The BRITE Framework: A Five-Part Method for Ethical Planning

BRITE turns values into planning steps you can actually use: Basic, Responsive, Impactful, Transparent, Equitable/Ethical.

BRITE is BIH’s planning framework for building policies, programs, products, and strategies that can survive contact with reality.

It’s designed to prevent two common failures:

1. beautiful plans that collapse under real conditions

2. “Impact work” that creates unintended harm

BRITE stands for

B | Basic Who is this with, for whom, and why?

R | Responsive Does the design reflect real needs, constraints, and information?

I | Impactful Does it meaningfully change something for the better?

T | Transparent How will we measure, learn, and share results?

E | Equitable/Ethical Is power shared? Are people protected? Is it right?

How BRITE gets used at BIH

We use BRITE to:

• shape project scope and success metrics

• review proposals and partnerships

• stress-test program design

• repair initiatives that have drifted off mission

• create shared language across teams

A practical way to start

Pick one BRITE letter and use it as your entry point.

If a project feels messy, start with B (Basic).

If people are not engaging, start with R (Responsive).

If the work feels busy but not meaningful, start with I (Impactful).

If outcomes are unclear, start with T (Transparent).

If there’s tension, harm, or distrust, start with E (Equitable/Ethical).