Recipes for Equity

There are words I still don’t know in English. Pilon. Djon djon. Joumou. Akra. All those words are connected to food. In my house, food was and is the thing. Growing up, watching my mom’s hands as she prepared the épices (spices) in her mortar and taking breaks to dance to Kompa was the energy.

It was the energy that brought us joy. There were always all the people — moving in and out of rooms, kids running while granmoun (adults) yelled at them to stop, knowing that was part of the energy too. There was laughter spilling from room to room. There were stories, memories shared, and of course a Haitian reprimand every now and again. This was the energy. It was the connection that made us whole. We had a little piece of the ancestors with us–whether through story or recipe. The connection of the people, threaded like an intricate quilt of joy, love, loss, and memories.

Moments and meals like this bring our people together. They create a sense of belonging for everyone at the table.

If this description takes you down memory lane, or even if it doesn’t, try a little thought experiment with me. Try to feel that energy and picture those people who would be sitting at the table around you. Then pause for one more moment and notice: what’s on the table? What do you smell? Who’s in the room? What do you hear?

Regardless of what’s on the table in your imagination, or what smells come to mind, the sense of belonging is something deep and true.

Community, belonging, identity, joy, and a seat at the table — these are some of the core values for us at Onward. Food isn’t our focus, but these values are. Through consulting partnerships and our Research and Development Lab, we design new ways to center equity at work, in community, at school, and in real life.

Welcome to Recipes for Equity, a new blog hosted by Onward. Some of the recipes you’ll find here are real dishes you can cook up and share with friends, family, and neighbors. (Keep an eye out for a family recipe of some of my favorite Haitian food coming up soon!) Other “recipes” are step-by-step instructions for cooking up equity-centered experiences that create inclusion. These instructional guides share insights from our work to help you create more inclusive spaces in your life, with friends and strangers, colleagues and cousins.

As we share both kinds of recipes — recipes for making meals that can bring people together and instructional “recipes” for making more inclusive, equitable communities — we hope that you’ll try them and share your thoughts with us.

We hope these recipes can bring us closer to each other as we step into our shared future. Together, we’re creating a movement. Onward: toward equity.

- Thaly Germain (Founder and CEO of Onward)