State Water Board coordinator unveils Equity Data Handbook and staff training options

Anna Holder, the open data science equity and tribal coordinator for the State Water Board's Office of Information Management and Analysis, presented an overview of a new Equity Data Handbook designed to help water board staff integrate racial equity into data projects.

"The equity data handbook is a living resource with curated best practices and guidance that's meant to support water board staff with incorporating racial equity concepts, principles, and practices into their data related work," Holder said, noting the document has grown from an early guidance memo into a substantially larger reference.

Holder described the handbook's primary audience as staff who work with data in any form and emphasized it is intended for practitioners across the organization — not only data experts. She recommended a "choose your own adventure" approach:…