Equity Agenda was a consultancy that worked with local governments and nonprofits to assess gender equity in their communities and to develop policies to address any perceived inequities. ¹ It was founded in 2019 by Democratic operative and activist Heidi Gerbracht. One of its major accomplishments was co-creating the Women Mayors Network with University of Wisconsin’s Mayors Innovation Project as a forum for women mayors throughout the country. ²

In July 2022, Gerbracht joined far-left political training organization re:power as director of its Progressive Governance Academy. Equity Agenda is no longer active. ³

Background

Equity Agenda was founded by left-of-center activist and Democratic operative Heidi Gerbracht in 2019 in Austin, Texas to combine her experience working with city governments and her work as a board member and volunteer at gender equity nonprofits. The organization was formed as a consultancy to work with city governments and nonprofits on issues related to gender equity ⁴ and to “support” women, transgender, gender nonconforming, and nonbinary people. ⁵

Equity Agenda was a fiscally sponsored project of the Social Good Fund. ⁶ The project was no longer active as of July 2022 ⁷ when Gerbracht joined far-left political training organization re:power as director of the Progressive Governance Academy. ⁸

Programs

Through public policy research and development Equity Agenda created policy recommendations for several issues including addressing so-called pay inequity in cities, ensuring equitable public transportation, and limiting access to guns. ⁹

Equity Agenda developed additional resources on addressing gender equity and instructions on how to advocate and engage local government which are posted on the website. ¹⁰

Women Mayors Network began in 2020 in partnership with University of Wisconsin’s Mayors Innovation Project to provide a network for women mayors across the country with a focus on leadership for women and the challenges associated with sexism. ¹¹

Funding

Equity Agenda is a fiscally sponsored project of the Social Good Fund, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and donor-advised fund provider. ¹² Fiscal sponsorship allowed Equity Agenda to get donors for its cause without being a standalone tax-exempt organization under IRS rules. Donations went to the Social Good Fund which performed administration and manages the organization’s financials. ¹³ Social Good Fund sponsors several left-of-center projects, including Climate Disobedience Center (CDC), Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ), Women’s March San Luis Obispo, and CorpWatch. ¹⁴

Donors

Supporters listed on Equity Agenda’s website include Barbara Lee Family Foundation and PepsiCo. ¹⁵

Clients and partners listed on the website include abortion advocacy group Lilith Fund; ¹⁶ sex worker outreach project SWOP ATX; ¹⁷ Jane’s Due Process, an organization that provides teenage girls legal help to get an abortion without parental permission; ¹⁸ and abortion advocacy group National Institute for Reproductive Health. ^{19 20}

Leadership

Heidi Gerbracht was the founder and director of Equity Agenda. She is board vice chair of URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity and board chair of Annie’s List, an organization in Texas that works to elect left-wing women to office. ²¹ URGE is a left-of-center pro-abortion and gender-activist organization. ²² Previously, she was the chief of staff and policy director for Austin city council member Bill Spelman (D). ²³

In July 2022, she left Equity Agenda and joined re:power as director of the Progressive Governance Academy, ²⁴ a training program focused on developing the “leadership skills of progressive state and local elected officials across the country.” ²⁵

Equity Agenda’s advisory board consisted of nine women. Danielle Adams was the southern coordinator for Local Progress, a “network of over 500 progressive local elected officials.” ²⁶ Jenny Dodson Mistry was vice president of programs and partnerships at National Institute for Reproductive Health. ²⁷ Chastity Wells-Armstrong was former mayor of Kankakee, Illinois. ²⁸ Satya Rhodes-Conway is the mayor of Madison, Wisconsin. ²⁹

1. “Welcome Heidi Gerbracht, Our New PGA Director!” re:power – Newsroom. July 29, 2022. Accessed March 22, 2023. https://repower.org/welcome-heidi-gerbracht/
2. Equity Agenda home page. Accessed March 23, 2023. https://equityagenda.org/
3. “Welcome Heidi Gerbracht, Our New PGA Director!” re:power – Newsroom. July 29, 2022. Accessed March 22, 2023. https://repower.org/welcome-heidi-gerbracht/
4. “Welcome to Equity Agenda!” Equity Agenda – Blog. October 27, 2020. Accessed March 22, 2023. https://equityagenda.org/2020/10/27/welcome-to-equity-agenda/
5. “Achieving Gender Equity Benefits Everyone.” Equity Agenda. Accessed March 22, 2023. https://equityagenda.org/
6. Equity Agenda home page. Accessed March 22, 2023. https://equityagenda.org/
7. Equity Agenda – Contribute. Accessed March 22, 2023. https://equityagenda.org/#contribute
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17. SWEET home page. Accessed March 22, 2023. https://www.sweetatx.org/
18. Jane’s Due Process home page. Accessed March 22, 2023. https://janesdueprocess.org/
19. NIRH National Institute for Reproductive Health home page. Accessed March 22, 2023. https://nirhealth.org/
20. Equity Agenda home page. Accessed March 22, 2023. https://equityagenda.org/
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22. “A Young People’s RJ Policy Agenda.” URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity – Issues. Accessed March 22, 2023. https://urge.org/yppa2020/
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24. LinkedIn – Heidi Gerbracht. Accessed March 22, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidi-gerbracht-6009416/
25. “Progressive Governance Academy: Equipping the Next Generation of Progressive Elected Leaders.” re:power – classroom. Accessed March 22, 2023. https://repower.org/classroom/pga/
26. “Plate to Politics Podcast: Danielle Adams, Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor.” Women, Food & Agriculture Network. June 28, 2019. Accessed March 23, 2023. https://wfan.org/plate-to-politics-podcast/2019/4/12/plate-to-politics-podcast-danielle-adams
27. “Jenny Dodson Mistry.” NIRH – Who We Are. Accessed March 23, 2023. https://nirhealth.org/staff/jenny-dodson-mistry/
28. “Chastity Wells-Armstrong.” Kankakee United. Accessed March 23, 2023. https://ku.citykankakee-il.gov/Mayor%20Chasity%20Wells-Armstrong.php
29. “Advisory Board.” Equity Agenda. Accessed March 23, 2023. https://equityagenda.org/