Sometimes communities closest to the disruptions caused by inequities in society are not heard in the strategic planning process. #InvestBLK connects institutions with the expertise and knowledge of various communities, activists, and grassroot accomplices in their strategic planning process. Our ultimate goal is to ensure that organizations have the tools to properly hold itself and its leadership accountable to the needs of its community and partners. Because the roots of many nonprofit, government agencies, and community driven businesses connect deeply with the needs of people, cultures that honor and celebrate these institutions and their leadership as the saving grace can be formed. We recognize this and use our work in strategic planning to realign organizations and leaders with community advised strategies. With more than 15 years of experience in external relations, fundraising, communications, and stakeholder engagement, #InvestBLK and founder, Dennis Maurice Dumpson, shares its expertise to leverage history without heroism. Sometimes communities closest to the disruptions caused by inequities in society are not heard in the strategic planning process. #InvestBLK connects institutions with the expertise and knowledge of various communities, activists, and grassroot accomplices in their strategic planning process. Our ultimate goal is to ensure that organizations have the tools to properly hold itself and its leadership accountable to the needs of its community and partners.
#InvestBLK has three service offerings:
Culturally Competent Strategic Planning
Audits, Assessments, and Analysis
Not every organization is ready to jump into a racial equity strategy. There is a considerable amount of work that is needed before that point. #InvestBLK supports organizations that want to acknowledge what they are not able to see about their organizations through audits, assessments, and analysis of racial equity, cultural competency, and equitable treatment of the community. Through a thorough engagement of approximately 10 – 16 weeks (depending on organizational size) we review the policies, practices, procedures, narratives, and regulations that exist. We also conduct confidential interviews and surveys to help us understand how practice aligns with culture. Our process is designed to be somewhat invasive with the expectation of confidentiality and care throughout the process.
Facilitation, Workshops, and Coaching
#InvestBLK and its team of consultants facilitate conversations and workshops with small and large groups that specifically move the needle on conversations of racial equity, vitiating anti-Blackness, and promoting intersectionality and equity internally and externally. We are trained, professionally and academically, in the art of conversation and community and we focus on making sure that participants hear, feel heard, feel safe, and provide safety. We do not provide race-based trauma expertise. Our services focus on engaging in actionable tools to grow our cultural competence and commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, access, and justice.