Is rising inequality an inevitable consequence of today’s technology-driven economic transformations? No, but we do need to challenge the status quo to really take a pause and reflect on where we are and what we can do, and it does require top-down and bottom-up voices to make it happen.
The impacts of COVID-19 on basic needs organizations has sparked many companies to rethink and redesign their approaches to community impact, like San Francisco-based autonomous vehicle (AV) startup Cruise.
We’re at this moment where we have to be asking the hard questions, the right questions, to really root out the structural problems – and that’s where design thinking comes in.
Verizon’s Victoria Lai shares about her recent skills-based volunteer work through Skills for Cities and a web design project with technology education and entrepreneurship nonprofit Hopeworks.
“The only way that we’re actually going to solve things is through collaboration and, in many cases, not worrying about who ultimately gets the credit.”
You can state your purpose, but it’s revealed by the actions you take, the decisions you make, the way that you are.
“In a pandemic in the midst of a lot of social unrest, volunteering really made me feel like I was able to make a difference, to be a better person, and offer something of value to a very deserving nonprofit.”
We’ve seen people come forth and say, ‘I need to be a part of deciding what happens for my community.’ That is civic engagement.
As part of our series spotlighting remarkable Black nonprofit leaders, we speak with Lewis Spears of Kismet of Kings, a youth development nonprofit serving primarily Black and Brown young men from low income households.
If we think of volunteering as a vote with your time, as civic engagement, then we must do more to make it equitable for everybody to participate. Just like we would in an election year when we’re trying to turn out the vote, we also have to create levels of access for other forms of civic engagement for communities of color.
