Building equity

California is building a brighter future for all. The investments listed on this website benefit all Californians. But they especially help communities disadvantaged by:

  • pollution,
  • discrimination, and
  • lack of services.

For more than 10 years, California has led the way in building for all. That means ensuring historically disadvantaged communities get a certain share of project benefits. At least a 40% share is now a federal requirement for many infrastructure projects. This rule is called Justice40.

Equity at work

Here is an example of equity in action.

Caltrans construction contracts

Micro-business participation:
$116M, or 6.3% micro business

Small business participation:
$582M, or 31.4% small business

$1.86 billion in total construction contracts, of which $698.7 million, or 37.6% were small or microbusinesses.
37.6%
Small & micro

Aiming higher

The Governor called on California to build more, faster, for all. And here’s how we will make equity a reality in infrastructure. The Governor’s Infrastructure Strike Team created a plan called the Equity Bridge. It has 5 pillars.

Pilar 1

Project benefit
Pilar 2

Tribal partnerships
Pilar 3

Community engagement
Pilar 4

Jobs
Pilar 5

Contracts

These pillars lay a foundation for state-funded infrastructure that benefit all of California.

Pillar 1: The project’s benefits to the community

California uses data to identify:

  • community needs,
  • historic disparities, and
  • potential benefits from infrastructure projects.

Data tools we use to do this include:

Pillar 2: Tribal partnerships

California embraces meaningful collaboration with tribal nations.

For example:

Pillar 3: Community engagement

We encourage projects to work with communities, gather feedback, and give information. We regularly update our project map with links to new information.

For example:

Pillar 4: Jobs

California supports high quality job creation. We also expand training and apprenticeship opportunities for underserved communities.

For example:

Pillar 5: Contracts

California is signing more contracts with small and diverse businesses.

Tools we use to do this include: