Change Committee Quarter Two Update

Hot on the heels of a strong first quarter for 2021, the Change Committee realized after Q2 that we desperately need to reorganize how we project manage our anti-racism goals. We can manage a rebrand or a web project all day, every day—but it turns out we’re still learning how to project manage internal cultural change. In the last quarter, we realized each goal needed multiple leaders, and this made it even clearer in quarter 2 that we needed to reassess how we managed our tasks, communication, and timelines.

As we wrap up the quarter and start anew in quarter 3, we are taking intentional time to reorganize our Asana boards and plan to realign as a team. But we’re anticipating that through these changes, we can measure goal progress—and be more productive and efficient as a team.

When it comes to the goals for quarter two, there has been some exciting movement within the ongoing goals. We’re moving forward with education opportunities for our fall staff summit (Goal 02), finalizing the Whiteboard.is Anti-Racism page (Goal 10), and hosting many hangouts and lunch & learns (Goals 07 & 08).  We were reminded that these goals will continue to be a work in progress, and we are committed to becoming an anti-racist organization, an ongoing process, not an endpoint. We are pushing forward!

Goal 04, “Provide subsidized support to two Black or Latinx-led organizations per year,” has not had a lot of movement. We have not created any action items around connecting with an organization and this goal will need to be readdressed with the committee in order to move forward. It requires thoughtful and meaningful relationship building, and we don’t take that lightly.

At the end of this quarter, we recognize there are goals that should have shown more progress. Some of them require putting ourselves out there in the context of our communities, like Goal 11, “Launch virtual coffee listening tour with community leaders to assess needs and opportunities.” Our team is eager to get connect with the people directly involved in the communities of Atlanta, Chattanooga, and Nashville.

After ideating on it at the end of quarter 2, Goal 05, “Develop a protégé program,” is being activated on now in quarter 3. We are approaching this goal with flexibility and a relationship focus, less of a structural or formal process. With this goal, it’s important we actively work against the white savior complex. We’re not here to “save” another agency or creative—instead, we want to help build their portfolio, share the advice we wish we had known, and connect them to relevant networks.

As we plan time to reflect on our goals at the end of each quarter, we want to note that our reflections will not always be big and exciting updates. These goals are ongoing and require dedication, and sometimes, we just need to get our act together on our task lists. But we’re committed to be transparent, and it wouldn’t be a cultural shift without holding space for tensions and conversation.