Leadership coaching/consulting rooted in equity, justice, and belonging
Wondering what The Justice Walk is all about?
Justin Farmer and I had a great conversation about why I do this work and what it “looks like.” Click on the image to listen!
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 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.
Who might work with The Justice Walk?
👟 Leaders from organizations doing transformational equity work who need dedicated time to re-imagine their role to create policies, practices, and cultures that: encourage every individual to show up as their full selves; embrace them when they do and; provide equitable access to opportunities to thrive
That could include:
👟 White people working to understand the harm caused by the centering of whiteness across systems and institutions who are committed to transformations change in their and their organization’s policies and practices
👟 Directly-impacted people who want to continue their leadership development with a coach committed to promoting 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.
