The Importance of Engaging Equity Denied Groups
In communities across the country, organizations are increasingly recognizing that meaningful change cannot happen without intentionally engaging equity denied groups in ways that are relational, ethical, and grounded in care. This includes communities who experience ongoing exclusion based on race, Indigeneity, disability, gender identity, sexuality, class, age, citizenship, or intersecting forms of marginalization. Yet even with widespread commitment to equity, many engagement practices still fall into patterns of extraction, tokenism, or surface level listening that fail to shift power or relationships.
Ethical engagement requires a different approach, one that is rooted in relationship, history, and accountability. It asks us to slow down, to listen deeply, to honour community wisdom, and to recognize that engagement is not simply an activity but a practice that shapes how communities experience trust, safety, and belonging. When we view engagement through this lens, we begin to understand that our work is not only about gathering information but about strengthening the conditions under which people and communities can thrive.
One of the most important aspects of ethical engagement is beginning with genuine relationship. Too often, institutions approach equity denied communities only when feedback, representation, or validation is needed. Communities feel this immediately, and many have long histories of being engaged for their labour without receiving care or support in return. Ethical practice begins long before the first conversation. It requires investing in relationships for the sake of relationship, learning what matters to the community, and offering support without expecting anything in return. This establishes a foundation of trust that cannot be manufactured at the moment of consultation.
Three Lessons on Engaging Equity Denied Groups
One of the documents that informed this section is the Province of Nova Scotia’s Equity and Anti-Racism Strategy (2023), which outlines culturally rooted engagement principles such as Sankofa, Etuaptmumk/Two-Eyed Seeing, and Ubuntu. These principles emphasize relationship-centred practice, historical accountability, and shared humanity.
Historical context also matters. The teaching of Sankofa, which calls us to go back and retrieve what has been forgotten or ignored, reminds us that inequities are not accidental. They are shaped by histories of colonization, anti-Black racism, ableism, patriarchy, and policies that have systematically excluded certain communities from safety and opportunity. By grounding engagement in historical truth, we avoid the harmful pattern of treating current disparities as isolated or individual issues. Instead, we acknowledge that communities carry memory, experience, and often trauma related to institutions. Ethical engagement requires us to name these histories honestly and to understand how they continue to shape present day distrust, access, and participation.
Alongside history, we must also broaden how we understand knowledge. Etuaptmumk, often known as Two Eyed Seeing, invites us to hold the strengths of Indigenous knowledge systems alongside the strengths of Western knowledge systems. When applied to engagement, it challenges us to value story, lived experience, cultural teaching, and land-based wisdom as equal to quantitative data. Many institutions rely solely on Western methods of measurement and evaluation, which can flatten or erase the knowledge that communities carry. A Two Eyed Seeing approach honours multiple ways of knowing and deepens our ability to understand the complex conditions that shape people’s lives.
Ubuntu, meaning I am because you are, brings another essential dimension to ethical engagement. Ubuntu reminds us that our wellbeing is interconnected and that our decisions have relational consequences. It is a call to treat engagement not as a transaction but as a practice of relational accountability. When we centre dignity, respect, and shared humanity in our interactions, we build spaces where people feel seen and valued. This principle encourages organizations to consider how their processes, timelines, and expectations impact the communities they aim to support. It also pushes us to reflect on our own roles and responsibilities within systems that have historically caused harm.
Addressing Power Imbalances
Ethical engagement with equity denied groups also requires clarity. Communities deserve to know why they are being engaged, how their input will shape decisions, what decisions are actually open to influence, and what commitments the organization is making in return. Without this clarity, engagement can easily feel extractive or performative. Transparency builds trust and creates conditions for collaborative action.
Removing barriers to participation is another essential component. Engagement cannot be equitable if people must navigate inaccessible processes, language barriers, unsafe spaces, or uncompensated labour in order to participate. Providing compensation, childcare, transportation, interpretation, plain language communication, and multiple ways to engage should be standard practice. These are not extras but core components of equity.
Most importantly, ethical engagement must lead to shared power. Listening to communities is not enough if decisions, resources, and influence remain in the same hands. Supporting equity denied communities means shifting who shapes priorities, who decides how resources flow, and who defines what success looks like. This includes redistributing leadership, co-creating solutions, investing in community led initiatives, and ensuring that engagement outcomes reflect community defined measures rather than institutional convenience.
Finally, ethical engagement requires closing the loop and maintaining relationship after the engagement ends. Communities deserve to know how their contributions were used, what decisions were made, and what will happen next. This kind of accountability strengthens trust and demonstrates that engagement is part of a longer journey, not a one-time activity.
Creating Just Futures
When engagement is rooted in Etuaptmumk, Sankofa, and Ubuntu, we create conditions where equity denied communities are not simply consulted but truly supported. This approach honours history, values diverse knowledge systems, and strengthens relational accountability. It also aligns with broader systems change work that seeks to shift power, address root causes, and foster belonging at every level of community and institutional practice.
Engaging ethically with equity denied groups is not a singular technique. It is a commitment to showing up differently and a recognition that transformation requires humility, care, and a willingness to be changed by what we learn. When we practice engagement in ways that honour community wisdom, history, and humanity, we move closer to creating the just and connected communities that we all deserve.
The image used in this blog is from CIRA's Indigenous Stock Photo Library.
