Osayande Racial Justice Initiative
Comprehensive Intersectional Anti-Racism to Achieve Organizational Justice
Practice & Purpose
Consultation
Osayande will answer your questions and provide an anti-racist diagnostic that assesses the equity health of the organization. He will work with your team to determine the most effective approach and provide consultation for the duration required to see real change.
Philosophy
Our theory of change is that for the work of racial justice to be effective, it must be intersectional and be guided by the experiences of people of color in your organization. Accountability to people of color is an crucial aspect of racial justice.
Workshops
Osayande’s workshops provide for organizational learning that is centered in addressing your institution’s concerns of racial oppression. He will work with you to tailor a workshop experience that provides organizational growth and development towards racial justice.
Approach
Our approach is dynamic and cyclical. Determined by the unique needs and objectives of your organization, our plans are based on the actual issues your organization seeks to address and are applied in ways that build in commitment and consistency.
Seminars
Osayande’s seminars are opportunities for deep learning on the practice of racial justice. Historically-based, and rooted in the reality of our times, Osayande’s scholarship and passion provide for an engaging and enriching experience for your organization.
Principles
Our guiding principles are rooted in the overarching principle of Integrity. ORIJIN believes that by developing multiracial leaders with integrity racial justice can be achieved in our time. Integrity is the embodiment of honesty, transparency, and accountability.
About ORIJIN
The Osayande Racial Justice Initiative (ORIJIN) exists to provide education and guidance for non-profit, grassroots, religious and educational organizations invested in becoming authentically anti-racist through the work of racial justice. ORIJIN’s approach brings an intersectional analysis that addresses the whole spectrum of identity including gender, sexuality, ability and class. ORIJIN seeks to enable your organization to experience true community that brings people together in service to justice and equity. Addressing institutional racism and the legacies of harm to Black, Indigenous and People of Color communities is no easy task. ORIJIN brings the experience, knowledge and sensitivity necessary to ensure that the work is done appropriately to achieve what is just and beneficial to all.
Concerned for the limitations of diversity work, Ewuare Osayande established ORIJIN to provide organizations a viable path to achieve equity and justice. An activist and educator, Osayande is an institutional change leader with over 30 years of international experience in the work of racial justice. The author of several books including Commemorating King: Speeches Honoring the Civil Rights Movement, Osayande’s work is driven by the urgency of justice now. He brings an ethic of beloved community that sees all people as capable of engaging the work of racial justice. Osayande has taught Africana Studies at Rutgers University. He is a 2019 Fellow of Georgetown University’s Non-Profit Executive Management Program. He has worked in the non-profit sector for more than 20 years serving in a variety of leadership roles. His innovative approach to diversity and equity work is directed by principles of accountability and transparency.
Events
Testimonials
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Friends Center
"Ewuare Osayande is a highly skilled facilitator, a gifted educator, and a thoughtful and compassionate consultant. Osayande’s extremely high level of professionalism and deep understanding of and appreciation for our organization’s mission were assets to the process. Ewuare Osayande’s work made a very real and positive difference for us. I highly recommend him to other organizations seeking to become anti-racist. Doing so will help you become better for everyone." - C. Mohr, Director
Lehigh University
“There is no other way to have a conversation about racism than to ground the discussion in the history of race. Ewuare Osayande's “Resisting Racism” workshops do just that. The breadth of Ewuare’s understanding of both the historical construction of race and the legacy of racism in the United States provides a solid foundation for subsequent dialogue about our everyday relationship to and experiences with and within racism. In this way, there is no room for thoughtless disclosure, empathy or public apology. Our only option is to learn, process, and resist." - Dr. Y. Blay, Dir. Joint Multicultural Program
Bard College
“Osayande’s passion, compassion and hope drew our students to him. Because he provided scholarly sources for the information shared in his workshops, the reality of race as a social construct for the benefit of its constructors and toward the detriment of others was indisputable. This left our students with the challenge of better appreciating their collective humanity. He has planted the seeds of racial justice at Bard College. The roots of self-determination and accountability took hold. Our students continue to tend the garden in anticipation of social justice in full bloom!” - Dr. G. Foster, Dir. Multicultural Affairs
