Privacy Policy for The Equity Institute

Effective Date: June 2, 2025

The Equity Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to protecting the privacy and personal information of our website visitors, program participants, donors, and partners. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you interact with us through our website, programs, events, and other services.

1. Who We Are

The Equity Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to partnering with schools and communities to develop equitable and sustainable learning environments.

2. Information We Collect

We collect various types of information to support our mission and provide effective services. This may include:

  • Personal Identification Information: Name, email address, phone number, mailing address, date of birth, gender.

  • Professional and Educational Information: Current school district/organization, role/position, highest level of education completed, certifications/licensures, interests in specific educator pathways, resume, employment history, education history (especially for program applications).

  • Demographic Information: Race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status (collected voluntarily and used for program evaluation, impact reporting, and to ensure equitable access, always anonymized where possible).

  • Financial Information: Payment details for donations, program fees, or purchases (processed securely by third-party payment processors, and we do not store sensitive financial information directly).

  • Communication Information: Records of your correspondence with us, feedback, survey responses.

  • Technical Data: IP address, browser type and version, time zone setting, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform, information about how you use our website (e.g., pages visited, time spent on pages).

  • Cookies and Tracking Technologies: Information collected automatically through cookies and similar technologies when you visit our website (see Section 5 for more details).

3. How We Collect Information

We collect information in several ways:

  • Directly from You:

  • When you register for programs, events, or workshops.

  • When you make a donation.

  • When you subscribe to our newsletters or other communications.

  • When you complete surveys or provide feedback.

  • When you contact us through our website, email, phone, or in person.

  • When you submit applications for programs, fellowships, or job openings.

  • Automatically:

  • Through our website's analytics tools (e.g., Google Analytics), which collect information about your browsing actions and patterns.

  • Through cookies and similar technologies (see Section 5).

  • From Third Parties:

  • We may receive information from partners or collaborating organizations, with your consent or as permitted by law.

  • Publicly available sources.

4. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for various purposes, including:

  • Program Delivery and Management: To administer and deliver our educational programs, including the Educator Pathway Program, facilitate participation, and provide support.

  • Communication: To send you confirmations, updates, newsletters, program announcements, and other relevant information.

  • Engagement and Outreach: To inform you about events, initiatives, fundraising campaigns, and opportunities that align with our mission.

  • Improvement of Services: To analyze website usage, gather feedback, and understand audience needs to enhance our programs, content, and services.

  • Reporting and Evaluation: For internal reporting, grant reporting, and to assess the impact and effectiveness of our programs (often using aggregated and anonymized data).

  • Processing Donations and Transactions: To process payments, provide receipts, and acknowledge contributions.

  • Responding to Inquiries: To respond to your questions, comments, or requests.

  • Compliance and Legal Obligations: To comply with legal requirements, enforce our terms of service, and protect the rights, property, or safety of The Equity Institute, our users, or others.

  • Security: To maintain the security and integrity of our website and data.

5. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

Our website uses "cookies" and similar tracking technologies to enhance your experience. Cookies are small data files placed on your device. They provide:

  • Website Functionality: To ensure our website operates correctly.

  • Analytics: To understand how visitors use our website, which pages are most popular, and how we can improve our content and user experience.

  • Personalization: To remember your preferences and provide a more personalized experience.

You have the option to accept or refuse cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser settings to decline cookies if you prefer. However, this may prevent you from taking full advantage of the website.

6. Disclosure of Your Information

The Equity Institute does not sell or rent your personal information to third parties. We may share your information in the following circumstances:

  • With Service Providers: We may share data with trusted third-party service providers who assist us in operating our website, conducting our business, or serving our users (e.g., payment processors, email marketing platforms, data analytics providers, cloud hosting services). These providers are obligated to protect your information and only use it for the purposes for which we engage them.

  • With Program Partners: If you participate in a program delivered in partnership with another organization (e.g., a school district or university), we may share relevant information with that partner to facilitate your participation and program delivery, with your consent where required.

  • Legal Requirements: If required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g., a court order or government agency).

  • Protection of Rights: To protect the rights, property, or safety of The Equity Institute, our users, or others.

  • With Your Consent: We may share your information with other third parties with your explicit consent.

  • Aggregated or Anonymized Data: We may share aggregated or anonymized data that cannot be used to identify you personally for research, reporting, or analytical purposes.

7. Data Security

We implement reasonable technical, administrative, and physical safeguards to protect your personal information from unauthorized access, use, alteration, or destruction. While we strive to protect your personal information, no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. Therefore, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

8. Your Rights and Choices

Depending on your location and applicable privacy laws, you may have the following rights regarding your personal information:

  • Access: You may request access to the personal information about you.

  • Correction: You may request that we correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal information.

  • Deletion: You may request the deletion of your personal information under certain conditions.

  • Objection/Restriction: You may object to or request the restriction of processing your personal information under certain conditions.

  • Data Portability: You may request to receive your personal information in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format.

  • Opt-Out of Communications: You can opt out of receiving marketing or promotional emails from us by following the unsubscribe instructions included in those emails. Please note that even if you opt out, we may still send you non-promotional communications, such as those related to your program participation or donations.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the information provided in Section 10.

9. Children's Privacy

Our services are not intended for individuals under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under 13. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a child under 13 without verifiable parental consent, we will take steps to remove that information from our servers. If you believe we might have any information from or about a child under 13, please contact us immediately.

10. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. We will post any changes on this page and update the "Effective Date" at the top of the policy. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we are protecting your information.

11. Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at: info@theequityinstitute.org 

The Equity Institute   |   225 Dyer Street, Fl 2 Providence, RI 02903