Organizations cannot advance social justice without addressing the fundamental injustice, inequity and violence that disproportionately impacts Black people, Indigenous communities, and other People of Color.
The two crises of COVID-19 and the national racial reckoning following the massive response to the police murders of George Floyd and others—caused many social sector actors to re-think assumptions about how social change happens. Many foundations and nonprofits have considered their individual roles in advancing racial equity and social justice and yet are unsure of how to begin.
For too long, the social sector has created deliberate barriers to advancing social justice and addressing inequity. The structural racism that endures in U.S. society, deeply rooted in our nation’s history and perpetuated through racist policies, practices, attitudes, and cultural messages, prevents us from attaining it.
For Foundations.
For foundations, race remains a defining factor when looking at which organizations get funded and how much they receive. As a result, only 3% of philanthropic funding goes to black-led nonprofits despite the fact that these organizations are uniquely situated to best advance societal change at this time. Funders, while interested in funding more BIPOC and grassroots organizations, are unsure of how to begin and what internal changes are required to adequately support these organizations.
For Nonprofits.
Only 20% of nonprofit leaders are people of color. Nonprofit sector strives to advance social justice, yet leadership is overwhelming white and many nonprofit leaders have left the sector due to low pay and burnout. To advance social justice and racial equity, nonprofits must reflect the communities they represent and actively infuse diversity, equity, and inclusion as part of their organizational DNA.
For Corporations.
Corporations are committed to diversity and inclusion and advancing social justice. Many posted impassioned “we-must-do-more” statements on institutional home pages, though very little mention of what, precisely, the “more” might be. How do organizations build diverse, equitable, and inclusive organizational cultures and structures?
How We Work.
We offer deep knowledge of the nonprofit, philanthropic, and corporate sectors, a commitment to listening, and decades of expertise in equitable organizational development. Our multidisciplinary approach enables us to mobilize diverse audiences around a common goal, and subsequently put strategy into practice. We have spent our careers fighting for gender and racial equity and have clients spanning the social sector.
Our Commitment to Equity.
Our work centers around addressing issues of power, culture and systems. We work to build trust-based relationships leading to successful partnerships.
Our Methods.
We love finding solutions to complex organizational problems by working one on one, facilitating meetings & delivering workshops.
Our Process.
We are organizational geeks who dream in spreadsheets and create interactive visual whiteboards for fun.