In 2022, CultureSource began offering a service to our members: our equity strategist-in-residence.
Over two years, this on-demand hotline offered free coaching (valued at $300/per hour) to members baffled about or dedicated to meeting shifting expectations of cultural competency with their staff team, partners, and patrons.
This service, however, was barely used in the first year. (We accept responsibility for not promoting it better.)
Instead of letting this opportunity languish for a second year, we decided to put the work on ourselves, to become a model. As such and with the consultant–coaches at Team Dynamics, we created CultureSource’s Staff Equity Practice.
Two notes about this focus:
- It intentionally is called a practice to emphasize the work being ongoing, mindful action (instead of step-by-step fixes), and it intentionally predominates focus on race and gender because those are “the differences that make a difference.”
- This practice is about individuals changing themselves (most important and impactful) and not strategies for holding others accountable.
I would now like to share CultureSource’s Staff Equity Practice with you, our members. Please use the document’s provocations and principles as guides for you and your team’s exploration of deepening cultural competency. Also, you will notice that it is a nonlinear resource, and it features bundles of questions and concepts for consideration.
For me, the work has sparked constant aha! moments. Each day, I aspire to be a model and invite people into proactive practice. While I am certain that I will make mistakes and disappoint our team periodically, I honestly am now less concerned with being perfect in speech and action given that I have the foundation of this practice as a base for always getting better, and given that trust and culture are built over time.
I am available to answer your questions about our equity practice (see below), and if you have mental space for only one of its ideas, please know that good typically comes from just taking another breath.
Omari Rush
Executive Director
Equity Practice: Chat with Omari
If you have questions for executive director Omari Rush about this resource, its concepts— or if you want to know about the genesis of this practice—please sign up for a time slot for a one-on-one conversation with him. (Our entire CultureSource staff is also a resource to you, so feel free to contact anyone on our team.)