© Ekua Holmes

Empowered Communities disrupting INSTITUTIONAL

Supporting communities to drive solutions

Empowered communities impact institutions by creating solutions by, with and for community members. This practice honors the self-determination of the communities they impact, rather than imposing a paternalistic view of what should be. Centering communities shifts institutions' views of good outcomes by questioning white-dominant, capitalist definitions of success.

This can look like:

  • Mutuality
  • Shared power
  • Lived experience acknowledged as meaningful input

Consider:

  • How do we create spaces for community members to build with us?
  • Are we doing to or doing with?

Assessment Questions

Is this an area of priority for you?

How important to your organization is supporting communities to drive solutions?

This is less important to our mission
This is of growing importance to our mission
This is very important to our mission

How strong is your organization at supporting communities to drive solutions?

We're not strong at this yet
We're building strength here
This is a clear strength

Examples:

Design Justice Principles

A set of principles for co-designing and doing work with community.

OF/BY/FOR ALL Change Network

An organization focused on collaborative power and centering community.

The New Commonwealth Fund

An organization that partners with grassroots Black and Brown organizations to disrupt systemic racism.

The Black School

An experimental school that takes an antiracist lens to all things school.