Building Equitable Relationships in Organizing

Youth Organizing X

Matt, Oscar Sanchez, and Tania Anaissie discuss how to build authentic, equitable relationships in our organizing - and how relationships are the fundamental building blocks of our work. They explore the power of building relationships as both invitation into the work and accountability to the work. Oscar shares his personal experience organizing with youth through the Southeast Youth Alliance (SYA). He explores how the jargon of organizing can be barriers to entry for young folks who want to get involved, and how the relationships he's built with young folks have overcome these barriers. From the organizational side, Tania shares her experience working with non-profit leaders to redesign their organizations so that they can build more authentic, equitable relationships with the communities they serve. Oscar, Tania, and Matt explore how organizers can ultimately be bridgebuilders between marginalized communities and inaccessible policy systems through relationship building - and how these relationships can help each of us determine how we can contribute to collective liberation.

Note: Transcripts for every podcast episode can be found on the podcast's website under 'Episodes.'

Resources:

• Summary of Liberatory Design from the National Equity Project
• Beytna Design
• Liberatory Design Studio Program
• Southeast Youth Alliance IG
• Southeast Youth Alliance Facebook
• Southeast Youth Alliance Twitter

Bios:

Oscar Sanchez is a local Chicago resident from the southside of Chicago. He has a passion for technological innovation and social development. He’s committed himself to advocate for civil rights at state and local levels for the past several years, having served as a member of the Illinois community college board as well as a member of the Governor of Illinois’ Youth Commission. As well as being highlighted for his work with the Census at the Obama Foundation Summit in 2019. He is now one of the co-Founders of the Southeast Youth Alliance, whose mission is to amplify opportunities for local youth on Chicago's Southeast Side & develop the next generation of community leaders.

Tania Anaissie is the Founder and CEO of Beytna Design, an equity-design firm that supports social sector leaders to actualize their commitment to equity. She is a Founding Creator of Liberatory Design, a new practice of human-centered design that incorporates complexity theory and equity practice to drive innovation for equity by addressing root causes. Tania is a Founding Member of the Equity Design Collaborative, a group of leaders building the emerging Equity Design field. Tania is Faculty at The National Equity Project and a Lecturer at the Stanford University d.school. Tania is an expert workshop designer and facilitator with over 9 years of experience leading workshops and classes in 12 countries for over 30 different clients and over 1000 learners. Tania is a graduate of Stanford University's Product Design program and a StartingBloc fellow.