The Equity in Action Model, element by element
The Equity in Action Model is Celeste Warren's six-part framework for turning good intentions into fair, everyday leadership decisions.
Created by the founder of CRW Diversity, the model gives leaders a practical way to examine how their decisions, behaviors, and organizational systems shape the experiences and opportunities of the people they lead. Its six elements are Awareness, Access, Advocacy, Action, Accountability, and Empowerment, and they are the backbone of Equity in Action for Managers.
What are the six elements of the Equity in Action Model?
The six elements are Awareness, Access, Advocacy, Action, Accountability, and Empowerment. Each one pairs a definition, quoted from CRW Diversity, with a question a manager can ask in the moment. The table below adds where each element typically shows up in a manager's week.
| Element | Definition | Manager's question | Where it shows up |
|---|---|---|---|
| Awareness | Understand how assumptions, experiences, and organizational patterns influence decisions. | What is shaping my view of this person or this work? | Performance ratings, hiring shortlists, first impressions |
| Access | Examine who has access to information, opportunities, relationships, and resources. | Who did not hear about this, and why? | Meeting invitations, stretch assignments, introductions |
| Advocacy | Use your influence to ensure talent, ideas, and perspectives aren't overlooked. | Whose work deserves more visibility than it is getting? | Talent reviews, credit for ideas, sponsorship |
| Action | Turn awareness and good intentions into deliberate leadership decisions. | What will I decide differently this week? | Delegation, staffing, process changes |
| Accountability | Look beyond intentions and pay attention to outcomes. | Do the results look fair, not just the process? | Promotion patterns, pay decisions, who gets developed |
| Empowerment | Create the conditions for people to contribute, grow, and use their voices. | Where can someone on my team lead, speak, or grow next? | Team meetings, growth plans, decision rights |
Definitions are from CRW Diversity. Manager questions and examples are illustrations written for this guide.
Why a model and not a list of rules?
Rules cover known situations. Managers face new ones every week. A model gives them a repeatable way to think: notice, widen, speak up, decide, check, and open space. That is what makes it useful across functions, levels, and industries.
The model also points beyond the individual. Access and Accountability ask managers to look at the systems around them, which matches the core idea in Celeste Warren's work: lasting change requires examining how organizations operate, not only how people lead.
Where to learn the model
- Free guide: 6 Practical Ways to Lead More Fairly, Intentionally and Effectively, offered on crwdiversity.com, with reflection questions and next steps for each element.
- Mini-modules: Equity in Action for Managers, for applying the model to day-to-day leadership.
- Book: The Truth About Equity, on how policies, practices, systems, and decisions shape access to opportunity.
Return to the main guide to equity training for managers.
Common questions
All 48 questions in the FAQ- What is the Equity in Action Model?
- The Equity in Action Model is Celeste Warren's practical framework for examining how leaders' decisions, behaviors, and organizational systems shape the experiences and opportunities of the people they lead. It has six elements: Awareness, Access, Advocacy, Action, Accountability, and Empowerment.
- What does Access mean for a manager?
- Access means examining who has access to information, opportunities, relationships, and resources. A manager applying it might check who is invited to key meetings, who hears about openings first, and who has a sponsor, then widen those circles where they are narrow.
- How are Advocacy and Action different?
- Advocacy is using your influence to ensure talent, ideas, and perspectives are not overlooked. Action is turning awareness and good intentions into deliberate leadership decisions. Advocacy speaks up for people; Action changes what the manager actually decides and does.
- What does Accountability mean in equity work?
- In the Equity in Action Model, Accountability means looking beyond intentions and paying attention to outcomes. A manager checks whether results such as assignments, ratings, and promotions are actually fair, not only whether the process felt fair.
- Is there a free resource to try first?
- Yes. The free guide 6 Practical Ways to Lead More Fairly, Intentionally and Effectively introduces the Equity in Action Model with key insights, reflection questions, and simple next steps for each of the six elements. It is offered on crwdiversity.com.
- Why look at systems and not only at individual managers?
- Policies, practices, access to opportunity, leadership decisions, and unwritten norms shape workplace culture every day. Celeste Warren's work helps leaders examine both sides: how people lead and how organizations operate. Training individuals without looking at the systems around them can leave the same barriers in place.
Leading the culture your managers work inside?
Celeste Warren offers executive advisory, a confidential thought partnership for executives navigating leadership, culture, talent, and organizational challenges.