A little over two years ago, just as we were about to launch our new website and brand, the World Health Organization declared that COVID-19 was, officially, a pandemic.

In that dramatic and scary time of outsized world events, we felt small. We were concerned that our work didn’t matter. How could it, in the context of lockdown, disease, and death?

In the end, we sent out a note about the new website launch. The title of the post was revised from “We’ve launched a new website!” to “In support of our community”.

Even as we sent the post, our work still felt small.

Afterwards, a colleague reached out to congratulate us on the website launch and thanked us. She remarked that in those challenging times, our work supporting teams to understand one another and work together better is more needed than ever.

I was reminded of that moment as I sat down to share about our current work leading conversations on racial equity with boards or organizations.

I planned to share about our recent podcast interview: My consulting partner Christal Cherry and I were interviewed on the We Are For Good podcast about the board equity training that we’re leading with organizations.

But with the Russian invasion of Ukraine this past week, we’re in another moment of sadness, confusion, and uncertainty.

In times like these, we can get bogged down with the tyranny of the now, choosing not to act because of outward influences.

A first rule of designing and leading important conversations is “Name what’s in the room.”

Given world events, many “rooms” that you step into now, whether in-person or virtual, are holding the heaviness of world events.

A first rule of Improv is “Yes and…”

So I’m going to “Yes and” this moment:

Yes: Many of us are feeling the “bigness” of world events. Many of us are holding the question of how we can pray for peace, work towards peace, and build and support a world in which each human being can live and prosper. Our hearts and thoughts go to all those around the world fearing for their safety.

And: In that context, our “smaller” work is a way to amplify the love and peace that the world desperately needs. In that spirit, we’re sharing our podcast interview.

We hope you will listen in and learn more about our current work. And a shout out to the We Are For Good folks, they are great partners who live up to their name.
 
If you want to go directly to some key ideas, here are some highlights:

• 3:53 Our backgrounds and our approach to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) work with nonprofit boards

• 8:12 What are first steps that a board can take to work on diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging?

• 11:40 What are seeds of change that we can plant for nonprofit boards to work towards racial equity?

• 13:05 Sharing race stories and the importance of race caucus work

• 16:22 How do we begin to disrupt bias?

• 22:50 What results are we seeing through doing this work?

• 26:34 What about resistance?

If you want to learn more about the work we're doing with boards, you can learn more here.

Similarly, we hope to amplify the things that you’re doing, no matter how “small” you might feel. While we continue to send strength, courage, and calm energy into the world, we would love to showcase some of the most important work that all of our partners are doing now. Be in touch and let us know.