DEIB at Collabry, Black History Research Collective, and Popinjay Press
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging are four things we are passionate about at Collabry. Our DEIB initiatives are very much part of our organization's core. We ensure that each team member at Collabry has equal opportunities to do their best work, be appreciated, and genuinely feel seen, valued, and respected.
One of the ways we implement our efforts is through our Courageous Conversations series of meetings. Each month, the DEIB council at Collabry hosts an internal Zoom meeting that features a new topic of conversation for team members, led by council member and Collabry consultant Valencia Gibson. Valencia first brought the idea of Courageous Conversations meetings to our DEIB council in 2021.
Why are the conversations considered courageous? Glad you asked! Here are just a handful of previous topics discussed:
Defunding the Police
Neurodiversity
Voting Rights
Gender Inclusion
Intersectionality
Allyship and Optical Allyship
Learning Disabilities: Dispelling Misconceptions
Now, at some point, you've likely sat in a gathering of family or friends and encountered one or more of the topics above—and perhaps the conversation required courage to venture a viewpoint. And I think we all have that one family member or friend who tends to get a little too heated when speaking up, which makes the whole gathering awkward for everyone.
Remember when I mentioned we work to ensure our team members genuinely feel seen, valued, and respected? One of the ways we do this is by encouraging open, honest, and thoughtful communication without anyone needing to worry about negative backlash. Everyone should be allowed to freely share their stories, beliefs, and opinions without fearing the outcome. Our Courageous Conversations meetings provide a safe, judgment-free space for active Collabry consultants to talk and hear about life's realities surrounding DEIB topics and current events openly, no matter what their views may be in the discussion.
While these meetings typically remain confidential to our internal team members, I'd like to share details from our last meeting that featured two team members as guest speakers. In our most recent January meeting, we asked Kari Bassett and April Pearson to showcase their passion projects, and we think you should know all about them, too!
Black History Research Collective
Kari Basset is a project management consultant on the consulting team at Collabry by day, but moonlights as a social justice warrior by night. We couldn't be prouder of all her work under both titles!
Kari founded the non-profit organization Black History Research Collective (BHRC) in the summer of 2020, headquartered in Iowa. BHRC's mission is to identify Black Churches that may be candidates for historical recognition and facilitate paid student research opportunities.
BHRC was born out of Kari's need, as a Black woman, to imagine and create a space where the contributions of historically excluded individuals are honored, respected, and valued as they should be. She became interested in historic Black churches after her family's church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was designated a historic location in 2017.
One fun fact that the BHRC has uncovered and confirmed along the way is that the oldest standing mosque in America is the Mother Mosque of America (previously known as The Rose of Fraternity Lodge), located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa!
Are you interested in learning more about this non-profit organization? Visit the Black History Research Collective website.
Popinjay Press
April Pearson is a proofreader on the communications team at Collabry who is also passionate about social justice (spoiler: many of our team members at Collabry have this in common). Being a mother to little ones herself, she has a particular interest in children's social justice, and we are thrilled to share that she is also the founder of Popinjay Press!
April wanted to see diversity and inclusivity in the children's books she reads to her kids. Such books aren't easy to find in local bookshops, so she did something about that by bringing together a group of talented collaborators to form Popinjay Press, a growing library of children's books that celebrate diversity and inclusivity.
Here's the kicker: Popinjay Press books can be customized to represent virtually every family dynamic! There are options to feature single parents, same-sex parents, nonbinary characters, people of color, and more, in titles like My Pet Alien; Time for Sleep Mode, Little Robot; Classic Rhymes for Modern Time; and more.
Popinjay Press books can be customized, but not personalized with character names or specific characteristics, and this is intentional. Popinjay Press books are intended to represent your family but not replicate it exactly, hoping that your little one will feel a little less alone and a little surer of their place in the world.
Ready to learn more about creating your own customized children's book? You can do that at the Popinjay Press website.
