This morning the White House hosted a virtual convening on equity and announced the release of the first-ever federal Equity Action Plans. They were developed by over 90 federal agencies as directed by President Biden’s Executive Order 13985, Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government.

The Equity Action Plans are available on a newly launched interactive site: whitehouse.gov/equity. Executive summaries are also available for review.

These plans will help guide how funding made available by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will be granted. Agencies are embedding equity in grantmaking by:

  • Helping underserved communities learn about and navigate federal funding opportunities, providing technical assistance throughout the application process, and making federal funding applications simpler and easier to navigate
  • Reducing administrative burden in grants applications and in compliance activities
  • Ensuring that application reviews are equitable by using evidence-informed decision-making processes
  • Including consideration of equity impacts in Notices of Funding Opportunity, and tracking the extent to which financial activities as budgeted advance equitable outcomes

InfrastructureLA is hopeful that the Federal Equity Action Plans will result in the Los Angeles County region being able to compete for and secure funding for its most underserved communities.