The RAISED Model of
Anti-Racist Public Relations

Beginning with research, the practitioner should evaluate the last campaign or similar ones.  Whether you’re starting with a new campaign idea and using the RAISED process to test it, or you’re working to develop the idea, starting with research is the most effective way to ensure you’re on the right track.  During this step, it’s useful to examine what other organizations have done to address a similar problem. Identify what went well and what went wrong. It’s also important to search and account for any possible assumptions or consequences the public might make.

In the interrogate portion of the process, the practitioner must review the research and their own process of self-acknowledgment and work to identify if there are any holes in their work.

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1. Is this campaign necessary?*

   1. Why?

2. Is the research or messaging truthful and honest?*

   1. How do you know?

3. Is this campaign collaborative?

   1. How?

4. Have we considered and/or included our most impacted community?*

   1. How?

5. Have we identified and addressed the harmful and counter-narratives?

   1. What are they? And how have we addressed them? 

6. Can we minimize harm and maximize just narratives any further?

With information from directly impacted individuals, the practitioner should work to incorporate feedback and actively improve the campaign from its original form. The improvements should reflect the feedback provided and the changes should be documented thoroughly for accountability purposes and for future reference. 

This section of the process is as necessary as all the rest. The practitioner should prioritize it and understand that the campaign can only stand to improve by working directly with impacted communities. 

In the acknowledge section of the process, the practitioner should 1) set goals, SMART objectives, strategies, and tactics and 2) examine their own biases. We strongly recommend the practitioner completes some level of implicit bias work prior to embarking on this journey. However, if this is the first time, we would recommend utilizing Harvard's Implicit Bias Test as a starting point to understanding your own biases. Absent the formal test, the practitioner should ask themselves a series of introspective questions and commit to answering them honestly. 

During the sample process, the practitioner should execute a qualitative analysis to improve their campaign or plan. This will require the practitioner to sample individuals impacted by the topic, from that geography or identify as a member of that group of people. This sampling should come with the promise to act with equity in mind, the commitment of integrity, and the will to do their stories justice. 

This qualitative research can be facilitated through interviews, surveys, or focus groups. The interview protocol created should be strategically designed to yield answers that further interrogate the campaign or plan, and improve its execution overall. 

To ensure this process isn’t problematically extractive, the practitioner should ensure that participants are compensated for their time and feedback.

After each step in the process is completed, the practitioner can move forward with the campaign or plan as designed and improved by impacted individuals. 

The execution of the campaign or plan should deliver on the promise to act with equity in mind, the commitment to integrity, and the will to do their stories justice. During this phase, the practitioner has the option to deliver a change report to the participant of the sampling. This will close the loop and hold the practitioner accountable to the community they sampled. 

After each step is complete, the practitioner should begin the next campaign with research that evaluates the last.