Amy K. H.’s Post

I am all of these archetypes at once because my anti-racist journey is never ending. This is hard, to be sure. A search for what I am not, isn’t useful. It encourages vanity and discourages personal accountability. This can result in some unhelpful substituons for real, long-term and proactive work. In my own experience that has looked like: - performative action, - prioritizing my own “brand” over the deeply personal and difficult exploration of my own role and my own privilege, - a search for the bad guy/actors which means adding to stereotyping, and - unhelpful binaries that enable notions like being “one of the good ones.” Important read.

I respect the work in this article! An interesting way to illustrate how white supremacy can show up in behaviours of white women, using archetypes to build our understanding. Also, on the necessity and yet insufficiency of current JEDI approaches: "Black women are in a bit of a conundrum. Racism isn’t going away anytime soon, and our coping strategies won’t stop the weathering. For the foreseeable future, we will continue to get sicker and die sooner than we should. This is a sobering reality. But at the very least, while we still have breath, Black women should be afforded spaces to breathe." Beyond Karen: White Woman Archetypes in the Third Sector by Dr. Yanique Redwood https://lnkd.in/ehEPSRMz

Ongoing research continues to prove that White people's fragility, uninterrogated insecurities related to Whiteness, and overt (and covert) racism in the philanthropic sector all add up to have devastating effects on BIPOC colleagues' careers and health outcomes. This important article by Dr. Yanique Redwood in Nonprofit Quarterly focuses primarily on the toxic dynamics between White and Black women in the philanthropic sector, and is an essential read for anyone looking to survive and/or renegotiate a relationship to Whiteness in the workplace. For what it's worth, as a White-identified woman who has worked in some of the most elite institutions in the philanthropic sector, I have witnessed first-hand everything she describes. Dr. Redwood concludes: -"In the third sector, we do not have...justice-inspired interventions and infrastructure to help us to name and repair the harm that has happened to Black women. Funders need to come together to create a fund to support transformative justice processes in the third sector... We need to go beyond DEI trainings and bring rigorously tested antiracist interventions to workplaces." -"Until this infrastructure can be developed... Black women urgently need spaces to tell our truths, care for ourselves in community, prioritize rest and pleasure, and use breathwork and other somatic practices to release as much stress from the body as possible." -"This is my call to action for the third sector:  Create enduring, resourced spaces for Black women to breathe."

Articles like this point out how far we have to go to close gaps caused by historical injustice- and features 3 inspiring women working diligently for that cause:

Step onto the table I say, if you have to. Invitations to participate may never come. In the past some of our biggest changes to social policy affecting women, required getting on our feet to march and protest. On March 3, 1913, 5,000 women marched up Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC, demanding the right to vote. There was no invitation, if women wanted change, they had to show up. Things have improved somewhat, but the tide of change is slow and it is unlikely that men of their own volition will be the ones to identify all the areas of women’s lives that require improvement to bring forward equality- justice or a social revolution. These things will not be offered on a plate- they are still hard fought, by many advocates across our community, in government, in NFP’s, by individual change makers, trailblazers and very brave people who through personal tragedy demand change. For me, business and decision-making done at ‘tables’, without diverse representation by women is the most blatant form of arrogance, it can no longer be disguised as anything less. To imagine that decisions large or small, can be made about the general population, half of whom are women or girls, without them being integrally involved, is ignorance, which in today’s society is unacceptable. Men do not walk in our shoes, they never have, and therefore they cannot make decisions for us. As Annabel Crabb said today at the Adelaide IWD Breakfast, 'smart organisations and leaders know diversity is key to better outcomes. Not including diversity, is an extremely risky way of doing business. I like to think #countherin starts with each of us, both men and women. In an ideal world, we would have men continually reaching out to us, eager to hear our views on all matters. The reality is, we are not there yet - so we must count ourselves in. Not wait, not stand on the sidelines of life, hoping for an invite. You can go it alone or join an interest or advocacy group, learn about issues that impact you as a woman or young girls and decide how you want to address it. It can begin with the smallest steps. We can each be part of the ongoing improvement to women and girls lives in all its forms. Together we are better, together we can do more. At Catherine House Inc an important part of our work, is not just to advocate for women we support, but to teach women the skills to confidently advocate for themselves, to ensure they are counted in- not left out of decision making, that affects their lives and to know how to navigate the bigger social issues that adversely affect them. If you can breathe- you matter – you count- you need to be counted in- included. If you can’t yet actively count yourself in, reach out to women who can help.  #iwd2024 #countherin #inclusionmatters #womenchangemakers

I love this - "Three women directors to step into new roles as interim co-CEO" Thinking creatively about solving recruitment challenges can often bring the most innovative solutions to the table! I'll certainly be interested in hearing more about ActionAid's progress over the coming months. For anyone interested in finding out more about the benefits of a CEO job share my colleague Lisa Ross (she/her) put pen to paper on the subject - to read her blog go to - www.tpp.co.uk/resources/

In the pursuit of societal change, the adage “if you want to see change, be the change” rings true, serving as a shining example of inspiration for those advocating for progress.   As the founder of The FEMCAST, my presence was emblematic of my vision for empowering women. Central to our mission is the pursuit of a society founded on principles of equality and justice for all. It is vital that we confront the harsh realities plaguing our communities, such as the alarming increase in child homelessness, a blight on our society that cannot be ignored. The statistics, indicating a 55% rise in child homelessness, serve as a glaring reminder of the urgent need for action. We cannot idly stand by while children suffer the indignity of living in cramped hotel rooms, deprived of stability and security.   Likewise, the scourge of men’s violence against women, culminating in femicide, remains an affront to our collective conscience. These tragedies are not inevitable, they are preventable. It is upon us all to reject complacency and demand accountability. We must vehemently challenge the insidious narratives that seek to diminish the severity of these crimes and instead hold perpetrators accountable. The culture of victim-blaming must be dismantled, and women must be afforded the fundamental right to safety, in their homes, workplaces, and communities. #womeninpolitics #change #thetimeisnow #changeiscoming #feminist #TheFEMCAST #mensviolenceagainstwomen #violenceagainstwomen #genderbasedviolence #saferworkpalces #psychologicalsafety #equality #equity #humanrights #womensrights #womensrightsarehumanrights https://lnkd.in/eDtKcPFr

Social media without a strategy is a lot of wasted hours for an entrepreneur. I'm sharing how to create a one-page social media strategy in this FREE webinar from Ohio's Women Business Development Center (open to all, regardless of gender identity and geographic location). Bring your questions, too. https://lnkd.in/eit5kuwT

This last paragraph is a great summary: “While this is a call to women of color leaders, it’s also a call to our families, our friends, and our donors to recognize the gaps in funding, to acknowledge what it takes to do this work, and to support us in making our mental, physical, and emotional health a priority. We want to stick with this work for the long haul, but we need your support to make it happen.” How can you support women of color leaders in your community?

The June 3rd court ruling against the Fearless Fund’s grant program for Black women is about more than one program—it's a strategic move to undermine diversity initiatives and erase discussions about racial inequities. This case, and others like it, aim to create a race-blind society, but ignoring the systemic barriers faced by marginalized communities will only perpetuate these inequities. Consider this: between 2009 and 2017, Black women received a mere 0.0006% of VC funding. At that rate, for every billion dollars in VC funds received by others, Black women received $6,000. If that figure matched US demographics broadly, their fair share would be more like $70M. Eliminating programs designed to address such disparities is not the path to equity. We must continue to speak openly about race and support initiatives that address historical and ongoing injustices. More thoughts from me on Forbes.com... https://lnkd.in/gWiHbvuc #RacialEquity #DiversityInclusion #FearlessFund #VCFunding #SocialJustice #SystemicRacism #EquityInAction #LegalChallenges #BlackWomenInBusiness #Philanthropy #EconomicJustice #SpeakUp #FightForEquity