scaffolding conscientization to mitigate inequities in organizational design

School Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work

Degree Doctor of Social Work

Degree Program Social Work

Degree Conferral Date 2023-05

Publication Date 04/24/2023

Defense Date 04/10/2023

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

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