One Fairfax

One Fairfax logoOne Fairfax is a joint racial and social equity policy of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and School Board. The 2016 One Fairfax Resolution commits the county and schools to intentionally consider equity when making policies or delivering programs and services.

It is the commitment to promote fairness and justice in the formation of public policy that results in all residents – regardless of age, race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, marital status, disability, socio-economic status or neighborhood of residence or other characteristics – having opportunity to fully participate in the region’s economic vitality, contribute to its readiness for the future, and connect to its assets and resources.

The One Fairfax Policy establishes shared definitions, focus areas, processes and organizational structure to help county and school leaders to look intentionally, comprehensively and systematically at barriers that may be creating gaps in opportunity. The One Fairfax Policy includes a purpose, definitions, areas of focus to promote equity, process and roles.

Read the One Fairfax Policy

 

ON THIS PAGE: Why One Fairfax?; Stakeholder Engagement; 5 Key Equity Drivers; Resources

 

Why One Fairfax?

While Fairfax County is a great place to live, learn, work, worship and play, persistent disparities predictable by race, neighborhood of residence and other social categories still exist in outcomes related to employment, housing, health and more. Disparities in outcomes are in part the result of longstanding inequitable policies, systems, and practices created and maintained by government.

One Fairfax recognizes equity is also an economic imperative. Economic research shows that counties with greater social and racial inclusion have: Stronger and longer periods of economic growth; Faster per capita income growth; Increased wages as adults for children who grew up in lower—and higher—income families.

Research institutes PolicyLink and the Program for Environmental and Regional Equity at the University of Southern California studied the economic impact of inequity in Fairfax County. It found that the county’s gross domestic product would have been $26.2 billion higher in 2012 if its racial gaps in income were closed.

Equitable Growth Profile Summary
Equitable Growth Profile Full Report

One Fairfax Video Playlist

Watch One Fairfax: A Vision for Equity to learn more. The video is available with captioning in the following languages:

One Fairfax Videos

WHY WE CENTER RACE

Group of Equity Stakeholders in the Board Auditorium  

The findings of former Chairman Bulova's Stakeholder’s Council on Race as outlined in their report, along with data by population and place (see ‘Resources’ at the bottom of this page), identify race as the key predictor of inequity in Fairfax County. Therefore, in our application of the One Fairfax Policy, we center race. We are race explicit but not race exclusive. Other characteristics intersect with race to further marginalize populations and limit access to opportunity. Fairfax County has county programs and services, as well as Board, Authorities, and Commissions that address areas of marginalization such as age, disability, and socioeconomic status. Efforts to address racial and social equity focus on the intersection of these areas to build and connect communities to opportunity.

Chairman's Stakeholders Council on Race Report

Equity Lens graphic representation of a camera

Equity exists when one can no longer predict advantage or disadvantage by group identity.

One Fairfax defines equity as:

"The commitment to promote fairness and justice in the formation of public policy that results in all residents – regardless of age, race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, marital status, disability, socio-economic status or neighborhood of residence or other characteristics – having opportunity to fully participate in the region’s economic vitality, contribute to its readiness for the future, and connect to its assets and resources."

This infographic explains how we're applying an equity lens, our focus areas, core approaches and outcomes:

Equity Lens Infographic

Normalize-Organize-Operationalize graphic

One Fairfax is a framework that will be used to consider equity in decision-making and in the development and delivery of future policies, program and services. It will help county and school leaders to look intentionally, comprehensively and systematically at barriers that may be creating gaps in opportunity. 

  • Normalize: Shared analysis/definitions; prioritizing equity.
  • Organize: Internal infrastructure; partnerships.
  • Operationalize: Equity tools; data to develop strategies and drive results.
View the Full-Size Framework Graphic

Each year, departments and agencies create equity impact plans to ensure that equity is intentionally considered in decision making.

These plans are helping deconstruct barriers to opportunity and:

  • Operationalize the county’s expressed commitment to advance racial and social equity through the One Fairfax Policy.
     
  • Reflect the county’s deepening capacity to consider equity in planning and decision making within our departments, agencies, and cross-system initiatives.
Equity Impact Plans & Reports

COUNTYWIDE STRATEGIC PLAN

Equity is a key driver of the Countywide Strategic Plan.

The Countywide Strategic Plan sets a clear, unified, community-driven vision for the next 10-20 years by focusing on ten Community Outcome Areas. As the Countywide Strategic Plan is implemented, we will focus on transforming what the Northern Virginia Health Foundation describes as islands of disadvantage – areas where residents face economic, educational, health, housing and other challenges – into communities of opportunity by understanding opportunity and vulnerability, targeting interventions to build opportunity, targeting interventions to connect to opportunity and encouraging the development of an inclusive economy.

Countywide Strategic Plan Website

Learn more about the outcome areas and see how people in our community are faring in specific neighborhoods and population groups on the Data Dashboards. 

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

The One Fairfax Policy identifies community engagement as essential to enable the development, implementation, and evaluation of policies, programs, and practices that advance equity:

“To foster civil discourse and dialogue, community engagement shall ensure that the breadth of interests, ideas, and values of all people are heard and considered. Outreach and public participation processes will be inclusive of diverse races, cultures, ages, and other social statuses. Effective listening, transparency, flexibility, and adaptability will be utilized to overcome barriers.”

Community engagement has always been an important hallmark and experience in Fairfax County. The challenges and opportunities facing Fairfax County cannot and will not be solved by county government alone. The creativity, diversity and energy of our residents, businesses and community organizations will need to be harnessed if we are all to achieve continued success. To accomplish this, the Engage Fairfax County framework was developed to promote inclusive, equitable and authentic community engagement to ensure all voices, including historically underrepresented communities, are included in the county’s planning and decision-making processes.

Learn More About Opportunities to Engage

Core opportunities to engage

Core Principles of Fairfax County Engagement

  1. Prioritize Equity - In prioritizing equity, it is critical that we acknowledge and address intentional and unintentional inequities as we move toward a more inclusive engagement process.
  2. Establish and Maintain Trust - Work with communities in an honest and transparent manner, considering and respecting history culture and trauma.
  3. Develop Data-Driven Processes - Equip staff and residents to utilize data to inform all aspects of the engagement process.
  4. Enable Engaged Communications - Communicate clearly and openly for meaningful public input, board community participation, and engagement in the decision-making process.
  5. Promote and Create Accessible Government - Collaborate with the community to ensure public engagement processes are broadly accessible to all members of the public to promote meaningful participation. 

Community Engagement Spectrum

Fairfax County Community Engagement Spectrum

The county's commitment to the community is to be clear about the level of engagement expected for decisions. various relationships, capacity building, community outreach, communications and marketing happen constantly and concurrently to support the engagement levels noted to the right. 

Engagement Level Community Role Fairfax County Role
Understand Listen and ask questions to comprehend and grasp significance. Provide the community with balanced, objective information.
Contribute  Share concerns and aspirations, and consider the concerns and aspirations expressed by others. Listen to and acknowledge concerns and aspirations expressed by community and ensure they are considered.
Collaborate Partner with the county in the development of alternatives and the identification of preferred solutions. Look to the community in the formulation of solutions and incorporate into decision making to the maximum extent possible.
Decide Accept trust of county and community to respect and represent their interests in the decision-making process. Strategically delegate decision-making as appropriate, such as with the BACs. 

Inclusive Engagement Considerations

How do we make engagement "inclusive?"

Inclusive engagement considerations:

  • Language Access
  • Literacy and Plain Language
  • Population/Cultural
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Equity
  • Virtual
  • Geography/Location
  • Time

The County convenes groups of stakeholders to gain a better understanding of the drivers and roots of inequity in Fairfax County. Stakeholders represent our residents, staff, and the civic, faith, nonprofit, philanthropic, and business communities while leveraging their insights and experiences to co-create solutions for an equitable future and advance our progress toward equity.

 

ONE FAIRFAX COMMUNITY ROUNDTABLE 

The purpose of the One Fairfax Community Roundtable (Roundtable) is to leverage members’ insights, experiences, and understanding of the drivers of inequity in Fairfax County to monitor, inform, and support the county’s efforts to advance racial and social equity in alignment with the Countywide Strategic Plan and the county’s One Fairfax Racial and Social Equity Policy. The Roundtable, established in April 2024, consists of 19 members based on recommendations from the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to the County’s Chief Equity Officer. The 2024-2026 Roundtable membership consists of individuals representative of Black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) and low-income communities, women, people living with disabilities, individuals who identify as LGBTQIA+, and other underrepresented groups.

Kick-off meetings for the Roundtable were held on April 24th, 2024, and June 4th, 2024. During the June 4th meeting, members elected Jessica Arias and Jorge Figueredo to serve as the Roundtable’s 2024-2026 Co-chairs. During Summer 2024, members will continue to work with county staff to refine the Roundtable’s operations by early September. Except for holidays, future meetings will be scheduled on the First Tuesdays of the month on a quarterly basis, or as needed.

More information about the Roundtable, including opportunities for public comment, will be available on a website coming soon. For more information about the One Fairfax Community Roundtable, please email us at onefairfaxroundtable@fairfaxcounty.gov.
 

Image of the Chairman's Equity task forceIn September 2020, Chairman Jeff McKay convened the Chairman’s Task Force on Equity and Opportunity to better understand the drivers of inequity in Fairfax County and to develop recommendations for accelerating the county’s progress towards becoming One Fairfax. The insights and recommendations developed by the Task Force were identified as critical to advancing racial and social equity in Fairfax County.

 

 

The opening statement in each area below was the Task Force’s vision for the related key equity driver.

5 KEY EQUITY DRIVERS

Achieving the vision of an equitable Fairfax County requires addressing each of the five key equity drivers.

Fairfax County is a place where all people can attain their highest level of health and wellbeing.

Related Efforts and initiatives:

The Vaccine Equity Strategy Team, comprised of county staff from the Health Department, Neighborhood and Community Services, the Office of Public Affairs and the One Fairfax Central Team, was convened in early 2021. The team reviewed data and promoted equity in vaccination through targeted strategies toward population groups and communities with lower vaccination rates. 

All people in Fairfax County are entitled to expect that their law enforcement and other public safety departments provide service consistent with the roles defined for them through community involvement and input, and that they should to do so in a manner that is fully transparent and accountable to the public, ensures through implicit bias and cultural competency training that all persons are treated equally and that racial, cultural or other profiling does not occur, and prevents the excessive and unnecessary use of force.

Related Efforts and initiatives:

All people in Fairfax County, from cradle to career and beyond, are taking advantage of inclusive, responsive, high quality, and accessible learning opportunities that enable them to grow, prosper, and thrive, to become self-sufficient and engaged county residents.

Related Efforts and initiatives:

Fairfax County is a place where all people live in communities of opportunity with the ability to engage fully in decisions that affect their lives and neighborhoods.

Related Efforts and initiatives:

Communities of color are driving Fairfax County’s population growth, and their ability to contribute to the economy and share in its benefits is central to the county’s success.

Related Efforts and initiatives:

Resources

Contact the One Fairfax team at onefairfax@fairfaxcounty.gov with questions.

  • Communities of Opportunity Dashboard offers two tools that display the variation in access to opportunity and wellbeing across the county: the Communities of Opportunity Index and the Communities of Opportunity Equity Map. This information can inform collective action aligned to the Countywide Strategic Plan and efforts that change the built environment of the county to build and connect residents to opportunity and promote wellbeing.
  • Vulnerability Index shows areas in Fairfax County that are the most vulnerable based on occupation, education, language, income, transportation, health insurance, and housing. The Vulnerability Index can be used with data on community engagement, service delivery, programming, funding, and more to inform decision making.
  • Fairfax County COVID-19 Vulnerability Index shows which areas of the county are vulnerable to COVID-19, and where to target interventions and resources for response and recovery. It is based on the CDC’s Social Vulnerability Index.
  • Demographics & Data has a variety of data and analyses by place and population to inform program planning.
  • Needs Assessment | Data Analytics examines current conditions for residents and communities and efficiently align services and resources to address local needs.
  • Mapping Opportunity in Northern Virginia is an interactive map showing indicators used in reports (see the ‘Reports’ tab, below) from Virginia Commonwealth University Center on Society and Health and the Northern Virginia Health Foundation.
     

2023

2021

2019

2018

2017

2015

2012

graphic of Mileposts to One Fairfax

There were many past milestones, studies and initiatives in the journey to develop the One Fairfax Policy.

2022

2020

2019

2018

2017

​2016

2015

Have Questions?

Get in touch to learn more information about these Equity Impact Plans, One Fairfax or how the County is advancing racial and social equity! Email us at OneFairfax@fairfaxcounty.gov or call 703-324-2531, TTY 711.


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