The Anti-Racism Blueprint: Action Planning Toolkit for Organizations

The Anti-Racism Blueprint: Action Planning Toolkit for Organizations  

AAISA created this toolkit to help Service Provider Organizations (SPOs) in Alberta strengthen their Anti-Racism Action Plans and meet national standards. 

This Toolkit Supports Organizations to : 

• Stay committed to fighting racism and discrimination 

• Promote equity, diversity, and inclusion while recognizing systemic racism 

• Develop and implement an Anti-Racism Action Plan 

• Make accountable decisions that remove barriers and create opportunities 

Our goal is to help SPOs move from commitment to action, creating meaningful and sustainable anti-racism strategies. 

Download the Toolkit PDF Here!

What’s Inside & How to Use this Toolkit  

Here are suggested steps to guide you through your planning: 

1. Reference Other Action Plans: Review successful action plans from organizations to gather inspiration. 

2. Assess your Organization: Use these tools to assess your organization’s current state and start drafting your plan. 

3. Grounding in Frameworks and  Teachings:  Build on Frameworks and Indigenous Teachings with holistic approaches. 

4. Checklist Aligned with National Standards and IRCC: Incorporate all items form this checklist to meet key elements. 

5. Explore Available Trainings: Take part in courses and programs that support anti-racism learning and practice.

For any inquires or to connect further with some of the resources found here, contact AAISA research at  research@aaisa.ca 

Step 1. Reference Other Action Plans  

Below are a few examples that provide tested models, practical tools, and adaptable frameworks that help organizations move from intention to implementation. Drawing on sector-specific guidance, flexible approaches, and local accountability measures. These examples can be adapted to fit different contexts, ensuring that anti-racism work is both meaningful and sustainable. 

• ARAISA Anti-Racism Action Planning: Ideal for guiding sector specific anti-racism planning with practical steps and context-relevant frameworks.

• MANSO Anti-Racism Policy for the Settlement Sector: Detailed explanation to align with an Anti-Racism Plan and a multi-year anti-racism strategy that is real, systemic, and sustainable (pg.2).

• Anti-Racism Working Document Action Plan: Useful for creating flexible, evolving action plans that can be refined through ongoing staff and stakeholder input.

• UN Addressing Racism Action Plan: Valuable for incorporating global human rights language and internationally recognized anti-racism commitments into local policies.

• City of Calgary Anti-Racism Strategic Plan: Helpful when adapting community engagement strategies to organizational settings, municipal-level frameworks, and public accountability measures.

Step 2. Assess your Organization 

Here are two resources to assess your organization’s current state, (re)define priorities, and build effective anti-racism action plans.  

OCASI’s Organizational Assessment Tool

Our partners at the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI) have created an assessment tool designed to evaluate the application of anti-racism and anti-oppression principles across three areas:

• Organizational Accountability: Basic standards which demonstrate an organization’s commitment and accountability.

• Organizational Implementation and Application: Organizational standards in implementing anti-racism.

• Organizational Principles and Culture: Standards illustrating organizational norms, attitudes, and principles.

Click here to complete the Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression Organizational Assessment 

Action Dignity’s Structured Plan Template

This template is for organizations seeking to build their Anti-Racism Action Plans in a practical and structured way. It provides a strong foundation for those at the early stages of their anti-racism journey, ensuring that reflection, planning, and accountability are built in from the start.

For further comprehensive and tailored support, connect with Anti-Racism Specialist Towani Duchscher at Action Dignity. A 30-minute call with Towani can help align Systems-Led Anti-Racism Training with newcomer-sector realities and organizational anti-racism goals. 

Click here to complete the ActionDignity-Anti-Racism Plan Template  

Step 3. Groundwork in Frameworks and Teachings

Building a strong anti-racism action plan requires starting with personal reflection, drawing on proven frameworks, and embedding long-term organizational change. Each layer reinforces the other, ensuring action is both intentional and sustainable. 

Personal Foundation & Context for Action

Effective change begins with self-awareness. Tools like Individual Positionality, the Wheel of Privilege and Power, and Understanding Bias help staff and leaders reflect on their own roles, advantages, and blind spots. This groundwork ensures that organizational strategies are informed by critical self-reflection.

• Individual Positionality

• Wheel of Privilege and Power

• Understanding Bias – A Resource Guide 

Frameworks to Consider for Action 

Frameworks provide structured guidance to move from reflection to implementation. The below listed frameworks offer step-by-step progression models and layers of accountability, cultural safety, and well-being that support Anti-Racism.

• Knowledge to Action Framework

• The City of Calgary Anti-Racism Maturity Model

• OCASI Analytical Frameworks for Building Equity (pg.4)

• Anti-Racism, Cultural Safety & Humility Framework

• The National Standards for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace 

Integrate Indigenous Frameworks & Concepts for Action 

Incorporating Indigenous frameworks grounds anti-racism planning in values of interconnectedness, balance, and collective responsibility. Valuable to ensure anti-indigenous racism and that anti-racism plans move beyond interpersonal issues and address policy, funding, and service delivery inequities. Helpful teachings as core organizational values to shape the tone, objectives, and accountability measures of anti-racism plans.

• Indigenous Anti-racism and Anti-colonial (ARC) Practice

• The Seven Grandfather Teachings Anishinaabe/Ojibwe 

Examples of Medicine Wheels in Practice for Action Plans 

The Medicine Wheel is a holistic framework that connects physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being. Organizations can use its four quadrants to design anti-racism initiatives that support staff wellness, build community trust, and ensure cultural safety. Variants like Culture & Language, Holistic Education, and Holistic Health show how it can be applied in practice.

• Culture & Language Medicine Wheel

• Holistic Education

• Holistic Health 

Organizational Change Towards Anti-Racism 

For impact to last, anti-racism must be woven into policies, practices, and culture. The below resources offer practical guidance for embedding equity into governance, service delivery, and organizational culture.

• Boys & Girls Club Anti-Racism Toolkit

• Government of Canada Anti Racism Toolkit

• Native Women’s Association of Canada Research Toolkit

• Fighting Racism and Discrimination UNESCO 

Step 4. Checklist Aligned with National Standards and IRCC:  

This checklist was developed with guidance from IRCC’s standards, but it is designed to be practical and adaptable for any organization working to advance anti-racism. Use it to strengthen and finalize your Anti-Racism Action Plan in line with nationally recognized best practices, ensuring consistency, accountability, and meaningful impact.  

Click here to complete AAISA’s Anti-Racism Action Plan Checklist

Step 5. Explore Available Trainings 

Training opportunities to build staff knowledge, confidence, and skills to recognize and address systemic racism. As well as equip teams with practical tools and critical understanding to integrate anti-racism into daily operations and decision-making. 

Systemic Learning

Focuses on structural and institutional change, giving organizations tools to address racism at its root.

• Action Dignity Systems Led Anti-Racism Training Program: Training focused on helping organizations identify and address systemic racism at the policy, program, and institutional level, using community engagement and systems-change tools. For more tailored training, contact: Towani Duchscher (towani.duchscher@actiondignity.org). 

Conceptual Learning

Builds knowledge, reflection, and critical thinking, helping staff understand anti-racism concepts for application.

• University of Alberta – Enroll in the Anti-Racism Tools and Thoughts course: An academic-style course that explores anti-racism concepts, frameworks, and practical applications, encouraging critical thinking and self-reflection for professionals across sectors. 

Intersectional Learning

Equips teams to apply an equity and intersectional lens, ensuring policies and practices consider overlapping identities and barriers.

• ARAISA- Introduction to Gender-Based Analysis Plus: Foundations of GBA Plus, covering intersectionality, equity, and systemic barriers, with practical applications for planning and decision-making.

• ARAISA-Organizational Capacity Building Through a GBA Plus Lens: Supports embedding GBA Plus into policies, programs, and services to strengthen equity and inclusivity.