Open letter to the sector: A call for radical accountability in social impact

Today, in place of our usual letter from the publisher, we have a guest letter by Mojdeh Cox, executive director of London, Ontario-based Pillar Nonprofit Network. 

Against a backdrop of ongoing racially motivated police brutality, discoveries of mass graves of Indigenous children, increasing instances of Islamophobia including a terrorist attack in London, Ontario, where I work, and countless global human rights injustices with localized impacts, the air hangs heavy. 

These and other ongoing acts of oppression have become emotionally, physically and mentally intolerable for affected communities. Communities who have experienced various forms of racism, hate and violence long before it was part of the current mainstream news cycle. At this time that feels like a cultural tipping point, racialized and systemically oppressed communities, and allies, are tired of waiting for real systems change. Here we are today, a community in crisis, but a community who deeply cares about a recovery with dignity and hope through empathy and accountability. While we find ourselves, and the people we serve, impacted in different ways by these systems of oppression, we are united as a sector in our desire to uplift those in the margins and to build a more equitable and sustainable future. 

As a sector, many of us recognize that building a better future must be centered in equity and belonging for all, and ultimately, uprooting systemic racism. We understand that individual acts of racism and oppression are interconnected through the layers of systemic racism — individual, institutional and structural — and its root causes of white supremacy and colonialism. We disentangle the connection of other issues of scarcity and inequity and see how they are located in the sector and systems.

We know we can no longer afford to not take a position on issues that challenge us or make us uncomfortable when we can have an impact. We can no longer say we are removing economic barriers without addressing gender or racial inequities, because they are connected. We can no longer say that we are working towards environmental justice and not recognize how it is linked to the plight of First Nations, Inuit and Metis communities and the devastating legacy of colonialism. Committing to this work as a sector also means considering how our organizations are built on, and uphold, systems of oppression, so we can dismantle them internally. 

If we can’t see how we’re a part of the problem, then how can we offer a solution, let alone act on it? 

From examining our fundraising approaches and donor relationships to looking at the diversity of our teams and boards, our hiring practices and cultural biases, we start within if we want to impact greater systems. This is the most difficult step towards transformation: locating oneself in the actual problem we aim to solve. 

To begin, or to continue, on this journey of shifting systemic racism we need to commit to being radically accountable.

To be radically accountable is to take ownership of our thoughts, our behaviours and our impact, while building authentic relationships in our communities based on trust and compassion. We often approach individual relationships with more awareness of our accountabilities because we’re closer to consequences when we are in relationships within the community. If we care about equity and justice, we have to care about people who are impacted by inequity in a deeper way. To create communities of belonging and move towards ending systemic racism, we need to extend compassion and sense of responsibility to equity deserving people. We need to align ourselves with their struggles and understand the consequences of our actions.

Radical accountability as a sector is about embodying accountability to the extent that we think beyond holding external bodies responsible for their actions or inactions. It’s about shifting our focus to a reflective practice of consistently evaluating our individual and organizational impact. It’s about how we are building relationships and what we do to maintain them. It means we shift the approach from bringing different people into existing systems, to one of building new partnerships and systems, while honouring the needs and ideas of people with lived experience and actively applying their solutions. Where there is an authentic bond, and shared power and leadership, there will be different outcomes. Those outcomes will be more effective, relevant, lasting and mutual.

So how do we begin to hold ourselves to this standard of radical accountability? 

Engaging in a reflective practice within our organizations starts with making room for asking questions. Often, we are too quick to jump to solutions and hesitant to admit we don’t have the answers. We need to hold space for difficult conversations that bring us closer to truth and help us move towards accountability and community-based reconciliation.

At Pillar Nonprofit Network, the organization I lead with incredibly compassionate colleagues in London, Ontario, we strengthen individuals, organizations and enterprises that are invested in positive community impact, while leading many of our own initiatives that aim to address our community’s most persistent challenges. As an organization representing the needs of our network, we continually seek to understand and meet their needs through our programming and advocacy efforts. In response to the needs of our network, and in a spirit of our own commitment to radical accountability, our new strategic plan includes bold commitments to equity and anti-oppression. As we walk this journey ourselves, we offer these five questions that we’re currently reflecting on:

• How do anti-Black racism, Islamophobia and anti-Indigenous discrimination manifest across Canada and how are these issues connected locally within communities?
• How do you respond to systemic racism while contextualizing that your organization is likely built on the foundation of oppressive systems?  
• How can we shift our biases, internal practices and our decision-making processes in a meaningful way that translates to impact?
• How are we challenging the relationships we hold with funders that perpetuate colonial structures that continue to do harm?
• What does community-based reconciliation look like?

I pose these questions to you with the full transparency that our organization doesn’t have all the answers. What we do have is a deep commitment to do the internal, external and relational work needed to build a more equitable and inclusive community. At Pillar, we approach all of our work with a foundational belief in the power of cross-sector networks to help us learn from each other and work together to create community impact. We can only hope to work towards shifting systemic racism through collaboration, and collaboration can only be effective if it is grounded in trust-based relationships. This brings us back to radical accountability. We have to hold ourselves to this higher standard if we’re serious about changing the way our sector operates. 

So, I challenge you today: to start reflecting, to start a difficult conversation, to reach out to members of your community and to stay open, vulnerable, humble and radically accountable. 

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