Five essential lessons from Future of Good’s Black Leadership in Social Impact Summit

Accept discomfort, promote Black leadership, and get ready to talk solutions

Why It Matters

Plenty of social impact organizations understand the need to combat racism, but few of them actively dismantle their own racist cultures, structures, and programs. Social impact organizations who fail to do so will lose credibility among Black professionals and clients, as well as their allies.

If there is one takeaway from Future of Good’s Black Leadership in Social Impact plenary last week, it is that anti-racism is a lot of work. 

“You are dismantling things. You’re challenging your own thoughts, you’re breaking down other people’s thoughts. You’re having uncomfortable conversations. You’re challenging accepted norms,” said Nathan Hall, the founder and CEO of Culture Check. 

“It is really, really hard to be anti-racist and to form an anti-racist culture.”

Adrian Harewood, co-host of CBC News Ottawa, moderated a plenary panel with four Black leaders in the social impact sector on Thursday as part of the Summit. The wide-ranging discussion included several key ideas for social impact organizations looking to become actively anti-racist in their programming and internal operations. 

Here are a few:

 

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