What it Means to Be a Community Partner and Ally in 2022

Originally published at https://www.consultqb.com on March 23, 2022.

Creating meaningful impact requires a corporate strategy that thinks globally and delivers locally. ‘Glocalization’ highlights our interconnectedness and urges us to examine both the universal and the particular: zoom in, zoom out, and repeat.

The word literally smashes these dimensions together, and with it, our realities emerge. One community’s fight for discriminatory housing reparations draws on successes in other cities. One polluted site shares remediation techniques with another. Environmental and social issues bleed into each other, and these ripple effects are made possible by the network that is a global scale of linked, local relationships.

If you’re a business leader looking to meaningfully harness global and local influences, pursue allyship instead of exploitation, and promote responsibility for doing so, here’s how.

Tip the Scale

Environmental justice harbors (due) criticism for lacking inclusivity by disproportionately white voices and experiences. The persistence of this hierarchy forces those most vulnerable-women and children, especially those of underrepresented minorities and low incomes-to be their own advocates. At the smallest locales, frustration, damage, and injustice often fails to resonate and penetrate the dominant white lens of environmentalism.

And our systems of enforcement in government continue to with getting issues of environment and race to tango. As momentum for the business landscape’s embrace of ESG continues to build, there are opportunities for corporations to affect the local level, collaborating with community liaisons like nonprofits and grassroots organizations.

Invest in growing symbiotic partnerships with those doing the work on the ground.

Center Allyship

Allyship how actors with power and privilege can align themselves with marginalized communities to counter the systems that inhibit their welfare and rights. Companies who practice allyship leverage their influence to drive change. And none of that-influence, resources, or impact-necessarily has to be global to be meaningful.

Paul Robitaille, Manager of Indigenous & Youth Relations at the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, likens allyship to being a neighbor, one who is invested in seeing the communities in which a company operates and serves thrive. These same communities are places to live and work, which underscores the importance of committing to beyond workforce walls, especially during a time when employee health and wellness are for employers (also ).

Listen More Than You Speak

As a neighbor, learning at the local level is paramount for authentic community impact. Respecting those with knowledge and building relationships with a variety of leaders gives companies holistic insight into a community’s victories and concerns. Well-rounded stakeholder engagement considers people of all ages, ethnicities, sexualities, occupations, genders, incomes and abilities.

Company : community relationships are not only a blend of peoples, but a blend of goals, values, and governance. This hinges on respect for diverse experiences and perspectives, as well as an open, continuous approach to learning.

The most critical piece is that a company substantiates its words with actions that integrate community priorities into its own objectives.

Call It Like It Is

Companies must exercise caution when characterizing community relationships. The distinctions between ‘engagement’ versus ‘investment’ versus ‘impact’ have blurred in the of ESG communications and reporting. Thoughtful word choice is imperative.

And scaling a relationship is not a one size fits all approach. Ideas that work in one place can’t be imposed on other localities and partners without due diligence and listening.

Scaling requires weighing the local and global visions at play. This is where a company’s business model and market position can be used to support local interests, taking shape as investments, awareness-building, or activities in regulatory and institutional contexts. All of these avenues matter when it comes to showing how solutions can our systems, expose them, and prove that they need to be more equitable.

Continuity is the Secret Ingredient

Impact has depth when its roots are established. Relationships can’t be one-offs, an annual event, or an inconsistent social media spotlight. Companies need to consider how their structure, industry, and employee skill sets lend themselves to building long-term relationships.

Make sure you have the stamina and the resources to stick with it for the long-term.

This is where geographic specificity may or may not matter (and decentralized, remote operations only open the discussion further on how to create a better world). Some companies source their manufacturing inputs from communities, and others supply virtual platforms that communities engage with. The type of connection a company naturally has to communities is an ample starting point for crafting an impact strategy.

Headcount is another way that companies implement mechanisms for accountability. Designated team members who have community relationships instilled in their day-to-day roles, whether it be through economic opportunity, philanthropy, or inclusive hiring, are point people who the company’s end of the relationship. Note that the future of recruiting for this work bright.

Show Up or Move Out

Most importantly, companies must reckon with how the pandemic continues to challenge what it means to be a strategic partner and maintain community relationships. Deploying resources to help communities problem solve or elevate their efforts in entrepreneurship are ways companies have taken their impact strategies beyond surface-level engagement.

We’re at an inflection point for authenticity in the social impact space. Remote companies and unprecedented community hardships continue to make headlines, undeniably raising expectations for showing up and being an ally.

Adaptations like these prompt questions about quantifying success. External ESG frameworks may champion volunteer hours and philanthropic dollars, but that alone cannot move communities along. A thriving local economy requires social mobility, inclusivity, and mutual respect; the presence of these traits is not indicated by a measurement.

If you can’t commit to showing up in the ways outlined above, best to invest your resources elsewhere.

Opinions expressed in this piece inspired by the 2022 MIT Sustainability Summit , entitled From the Ground Up: Elevating Grassroots Action Towards a Just Climate for All.