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Interested in assessing your investment in the strategy of Whiteness?

Start By Talking supports organizations in the co-creation of a new culture through a combination of qualitative assessment, leadership coaching, and multi-week training sessions. Using the 15 Tenets of a White Supremacy Culture as a baseline and Anti-Oppressive Advocacy® as a goal, we are able to determine organizational oppressive traits, introduce foundational concepts rooted in liberation, and provide recommendations for divesting from White Supremacy.

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ORGANIZATIONAL TRANSFORMATION

Interested in assessing your investment in the strategy of Whiteness?

Start By Talking supports organizations in the co-creation of a new culture through a combination of qualitative assessment, leadership coaching, and multi-week training sessions. Using the 15 Tenets of a White Supremacy Culture as a baseline and Anti-Oppressive Advocacy® as a goal, we are able to determine organizational oppressive traits, introduce foundational concepts rooted in liberation, and provide recommendations for divesting from White Supremacy.

SCHEDULE A FREE INFORMATION SESSION
Three things are certain in life:

DEATH

TAXES

OPPRESSION

That last one seems a bit out of place?
Not according to a 2020 NPR report.

Oppression is an unnecessary expense that carries a hefty price tag in this U.S. economy.

How hefty? Try $16T, friend.

Oppression is an unnecessary expense that carries a hefty price tag in this U.S. economy.

How hefty? Try $16T, friend.

Yes, SIXTEEN TRILLION!

NPR’s Business Desk reported a study that found that the United States lost $16T since 2000 due to discrimination against Black people.

How is that number even real?

Here’s the breakdown (Akala, 2020):
  • +$13 trillion lost in potential business revenue because of discriminatory lending to African American entrepreneurs (resulting in 6.1 million jobs not generated!)
  • +$2.7 trillion in income lost because of disparities in wages suffered by African Americans
  • + $218 billion lost over the past two decades because of discrimination in providing housing credit
  • + And $90 billion to $113 billion in lifetime income lost from discrimination in accessing higher education

Oppression is literally detrimental to the growth of our economy yet continues to happen. Why?

One simple word:

HABIT

This country has a nasty habit of defaulting back to a collective muscle memory that centers White Supremacy, and this reverberates across all institutions; even yours! .

White Supremacy is a social conditioning under which we all live. Because it is inescapable and impacts us all, and because our choices and perceptions are shaped by this social conditioning, our organizations are a reflection of our larger culture.

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CASE StuDY rEPORT

Learn how the City of Cambridge worked with Start by Talking, LLC to assess justice needs for survivors of color

Primary Goals

Start by Talking, LLC conducted a multi-layered Needs Assessment Report for Greater Cambridge with these goals:

  • ✔Launching an assessment to clarify justice needs for survivors of color.
  • ✔Collaborate with service providers, city agents, and survivors to produce report and recommendations
  • ✔ Support Greater Cambridge with strengthening pathways and reducing barriers for survivors of color

The Objective

SBT provided support to create an infrastructure that mirrors the expertise needed for community-based transformation through an anti-oppressive lens. We did this through our signature three-tiered approach of Anti-Oppressive Coaching, Field-Specific Technical Assistance, and Organizational Assessment.

The SBT Research Team reviewed both the assessment data and engaged with representatives from the Cambridge Steering Committee to inform recommendations.

An inside look at our Approach:
  • +Created a multi-layered committee presence to gain insight into best practices of their respective work and to ensure they see their strategy for a safer, supportive Cambridge being brought to fruition.
  • +Developed survey materials for interviews and follow-up.
  • + Facilitated interviews and follow up with survivors of color.
  • +Provided comprehensive written report of results with recommendations presented to stakeholders.
VIEW THE FULL CAMBRIDGE REPORT HERE

“Working with the Start by Talking team is an experience like no other.”

“Our meetings together moved our objectives forward and more importantly, were finely crafted warm and relational times together. We were able to hold nuanced conversations and the SBT was able to understand, respond, and build all of our thoughts into our assessment process. We were able to create an assessment exploring communities of color and their experiences of violence in which participants felt seen and understood even in the questions. Every part of our process was collaborative and we have continued in that vein as we explore what it means to act on our recommendations. I am grateful for their work with us and their attention to the overall process and result above all else.”

Shameka G., Cambridge, MA

“The SBT team provided thoughtful and engaging leadership that helped us build community as well as knowledge.”

“On behalf of the City of Cambridge, I hired Wanda Swan to speak as a keynote at an event in November, 2020. She spoke about Anti-Oppressive Advocacy and provided leadership for a follow up workshop for local service providers. In 2021, we hired Start By Talking, LLC to facilitate a Needs Assessment Process to better understand the justice needs of Black and brown survivors of domestic violence. The SBT team provided thoughtful and engaging leadership that helped us build community as well as knowledge. We are grateful for their skilled, compassionate and thorough approach."

Elizabeth S., Cambridge, MA

The SBT Research Team reviewed both the assessment data and engaged with representatives from the Cambridge Steering Committee to inform recommendations.

An inside look at our Approach:
  • +Created a multi-layered committee presence to gain insight into best practices of their respective work and to ensure they see their strategy for a safer, supportive Cambridge being brought to fruition.
  • +Developed survey materials for interviews and follow-up.
  • + Facilitated interviews and follow up with survivors of color.
  • +Provided comprehensive written report of results with recommendations presented to stakeholders.
VIEW THE FULL CAMBRIDGE REPORT HERE

“Working with the Start by Talking team is an experience like no other.”

“Our meetings together moved our objectives forward and more importantly, were finely crafted warm and relational times together. We were able to hold nuanced conversations and the SBT was able to understand, respond, and build all of our thoughts into our assessment process. We were able to create an assessment exploring communities of color and their experiences of violence in which participants felt seen and understood even in the questions. Every part of our process was collaborative and we have continued in that vein as we explore what it means to act on our recommendations. I am grateful for their work with us and their attention to the overall process and result above all else.”

Shameka G.,
Cambridge, MA

“The SBT team provided thoughtful and engaging leadership that helped us build community as well as knowledge.”

“On behalf of the City of Cambridge, I hired Wanda Swan to speak as a keynote at an event in November, 2020. She spoke about Anti-Oppressive Advocacy and provided leadership for a follow up workshop for local service providers. In 2021, we hired Start By Talking, LLC to facilitate a Needs Assessment Process to better understand the justice needs of Black and brown survivors of domestic violence. The SBT team provided thoughtful and engaging leadership that helped us build community as well as knowledge. We are grateful for their skilled, compassionate and thorough approach."

Elizabeth S.,
Cambridge, MA

Is Your Org Hiding In Plain Sight?

  • ✔Are your DEI statements updated to reflect the latest buzzwords without actually implementing the change?
  • ✔Are you prioritizing the concerns of marginalized voices without validating their needs?
  • ✔ Are you seeking new frameworks while being uninterested in disrupting oppression?
  • ✔ Do you invest in anti-oppressive Pro Dev that frames oppression as an “oopsie?”
Your organization’s oppressive habits are doing YOU a disservice!

Instead of "Faking it until you make it" why don't you just... make it?

Stop hiding and let's get to work!

Start by Talking, LLC is a company that has led countless organizations in embodying anti-oppressive philosophies and frameworks through assessment, executive coaching, training and development.

Let us help you fill in the gap between who you wish to be and where you currently stand.

Click below to get started today.

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