Resources

This paper builds upon the Diversity in the Cyber Workforce: Addressing the Data Gap report. It explores the specific steps that the U.S. government could take to implement recommendations identified in the prior paper. It examines which federal agency should take primacy on the funding and execution of a national DEI cyber workforce program. The paper also explores what other nations have done to address this topic. Finally, this paper examines the types of legislation that would be needed to make this program happen.

The Diversity in the Cyber Workforce: Addressing the Data Gap report examines the challenges associated with producing a demographic baseline of the nation’s cyber workforce. The report discusses the benefits of having a diverse cyber workforce and describes the current state of knowledge regarding the diversity of that workforce. It identifies the most significant challenges associated with the collection, analysis, and distribution of cyber workforce diversity data and provides insights based on our research and inputs from key stakeholders. The report closes with a set of actionable recommendations that address the challenges described within.

The Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Interactive Dashboard (3MID) informs data-driven decisions in maternal health. 3MID analyzes how budgeting, social determinants of health, medical interventions, and policy can reduce rates of maternal morbidity and mortality across the United States. It incorporates local factors, including state-specific demographics and resources, to enhance outcomes for priority populations that include rural residents, racial and ethnic groups, and groups that have been economically marginalized.

Updated in collaboration between MITRE's Innovation Toolkit (ITK) and Social Justice Platform (SJP), ITK PAINstorming helps improve your team’s understanding of a user’s behaviors, pain points, assumptions, and needs. This worksheet helps focus your team on addressing actual user preferences, and it can also help explore assumptions or unknown gaps about users. In addition, the embedded equity lens helps your team broaden their perspective to consider what else may have historically occurred or be contributing to today’s current status quo. Collectively exploring these additional questions will help your team develop deeper insights about your ideal user and identify more opportunities for innovation.

Developed in collaboration between MITRE's Innovation Toolkit (ITK) and Social Justice Platform (SJP), the ITK Quickstart Stakeholder Engagement canvas is divided into two complementary sides – “Analysis” and “Engagement”. The “Analysis” side of the canvas helps your team identify and assess a stakeholder’s needs, wants, and influence. It also helps your team get clear on their wants and needs, which will help identify where the team’s priorities do or do not match with the stakeholder. The “Engagement” side of the canvas helps your team consider how to approach the first (or next) engagement with the stakeholder. In addition, the embedded equity lens helps your team explore four additional considerations beyond the default to help create more equity-informed engagements. This helps broaden your team’s thinking and raise their collective awareness, both of which can help inspire new thinking and opportunities for innovation.

The ITK Stakeholder Power Categories tool helps your team quickly categorize and prioritize which stakeholders to engage, by considering each stakeholder’s power over the effort and how much each stakeholder is impacted by the effort. This tool contains an equity lens that emphasizes direct participation by those who are most impacted and often overlooked or excluded. This tool also helps your team ideate how to elevate the most impacted stakeholders by giving them active roles in the effort.

On January 20, 2021, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released an Executive Order (EO) titled Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities. This EO required federal government departments and agencies to conduct equity assessments and develop plans for addressing inequities faced by underserved populations. A few months later, OMB issued a Request for Information (RFI) titled Methods and Leading Practices for Advancing Equity and Support for Underserved Communities through Government. The RFI sought input, information, and recommendations on available methods, approaches, and tools that could assist agencies carrying out the task described in the Racial Equity EO. MITRE responded to OMB RFI request and shared its perspective on tools and practices that could help the Federal government achieve its equity goals.

The Federal Inclusivity Index Tool (FIIT) gives government leaders the capability to assess the levels of diversity, equity and inclusion in the federal workforce and to identify strategies for addressing barriers that prevent full participation by employees. Decision-makers can use FIIT to answer several questions, including: • Relative to agency benchmarks, how inclusive is my organization? • What workforce barriers do I need to address in my agency? • What strategies could I put in place to eliminate the barriers? The FIIT addresses these questions by layering analytic tools over publicly available data from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). In addition, agencies can easily upload their own data into the tool. This mix of features provides agencies with both government-wide and component-level views of workforce programs so they can identify areas of strength, understand barriers, and make informed decisions that support strategic workforce diversity, equity and inclusion goals and objectives. 

The Equity Indicator Library aims to increase the understanding of equity in communities. Indicators are measures that identify something without directly observing it. The goal of the Indicator Library is to understand disparities in communities by assessing current and historical trends. Indicators should be used to motivate further research to define relationships between indicators and root causes. They can also be used to create measurable goals and make informed policy decisions to increase equitable outcomes.