A Call For Unity, A Call To Action, And The Choice to Be An Architect Rather Than An Arsonist

Let's come together around our shared values, work towards the outcomes we seek, and chart a constructive path forward together.

A Call For Unity

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of things. I serve on multiple nonprofit boards, my consulting work includes companies of varying sizes and across multiple industries and various parts of the country. Across this landscape, there is one consistent theme I keep hearing: people are scared. We’re scared for our funding, we’re scared of the next executive order, we’re scared that our work won’t be allowed to continue, and we’re scared that decades of small, incremental work that has driven access, opportunities, and outcomes will be undone.?

And yet, despite a pervasive fear that should be unifying us, I am still seeing this community divide itself into camps. I’ve heard that the mood in a friend’s circle was one of, “If you’re not aligned with the very progressive, you’re part of the problem.” I’ve seen a very popular company, one looked upon as a leader and north star, abandon their mantle and go scorched earth on the B Corp community. And I’ve seen my moderate friends (myself included) play the election blame game with their more progressive counterparts.?

Enough.?

Abraham Lincoln once warned his fellow Americans that a house divided against itself cannot stand. And I implore my friends in this space to take heed. Instead of worrying about what we say and how we stand up for our values, let’s remember the outcomes we’re driving towards and the world we want to build--and let's unite around that shared vision. We might not agree on every single subject or method, but we do agree on the basics that drive our work.?

Some of our allies can’t publicly double down or be outspoken on social media. Some can’t say "the things" anymore, and are avoiding any three letter acronyms because the threat to what they’ve built (and aim to continue building) is real. This doesn’t make them sellouts, nor does it mean they’re less aligned with the struggle. And it definitely doesn’t mean that their work has stopped. But for many of us, trying to navigate this new reality, trying to plug gaps in funding, trying to keep programs running, means we’re in survival mode. Give these people grace–they have the receipts for their work, but the outcomes are more important than the posturing–and the real threats to their outcomes that would come with doing so.

Let’s commit to coming together, and to extending our hands to those looking to join us. No more ideological purity tests, no more being better than others, no more virtuous judgements of others’ intentions. We are being pitted against each other, by the wealthy elites, by their algorithms, and by our inability to extend a hand, open our ears, and have honest conversations about common problems. Let's try to take this as an opportunity to grow our tent.?

The world is on fire. We don’t have time for pettiness. We have to get to work. Now.?

A Call To Action:

Reenergized and reunified around the outcomes, it’s time to get to work. These times don’t call for keyboard warriors, policing language, or canceling one another. These times call for action. It’s time to get to work, to organize, to drive forward in spite of what lies on the road in front of us.

I listen to the above song, from the album Lasers, every time I pick up trash. It’s become my therapy (the album and the service), my outlet, my immediate win in a battle against endless darkness. And it’s something small that I can do to keep trash out of our waterways, to keep microplastics out of our bodies, to inspire others to demand cleaner communities by joining me and people like me in communities across the country. Results are results and progress is progress, no matter how small or incremental, or how insignificant they may seem.

I’ve seen folks like Preston Ross turn his passion for litter into a program, The Great Raleigh Cleanup, that gives meaningful work to our homeless and unhoused populations, action that is solving a problem. I’ve seen Chad Livsey engage entire communities across Atlanta through cleanups, and then pass them the torch to care for their streets, their neighborhoods, and their people. None of us have solved plastic pollution, or homelessness, or urban blight, but we’re all doing the best we can with all that we have in our respective cities–and our ripples are adding up.

I’ve also seen civic leaders serve on multiple nonprofit boards, giving up nights and weekends and time with family and friends to solve some small part of a problem they’re passionate about. As funding for outcome driven initiatives is drying up, I’m watching people step up, create fundraising programs, write checks, and do outreach to make sure these programs, ones that support our most vulnerable and underserved communities, continue to do their impactful work.

I implore all of my friends on this side to ask yourself: what you are currently doing and how you are being a part of the change you want to see? Are your hands dirty? Callused? Sore? Or are you sitting in the stands complaining about how others are doing the work? And if you are actually in the arena, could you be doing more, either in time served or by using that time more effectively??

Long story short...Do something. Do anything. Join a nonprofit board. Order a trash grabber and a box of bags. Write a check. Run for local office. Find your passion, do the best you can with what you have, and do it as often as possible. Do not let perfection be the enemy of progress–stack your ripples on top of all of the other ripples until it’s a tsunami wave of impact--my little trash walks totaled over two tons (4,000 lbs) of litter in 2024. What if 100 of you reading this made similar ripples?

Find your passion, find an organization doing the work, and get involved! And don’t do it for the accolades–this isn’t about you, it’s about the collective movement of good.?

And if you’re an accredited investor, defined by a net worth of greater than $1m or a household income of greater than $300k/year, I kindly ask that you pivot your racial equity strategy from learning to doing, and more specifically, to investing. We all know the statistics about venture capital, and we’ve all seen the lawsuits against organizations doing this work. Become an angel investor and fill that gap by investing in Black, Brown, Indigenous, and Women-Led startups (and don’t forget startups in rural communities and other non-tech hubs). There are organizations, like Goodie Nation's Equity Wings, that can teach you the basics and connect you to great startups.

If you are interested, I can connect you to some amazing resources and some incredible people that have become very passionate about this form of outcome driven action.?

But regardless of whether you have time, talent, or treasure to invest, please ask yourself this question, "If someone asked me to see the receipts of my work, would I be proud of what I pulled out of my wallet?"

Will We Be Architects or Arsonists?

I’ll never forget the first time I heard that question. Janelle Williams, the CEO and co-founder of Kindred Futures, was on stage at an event in Atlanta and that question slapped every attendee in the room.?It’s a concept I had never heard so succinctly described.

Yes, the list of needed fixes, righted wrongs, broken systems, and necessary outcomes looms in front of us like a giant expanse of rolling hills and mountains that only increase as we approach them. And our efforts can seem like a waste of time, “What can one person possibly accomplish?”

We can be architects of change. We can do the work to help organizations be better, to consistently improve, to demonstrate the benefits of the outcomes. We can be walking examples of what we believe in, and use proofs of concept to show the real-world impact of the outcomes we’re driving.

We can also channel the old B Corp slogan of "Vote With Your Wallet," being intentional with where we spend our money and where we don't. And we can make change from the inside--for those with a seat at the table, we can use that power to save a seat for someone that doesn’t have one. We can use our power to make incremental changes, day by day, and inch by inch, until we see tangible results.?

The simple truth is that one strategy is easier than the other. All I need is a book of matches and a can of gas to be an arsonist. That appears to be the route that some have chosen, and I think its negative effects outweigh any individual or short-term good they may be doing.?Denigrating, and intentionally setting out to destroy, an entire movement or organization, albeit an imperfect one, will not advance our collective work.

To be an architect, that’s the real work that gets real things accomplished. Progress is incremental, and the work is tedious and neverending. It involves systems change, inspiring others, convincing naysayers, endless meetings, countless roadblocks, taking the high road, pivoting strategies, and making compromises. It’s doing legacy work, driving outputs, and celebrating incremental wins that lead to outcomes you might not live to see. Architecture is about bending the long moral arc of the universe towards justice.

I, for one, am committing to a future of rolling up my sleeves. To doing the work, architecting the future, and changing the world for the better.

I hope you'll join me.