Beyond the Checklist: Why Equity Must Shift from Compliance to Restorative Practice

As we move through the final weeks of December, I find myself in a season of "wintering"—a time for unearthing the roots of the past year to see what is worth carrying into the next.

This year has been one of high-stakes transition. It took me from the heat of a primary campaign trail in August—where I ultimately saw a narrow margin of just 1.11%—to a deep, quiet reflection on the state of leadership today. In processing the finality of those results this past week, I realized that the greatest threat to our progress isn't a lost election; it is the reduction of equity work into a mere compliance exercise.

The Compliance Trap

In my book, Unearthing Our Roots, I discuss how "equity" is often treated as a performative band-aid. In policy circles and corporate boardrooms alike, we see organizations rushing to "check the box" to satisfy a mandate or a federal requirement.

Compliance-based equity is defensive. It is designed to mitigate risk and maintain the status quo. It asks, "What is the minimum we must do to remain compliant?" This approach is fragile because it is tied to whoever holds the pen at the federal level. Today, we see equity protections being threatened and dismantled at a national scale. When our progress is built solely on the foundation of compliance, it is easily erased when the political winds shift.

Equity as a Restorative Practice

To build something unshakeable, we must move toward Restorative Practice. This isn't about following a rule; it’s about healing a rupture. It is the intentional work of building Relationship Equity.

In Unearthing Our Roots, I define Relationship Equity as the investment we make in our "community bank accounts." This isn't a transactional exchange; it is the slow, deliberate work of building trust, transparency, and shared power.

Restorative equity requires:

• Authenticity over Aesthetics: We must stop prioritizing how the work looks and start prioritizing how it feels to the people most impacted.

• Holding Space for Nuance: As I wrote in the book, "our communities won’t survive without holding space for nuanced solutions." We cannot solve complex systemic issues with binary, "yes/no" compliance checklists.

• Accessible Leadership: Policy shouldn't just be written; it must be understood. Accessibility means ensuring that our message and our power are reachable by the "19-year-old with a food truck" or the "solo parent building a new foundation."

  
  

The Power of the 1.11%

People often ask me how I feel about losing by such a small margin. My answer is this: 1.11% is not a deficit; it is a foundation. That margin represents a community that is awake, organized, and ready. It proves that when we lead with lived experience—from the culinary arts to policy degrees, from the struggle of solo parenting to the halls of the University of Washington—we create a resonance that the "political machine" cannot ignore.

Looking Toward the New Year

As we approach January, the temptation will be to set new "compliance goals." I challenge you to do something deeper.

Whether you are a policy student, a fellow entrepreneur, or a corporate leader, ask yourself: Are you building a checklist, or are you building a legacy?

We cannot control the shifting tides at the federal level, but we can control the depth of our roots. Let’s spend this winter unearthing the performative and planting the restorative.

Krista R. Pérez is a Policy Strategist, Restorative Equity SME, and the author of Unearthing Our Roots. She is currently booking keynotes and strategy workshops for Q1 and Q2.