< PreviousThere are not a whole lot of stipulations and requirements for you to get this, other than being a Black homeowner or business owner, and we’ll support you however we can and allocate as much money as we possibly can. What do you consider Taking Ownership PDX’s biggest success? Our sustainability so far. Going on our third year and to have people still supporting us — being that we’re cultural- ly specifi c and providing reparations, which is a controversial topic in America, unfortunately — and to raise over US$1.5 million in our time here, helping over 150 homeowners and small business owners, are all huge accomplishments. So, just to be able to keep this thing going for as long as we have, I really wasn’t expecting that. I thought something like this would be a trend for a little while. I’ve seen other protests and things like this be supported just for a short while, and then it falls through the cracks, so this is exciting. What makes Taking Ownership PDX unique? I think what makes us most unique is that we started out as a protest. We started out really guerilla-style. I didn’t have any kind of business plan or anything, I just kind of was like, “here’s my idea, if anybody’s interested in supporting it, let’s do this,” and people trusted me. I raised my fi rst US$100,000 through my own personal Venmo and PayPal, so much so that both those platforms actually banned me — for whatever reason, but I have to assume that it’s because of the amount of money that came through there and not being a business account. Th en there’s the fact that we are helping middle-class Black people and making it really easy, with very little, if any, hoops that you have to go through to receive these services, other than waiting on our waitlist as we try to raise money. Th ere are not a whole lot of stipulations and requirements for you to get this, other than being a Black homeowner or business owner, and we’ll support you however we can and allocate as much money as we possibly can, and I think that’s unique because I know a lot of other organizations have a lot of rules and requirements and stipulations that make it really diffi cult to access their funding. How do you feel Taking Ownership PDX makes the world better? I think it’s the model that is really the most impactful, and what we’ve done with this model, being able to provide a clear path of reconciliation and justice for allies to be on; to be able to volunteer their time toward something they believe in; to donate their money and get quick, tangi- ble results; to have a model that promotes compassion. I think what we’ve done with this model is big. Due to our limited size and funding, the work we’re doing is like a band-aid on a really major wound; how- ever, this model I’ve created has the power to be extremely impactful, especially if it spreads and gets supported. One thing we like to push is that the reason why a lot of Black people lose their homes in gentrifying areas is because affl uent neighbours move in and complain about the property maintenance of their Randal Wyatt, Founder & Executive Director of Taking Ownership PDX. This headshot was featured in a Portland State Magazine article about his journey starting Taking Ownership PDX while pursuing his Bachelor's at PSU. 40 MAKE THE WORLD BETTER MAGAZINEWe need to create a world where everybody is included, where everybody gets an opportunity, where we’re not judging each other off of our skin colours or cultures and instead are appreciating each other’s differences. Black and Brown neighbours who typically do not make nearly the annual income as these new, affl uent neighbours. Th at leads to the Bureau of Development Services putting liens and fi nes on their homes, which perpetuates their fi nancial instability and leaves them vulnerable to predatory developers and real estate professionals. So, I like to push the narrative of compassion that neighbours need to ask their Black and Brown neighbours why it is they’re in the situation they’re in and maybe see if they can help them in their situation, rather than call the city and put them in a bad fi nancial place. I think all of this is inspiring people to take action toward what they believe in and what they want to see changed. I think it also inspires people to see that they can make a change, one neighbour- hood at a time, or with just their ideas, which can become a really big deal overnight. How would the world be better off if it were more diverse, equitable, and inclusive? White supremacy, from colonialism, has defi - nitely taken over most of this world in so many ways, but most of this planet is non-white, and I think that’s the importance. We need to create a world where everybody is included, where everybody gets an opportunity, where we’re not judging each other off of our skin colours or cultures and instead are appreciating each oth- er’s diff erences. I think if we could do that, we could learn more from each other, we’d all have better human experiences. One thing I always like to talk about a lot is how racism impacts white people. It actually excludes them from a lot because they're the ones who usually end up in homogeneous communities due to things like redlining, and wealth, in general, leaves them in homogenous communities where they miss out on getting to know other cultures and getting to know other types of people, in general. And quality of life. One thing that I always focused on since becoming a young father was community. I was never the type of person who believed the capitalism hype of greed and individualism; I always knew the world is a much better place when my community is a better place because that’s where I’m going out into. I want people around me to be happier because that’s going to leave me in a safer, happier environment, and same with my kids. So, I think that’s the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion — just quality of life for everybody. If everybody’s doing good, I think we’re all going to be healthier and happier. Tell us about Taking Ownership PDX’s goals. My organization's goals are to help as many Black homeowners and small business owners as we can with funding and resources and to continue to provide opportunities for people to volunteer, so we can help each other and create a more compassionate community where we help each other rather than tell on or create more obstacles for each other. I hope to continue to raise more and more money every year. We are getting our 501(c) (3) status, so we should be a non-profi t this year. Th at will hopefully create more funding opportunities, which will create more stability and help me hire staff and delegate more work so that Taking Ownership PDX is more effi cient and sustainable. Th at’s a big goal as well. Another goal is to partner with pre-appren- ticeship programs, so we can provide hours for Bora Architects staff helped fi nish cleaning a vacant home on the market, which was a hoarding situation with an overwhelming mess for the new owner that impacted its ability to be sold. After the clean- up, the house went pending! JULY 2023 • ISSUE 05 41these students to get their certifi cation in whatever their trade is and contribute to the next generation of construction work- ers, as the older generations of construction workers are going to be retiring at a pretty high rate here. I think it’s going to be great to be a part of the next generation of construction workers, to provide them with rewarding work, and hopefully, they will have more progressive minds, which I think will contribute to a healthier and more equitable, inclusive infrastructure that we create in our community. Are there any upcoming initiatives or projects you'd like to share? Currently, we are working on a kitchen re- model for a woman whose kitchen burned down, which left her house uninhabitable. We are in the process of remodelling the kitchen and trying to clean up the rest of the house to get her back into the home as soon as possible, as she’s been couch-surf- ing since the fi re back in October 2022. Th at’s our biggest project at the moment. And then we have Portland YouthBuilders building a deck for one of our homeowners. Th e deck before was a safety hazard as it was dilapidated, so that’s another big project that we have. We are constantly doing volunteer eff orts, with at least three to four volunteer jobs a month, which include landscaping, and we just did an interior paint job. I have a couple interior clean-up jobs coming up as well. What do you most want people to know about Taking Ownership PDX? We’re very small, and we need people to be patient with us, particularly people on our waitlist. Just know that we are doing our very best to raise money and use it effi ciently, so that’s the biggest thing — that we’re doing our best. We’re kind of in a transitional period right now. I also want to let them know that they can support us by donating fi nancially, spreading the word and letting people know that we need to raise money, sending us grant opportunities, and signing up to volunteer. We have a community resource list on our website where they can submit their organization/company or somebody else’s (if they have permission), and they can get a little more exposure through our website, which gets pretty good traffi c and also gives us a database to reach out to people whom we could utilize for our mission. It also has a place where it’s categorized by identity, which shows who’s BIPOC-, 2SLGBTQIA+, and/or woman-owned, so for people who care about supporting marginalized business owners, that’s a good place to go. How can people help or contribute to Taking Ownership PDX’s mission? Th e best way is by helping us fi nancially. Funding has dropped a bit because the economy’s in a bit of a recession, and I think people are being a little more con- servative with their money. I understand donating to an organization isn’t always priority, but for us to remain operating and serving the Black community, we will need to continue to raise money. Donations can be made on our website. Th ey can also sign up to be a volunteer. We do have over 400 currently signed up, so we have a plethora of volunteers; I can’t say we have a need there, but we do encourage people to sign up because it’s a great experience, and we want as many people as possible to experience one of our volunteer projects since they’re really good networking and community-building situations. And there’s the community resource list. It’s a great place to get some exposure for your business and show that you are a part of this mission and movement. Youth from the Blueprint Foundation and Constructing Hope’s Pre-Apprenticeship Youth Summer Program. The youth transformed this homeowner's overgrown yard. takingownershippdx.com instagram.com/ takingownershippdx 42 MAKE THE WORLD BETTER MAGAZINE(Your Organization Here) Be featured in Make The World Better Magazine On a mission to make the world better? We’d love to amplify your impact. Share your purpose-driven story in an upcoming edition of Make The World Better Magazine to shed light on critical issues, boost awareness of game-changing initiatives, and inspire others. To be featured, get in touch with us here: mtwb@sparxpg.comBAKAU CONSULTING Equipping workplaces for their DEI journey Tiaré Lani, graphic recorder 44 MAKE THE WORLD BETTER MAGAZINEround the world and in our communities, countless people experience oppression every day. Championing diversity, equity, and inclusion to combat this starts with looking at the environments closest to us — the workplace being a key one. That’s why Bakau Consulting has made it its mission to educate businesses on how and what practices to implement so workplaces can be positive environ- ments for everyone. We spoke with Cicely Belle Blain (they/them), Founder & CEO of Bakau Consulting, about how this organization is not only championing DEI practices, but proving what is possible by achiev- ing equity within their own workplace. Tell us about Bakau Consulting’s mission. In 2018, I founded Bakau Consulting Inc., a full-service equity, inclusion, and anti-racism consulting compa- ny based in Canada, with a global, intersectional approach. Since the beginning, our mission has been to help our clients make meaningful, long-lasting change within their organiza- tion. Our work is rooted in community, social justice, and a passion for equity, which translates into tireless advocacy for systemic change, and we work closely to develop and implement equity strategies that are instrumental, conductive, and sustainable. Bakau Consulting intention- ally seeks to positively impact employees' lives by paying living wages, providing health insurance and PTO, scheduling wellness check-ins, and encouraging work-life balance not only at our company but our clients’ as well. In the last fi ve years, Bakau Consulting has grown from a sole proprietorship to a team of 20 strategists, consultants, artists, researchers, storytellers, and educators with diverse lived experiences, skills, and expertise. Th e team and I have served thousands of clients worldwide, off ering well-researched and historically-informed educational content. What inspired you to start Bakau Consulting? Bakau Consulting was founded on the stolen, unceded, and traditional lands and waters of the x w m ə 0kw əy̓ə m (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and S əl̓ílwətaʔ / Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) First Nations in 2018. In addition to founding Bakau Consulting, I’m also the Co-Founder of Black Lives Matter Vancouver. At that time, Black Lives Matter was still consid- ered a fringe movement, and there was little mainstream attention for anti-racism and social equity consulting. Starting Bakau Consulting was motivated by a passion to eradicate oppression from every workplace in Canada. As time went on, this passion has evolved in our mission to actualize sustainable, secure, healthy, joyful, and accessible workplaces. At Bakau, we are driven by the essential care we have for our communities and each other. We intentionally gather as a team and envision alternative futures, and we trace roadmaps we believe will get us there, powered by the care, tools, and resources available for us at the organization. To co-imagine, co-create, and co-resist as a team isn't easy, especially coming from such diff erent cultures, ethnicities, and walks of life – it is exhausting, scary, and many consider it useless. Yet at Bakau, we manage to stay on track, motivated by communal radical hope. What were some of the challenges you encountered? As a small business, we constantly make diffi cult fi nancial decisions. Leading with our values at heart centres us in our deci- sion-making. We combine our knowledge, lived experiences, and values to help our clients transform their workplace, so it only makes sense for our own workplace to have the main focus be on the humanity of our employees. We are proud to be a certifi ed Living Wage Employer and off er thriving wages to our team. As a remote workplace, supporting the team's well-being has been a challenge and a priority. We invest in not only providing a robust health benefi ts plan but encouraging our team to rest and not work overtime. Right to left: Cicely Belle Blain, Bakau Consulting Founder & CEO, and Blair Imani, author, in a panel discussion. JULY 2023 • ISSUE 05 45We lead with our values and recognize it’s people who make our company a good place to work, and this is what we are proud of the most. We off er a 4-day work week. For us, it’s about un- derstanding that there is more to our humanity than working. Having a work-life balance is not just a buzzword to throw around for us, we stand for it and weave it into all of our business decision-making. Focusing on people and not solely profi t has created some cash fl ow issues, but we don’t take it as a failure as a business – quite the opposite. We lead with our values and recognize it’s people who make our company a good place to work, and this is what we are proud of the most. What do you consider Bakau Consulting’s biggest success? We are proud to be a pillar in the community of those striving for diversity, inclusion, and anti-op- pression. Th is is something that we commit to actioning in our business and the businesses we work with. We believe that the work we do cannot be done at the expense of the mental and physical health of our staff . We prioritize their diverse needs by providing a 32-hour workweek, extended benefi ts, additional health and lifestyle spending accounts, fi ve vacation weeks, multiple avenues for seeking accommodations, and ample personal leave days. Under Bakau Consulting, I’ve created numerous workshops and strategies to educate clients on anti-oppressive values. My workshop “Unlearning Anti-Blackness,” was one of the fi rst public educa- tional programs in British Columbia to cover Black Canadian history in detail for adults, while also off ering powerful educational tools and teachings. Th e workshop has also been adapted for K-7 students and presented in various schools across the province. What makes Bakau Consulting unique? Th e foundation of our business is diversity and inclu- sion, and we actively ensure anti-oppressive values are infused into our everyday practices to uphold our commitments. Th e consulting assistance that we off er is particularly diffi cult and taxing due to the in- tricate correlation between our lived experiences and the educational aspect of the services we provide. Th e nature of our work demands adequate care of our already diverse team. As a Black, queer- owned company, many folks from equity-seeking backgrounds fi nd their professional home at Bakau, so we invest considerable time and resources into the ongoing safety and enrichment of our team. In response to team feedback, we increased mental health-related benefi ts, as well as introduced additional health and lifestyle spending account funds to deliver sustainable and consistent resources to support the safety, emotional health, and mental well-being of each team member. How do you feel Bakau Consulting makes the world better? As an organization and individuals, we understand that we will not end oppression within the work- place, especially not worldwide. We try to stay fo- cused on the people around us, the lands we operate on, and the communities we belong to. At Bakau, we strive for our clients to implement as many large- and small-scale practices to make workplaces equitable and more enjoyable for everybody involved in and, therefore, outside the workplace. For us, this means a robust compensation package is a founda- tional element: pay equity, living wages, extended benefi ts, paid sick leave, as well as ample vacation and personal days – all are important for people to feel valued for the work they do. Each person has a unique experience, so we work collaboratively to create accommodations for self-identifi ed needs, and we encourage our clients to do so as well. We celebrate diff erent religious and spiritual holidays, so we provide religious and cultural accommodations and hybrid work options that are important for fostering belonging at our workplace. In this sense, we are encouraged to take Top: Michelle Buchholz, graphic recorder. Top right: Joy Gyamfi , photographer, attending a Bakau Consulting panel. 46 MAKE THE WORLD BETTER MAGAZINEBecca Schwenk, Bakau Consulting creator and Director of the Facilitation Certifi cate Program. holidays and schedule days off around religious, spiritual, or cultural holidays and celebrations. Some of the holidays Bakau recognizes with paid time off include Yom Kippur, National Indigenous Peoples Day, Eid al-Fitr, among others. Employees are encouraged to take this time to observe the date as they see fi t. With all of these initiatives in place, people’s lives are more enjoyable and, therefore, make the world a better place. How would the world be better off if it were more diverse, equitable, and inclusive? A world that prioritizes diversity, equity, and inclusion would be one where all people are able to thrive, be authentic, and experience safety. Currently, many people are experiencing oppression and discrim- ination on a daily basis on all diff erent scales, from personal to systemic. A world without diversity, equity, and inclusivity is a world ravaged by violent systems of oppression. We don’t want to just survive, we want to thrive. What does an imagined future look like when we have the space to breathe and hold radical hope at our centre? We want a world where we have the space to dream, a space where the most silenced voices can be heard. Tell us about Bakau Consulting’s goals. Bakau’s mission is to assist companies, organizations, institutions, and collectives to identify integral areas of growth, both in the short and long term. From there, we work closely to develop and implement equity strategies that are instrumental, con- ductive, and sustainable. All too often, there is an overemphasis on creating diversity and not enough on sustaining diversity. It creates a revolving door eff ect, and people of marginalized identities can be left in a worse place than where they started when the promotion of diversity and inclusion is mishandled. Our goal is for organizations to commit to ongoing education, unlearning biases, and equity-informed policy updates. We want to promote psychological safety, boundary-setting, and opportunities for mentorship and growth to help mitigate tokenization and create an environment where people can truly thrive. Are there any upcoming initiatives or projects you'd like to share? Our new facilitation program! Facilitation is a coveted skill that brings transformative structure to the workplace and beyond. Over the years, people would often ask us if we lead Train the Trainer workshops to teach others how to facilitate their own sessions. Our facilitation skills stem from lived experi- ence, ample time, ongoing education, and navigating discomfort. Our Facilitation Certifi cate Program (FCP) is a three-month guided, con- tent-rich program. Th is online program teaches essential skills and strategies for powerful, inclusive facilitation. Th e FCP begins by strengthening fundamentals of anti-oppression, equity, inclusion, and intersectionality. It then evolves to skills-based training, including active listening and inclusive communication, cultivating safer spaces, activating mean- ingful dialogue, developing workshops and agendas, and navigating group dynamics and confl ict resolution. What do you most want people to know about Bakau Consulting? We’d like folks to know that any organiza- tion, regardless of whether it is for-profi t or not and regardless of industry or fi eld, as long as we’re operating under capitalism, needs to stay vigilant of becoming com- plicit in the dehumanization of workers and labourers. How can people help or contribute to Bakau Consulting’s mission? Indigenous sovereignty, Black libera- tion, and anti-oppression are the driving forces behind our work. Any person that is committed to these values is already in community with us, seeking collective liberation. We advise everybody, but especially people in leadership positions, to per- sistently honour and uplift the Indigenous communities and host nations of the lands that they're on and to seek decolonial education (individually and as a team). We encourage everyone to pay reparations as it is feasible and to support small local businesses whenever they have the chance. We want to motivate people to do research on their favourite brands, businesses, and service providers — fi nd out what they stand for and make sure their values are aligned with yours. Th e more intentional we are with our social, creative, and economic capital, the better we can serve our mission, which isn't just Bakau's, it belongs to all of us. bakauconsulting.com twitter.com/BakauConsulting instagram.com/bakauconsulting linkedin.com/company/ bakau-consulting facebook.com/bakauconsulting JULY 2023 • ISSUE 05 47BENEVITY Nurturing DEI and belonging through purpose-driven corporate cultures usinesses have the power to do a great deal of good, and their diversity, equity, and inclusion eff orts have the capacity to reach far and wide. Benevity, a Calgary- based software company, not only connects businesses with the resources they need to build purpose-driven corporate cultures, they have deeply embedded diversity, equity, and inclusion into the core of who they are and what they do. We spoke with Janeen Speer, Chief People Offi cer of Benevity, about how this organiza- tion is fostering a culture of DEI and belonging internally to empower global impact. Tell us about Benevity’s mission. Benevity’s mission is to build more purpose-driv- en corporate cultures by engaging employees, customers, and communities around causes that resonate with them. We also aim to drive auto- mation, scale, and technology effi ciencies on the charitable side of the landscape. What inspired your founder to start Benevity? Benevity Founder Bryan de Lottinville always wanted to leave the world better than he found it. In 2007, he discovered that of the then-$300 bil- lion in donations in North America, less than 5% were being made online, less than 5% of donation volume was coming from companies, and 67% of employees were not engaged in their jobs. Benevity — one of the earliest B Corporations — was founded to constructively disrupt this status quo. To better integrate business impacts and social outcomes, Benevity created a multi-sided tech platform that democratizes and empowers passionate, proactive, experiential participation in giving back. Th is is in contrast to the often dutiful, obligatory, transactional interactions that fl ow from the traditional once-a-year fundraising program for company-chosen charities. What were some of the challenges Benevity’s founder encountered? Benevity was initially built as an application program interface and was used by early clients by embedding the technology into their own plat- forms. In essence, it was an engine that powered things like disaster relief matching programs, employee donations, and sending and receiving electronic charitable gift cards through a compa- ny’s own giving website. But to make the diff erence that the team aspired to, we knew we’d have to build a software as a service product to make it easier for com- panies to “plug-and-play.” We needed to build the car for the engine and had heard a lot about the challenges with current employee giving programs. Soon after, Benevity’s main product off ering, Spark, was born in early 2011. 48 MAKE THE WORLD BETTER MAGAZINEInside Benevity’s HQ, located in Calgary, one of three Benevity offi ces in Canada, with the others located in the US and the UK. What do you consider Benevity’s biggest success? Canadian Pacifi c Railway was the fi rst company to buy Spark, and Maui Jim was one of the fi rst internationally recognized companies to become a client. But Nike was the big tipping point in 2013. Nike considered 38 workplace giving software vendors before ultimately choosing Benevity. Th is was a major win for Benevity, with only 12 employees at the time! Now, with nearly 1,000 companies using Benevity’s software, including more than 25% of the Fortune 500, Benevity’s client community is comprised of the most iconic and mission-driven companies in the world. What makes Benevity unique? It’s not every day you get to wake up knowing you could literally change the world — unless you work at Benevity! We have a purpose-driven culture where doing good and doing great work go hand-in-hand. We hire passionate, smart, authentic people who are at the top of their game, and we want to make sure they don’t check important parts of themselves at the door. We’ve worked hard to build and nurture a culture that creates a sense of belonging at its core, where all of our people feel seen, heard, and valued, not despite their diff erences, but because of them. Our diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging initiatives include panels for 2SLGBTQIA+ issues, International Women’s Day, and Black History Month, with speakers from all of Benevity’s offi ces talking about their diverse ex- periences and perspectives to help us understand how we can become better allies for each other. We also have several employee resource groups, including groups for employees with vis- ible and invisible disabilities (Benev-ability), for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community (Beneviqueers), our Black Employee Network & Friends (BEN & Friends), and more. Additionally, our Belonging Champions are Benevity-ites who work with the leadership team to identify more opportunities to create an even deeper sense of belonging at Benevity. Another hallmark of our culture is our creative eff orts to challenge the status quo, our recognition that we are not perfect but can always be better, and our willingness to go the extra mile for each other and our clients. It’s the kind of culture one gets when you’re able to connect people’s work with a genuine sense of purpose, meaning, and impact. How do you feel Benevity makes the world better? While Benevity is a relatively small business, we power impact from some of the biggest, most be- loved brands out there. And in that way, we show the world that profi ts don’t have to be sacrifi ced in pursuit of purpose; in fact, the opposite is true. When companies lead with purpose, they are more likely to thrive. Benevity’s Talent Retention Nike considered 38 workplace giving software vendors before ultimately choosing Benevity. This was a major win for Benevity, with only 12 employees at the time! JULY 2023 • ISSUE 05 49Next >