Leadership coaching/consulting rooted in equity, justice, and belonging
Kent Foreman performs his haiku, “Epiphany”
What is The Justice Walk?
Kent Foreman’s poem describes following the Platinum Rule; treat others as they want to be treated.
How can we do that as leaders?
What does it look like for policies, practices, and decisions to come from this mindset?
That’s what I help individuals and organizations figure out through coaching, consulting, and workshops.
Our Mission
“Some days you will be a sanctuary for others as they awaken to what the world is. Some days you will be a guide and some days you will be a seeker, but from here on we are peers to each other as we practice the future.” - adrienne maree brown
The Justice Walk is my offering of sanctuary for folks who want to seek, reckon with, and understand how to build communities rooted in belonging.
I work with individuals and organizations looking to move from an intellectual understanding of what they should do to a practical understanding of what they can do.
I create a space where folks know that they are seen and heard by someone who will not blame or shame them, but will instead normalize discomfort, encourage risk-taking, and respectfully hold them accountable for doing their own reckoning and learning work.
Who might work with The Justice Walk?
👟 Leaders committed to fostering cultures in their organizations and teams where everyone knows they matter and belong
That could include:
👟 Folks (typically, but not always, white) newly recognizing inequities and their role in perpetuating those systems looking for support as they unlearn old thinking and behaviors and integrate the new
👟 Folks who are experienced applying the equity and belonging lenses to their work and need support and inspiration as already marginalized communities are newly attacked and criminalized, while services and structures are intentionally dismantled.
👟 Leaders craving space and time to tune into their own wisdom, sort out priorities, and create action plans from a coach rooted in the values of equity and belonging.
Why the lens of equity, justice, and belonging?
Our systems, institutions, and society were founded on the belief that only the white, straight, male ways of operating are “right.” That the needs and wants of white, cis-het males should be prioritized over those of anyone else. Such a narrow lens informs and intersects with all forms of discrimination (race, class, gender, sexual identity, physical or mental ability, etc.), resulting in inequitable and unjust access to opportunities, even inside our organizations. The philanthropic and nonprofit sectors developed out of these same foundations and mostly adopted values around “helping” that patronize directly-impacted people, assuming they do not know what’s best for themselves and cannot act on their own behalf. I’ve been part of that way of working in the past.
However, we can all contribute to building new bedrock-level values that encourage and embrace different ways of seeing, being, and doing that ensure every individual can thrive in our organizations and communities. Ways that center the needs of those traditionally most marginalized. The Combahee River Collective has stated, “if Black women were free, it would mean that everyone else would have to be free since our freedom would necessitate the destruction of all the systems of oppression.”
john a powell, from the Othering and Belonging Institute, gives this definition of belonging: “Belonging means more than just being seen. Belonging entails having a meaningful voice and the opportunity to participate in the design of social and cultural structures. Belonging means having the right to contribute to, and make demands on, political institutions. Belonging is more than just feeling included. In a legitimate democracy, belonging means that your well-being is considered and your ability to design and give meaning to its structures and institutions is realized.” This means going deeper than ensuring organizations are accessible and inclusive. It also means shifting power.
I am committed to the ongoing journey to put the principles of equity, justice, and belonging into action, to shifting power. I will bring that commitment into relationship with you.
Who Am I?
Why Am I Leading This Walk?
Photo by Chion Wolf
I’m Abby Anderson, founder of The Justice Walk. I am a white, straight woman who ran a statewide social justice policy and advocacy organization for over 15 years. I’ve experienced the moments of realizing that some of my leadership decisions and actions were inequitable and inadvertently caused harm. I’ve traveled the path of transformation, working with colleagues to co-create an evolved organization centering directly-impacted people and actively supporting their leadership. I’ve worked with leaders from a variety of organizations to examine their organizations’ policies and practices, as well as their own leadership beliefs and practices, to help them take steps in the direction of equity and belonging.
Seeing and fully understanding how inequity and othering impact tangibly harm people in our communities is uncomfortable. Recognizing and reckoning with harm we have caused is destabilizing. Figuring out how to move forward differently from now on is overwhelming. Yet, these steps are critical to the unlearning necessary to make room for new understandings, mindsets, and ways of showing up in the world.
I’ve been uncomfortable, destabilized, and overwhelmed as an individual and as a nonprofit executive director. With intentional learning, community-building, and practice I’ve made friends with the discomfort, improved my balance to navigate unsteady ground, and gained perspective that allows me to take one step forward at a time. I have my sanctuaries (as adrienne maree brown describes them in the quote above). These include individual practices and communities that support me as I process, learn, fail, feel, grow, and celebrate.
The Justice Walk is my offering of sanctuary for folks who are seeing, understanding, recognizing, reckoning, and seeking. I work with individuals and organizations looking to move from an intellectual understanding of what they should do to a practical understanding of what they can do.
I received my coaching certification through the Academy of Creative Coaching.
I am certified as a Diversity-to-Belonging Facilitator through Veritas Culture.
