Why Implicit Bias Trainings Alone Don’t Fix Organizational Inequity
By Dr. Kathleen Yang-Clayton, Founder and Executive Director of C3E
If you’ve ever sat through an implicit bias training and thought, “This is important, but what happens next?” — you’re not alone.
Across local governments, I hear the same frustration from leaders and staff: we do the workshops, we have the conversations, but the daily challenges remain. Hiring still feels inconsistent. Communication gaps persist between our departments, let alone with our external stakeholders. Some employees thrive while others quietly disengage. It’s not because people aren’t learning; it’s because learning alone doesn’t change a dated set of standard operating procedures (what we call “zombie SOPs” that reinforce inequity every day).
I started this work back in 2017 when I joined the faculty of a public administration department, not knowing what or where it would lead me. Through my prior work in legislative advocacy, I had the simple (dumb) luck of meeting some of the most ethical and inspiring government leaders in public organizations across the state who knew that answering a basic research question could also help to answer a bunch of practical and pressing questions they face everyday:
How do we reimagine public institutions where equity drives performance?
After eight years of trial and error, reflection, partnerships and hard work, I feel we have a lot to share on this topic.
C3E’s working definition of equity is the systematic practice of ensuring that institutional policies, processes and resource allocations are intentionally designed to remove barriers and increase inclusion and belonging. It serves as our “North Star” in how we help teams redefine what effectiveness and efficiency is, which is to produce fair, measurable outcomes for those furthest from opportunity so that all people can participate, prosper and belong within effective and efficient public organizations and in the representative democracy they serve.
But before we get started, a quick word on authorship and ethics. This series is co-written by me and Coach Glenda v1.5, C3E’s custom GPT trained on our materials to extend our capacity as researchers, educators and equity practitioners. I’ve reviewed, edited, and fully endorse this content. I am responsible for its claims, its guidance, and any errors. Using AI here is not a shortcut; it’s a transparency choice and a capacity-building move — just like we recommend for government: declare your tools, document your reasoning, validate with data, and remain accountable to the public good.
Why read on? Because equity+effectiveness+efficiency is not a slogan — it’s a daily operating system. If you lead people, budgets, or processes, these posts will help you translate values into practice, without losing speed or rigor.