Change can happen

I'm a creative at heart. Trained as an architect, I'm not a good "blank slate" fine artist. Give me a place to start though - an existing context, organization, community or situation, and I love to collaboratively create transformation. Pretty much every project I've ever worked on has been about change, and as a DEI consultant, strategist, facilitator and coach, this is no exception.

Change is my medium.

Of course, it's not about change for change's sake - it's about change in service of diversity, equity, and inclusion. It's about change in service of dismantling oppression. It's about change in service of healing.

Change is a funny thing though. I find that people, myself included, often get stuck in either being resistant to change because it's happening too fast and is out of our control or not in the direction we wanted, or being frustrated and feeling like we're banging our heads into walls and screaming into the wind because change isn't happening fast enough. Sometimes it feels like change isn't happening at all, or it's one step forward and three steps back.

Sometimes it feels like change will never happen.

I've been feeling a bit like that lately, at a systemic level. That burst of hope I had early in the pandemic that maybe in all of this disruption there was an opportunity to change faded fast as we collectively doubled down on inequities and now seemingly are desperately waiting for "things to go back to normal." Budgets are getting cut because too many organizations see DEI as a "nice to have" rather than a critical tool and lens for fulfilling an organization's mission.

And yet, change is happening.

Maybe it's not at a systemic level exactly - I think systemic changes are often hard to detect and measure on a day-to-day basis and sometimes can only be seen in retrospect or when a giant leap forward is suddenly made (that is actually the result of years and years of work).

But change is happening with my organizational clients - change that is palpable and has a weight and texture to it that makes you catch your breath.

And yes, it's progress not perfection, and practice practice practice, and a process not a destination, and it's not a checkbox, and you're never done.

But you can celebrate the wins and successes and growth along the way. Truth can be spoken. Healing can happen.

And it is within our power. Because if you're depending on others to change, you're giving up your power.

I attended a webinar this week hosted by FPWA, an anti-poverty policy and advocacy organization, on Building Resilience in Communities of Color - a recording is available and I highly recommend it. Not only did this webinar and all of the amazing speakers reinforce for me the importance of supporting leaders and staff of color in organizations that are doing such important work, but Dr. Kirk "Jae" James gave me exactly the boost of inspiration I needed as he talked about creating healing strategies, not just coping strategies, and not just resilience.

Most of all, what I really needed to be reminded of was the need for radical imagination at this time.

Imagination is not enough when things feel so bleak to me. Sure we've flattened the curve, sure many parts of the country are starting to open up, but as we approach 100,000 deaths in this country and face an even greater cost that will once again be disproportionately carried by the most marginalized, what we need is radical imagination.

Change can happen.

It happens when we model it. It happens when we embody it. It happens when we imagine it. It happens when we can confront the truth. It happens when we can articulate needs. It happens when we are willing to be uncomfortable.

What change are you committed to?

If you or your organization would like to talk about what change would look like for you right now, please reach out, we'd be happy to chat.

Banner photo by Gauravdeep Singh Bansal on Unsplash. Also published on LinkedIn.