Announcement: Official Launch in Madison

For Immediate Release


Social Change Firm Launches in Madison

Project Kinect will make its official home Madison, Wisconsin


Madison, WI, January 12th, 2015: Project Kinect will be officially launching in Madison, WI Monday, February 23rd. The week will be filled with events, Meet Ups, and community engagement activities. The culmination of the week will be the first annual Social Change Forum that will be held Thursday, February 26th, at the Goodman Community Foundation.

The Social Change Forum’s theme this year is ‘Using Privilege to Become More Inclusive’. The goal is to better develop advocacy skills to make room for everyone’s voice and bring a more inclusive community to the table when planning and developing. This one day event will bring together interested parties in Madison to openly discuss and articulate how we can empower people citywide, thus creating the most impactful community possible. Both organizers and participants will leave energized, connected, and knowledgeable with action items to continue the conversation after the forum. The forum will cost $25 per participant and will begin at 8:30 am. Tickets for the forum can be purchased at EventBrite.

Following the forum, the first quarterly Social Change Happy Hour will take place at Ale Asylum at 6pm. Food will be provided and drinks will have special discounted prices. Social Change Happy Hours are open to the public.

Project Kinect is a firm that connects resources and tools to people and groups seeking to accomplish their own positive social change endeavors. Project Kinect can be contracted for single task objectives or can work as a project manager and assist in entire projects. Currently partnerships have been made with Let’s Eat Out, MadCity Bazaar, Goodman Community Center, 100 State, and many more. For more information about Project Kinect and the official launch week, check out Projectkinect.com.

Voices We Love: Spectra

A few weeks ago, the award winning Nigerian writer and activist, Spectra, wrote an article, Dear White People: Stop Unfriending Other White People Over Ferguson At first, it is unclear how this article is going to frame the situation, but quickly we it is only with love that describes the unique position white people have.  These posts are an opportunity to create dialogue and become better allies by effectively communicating the facts to those who see the situation differently.  Spectra says it better:

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Spectra’s Blog has a lot more to read. Take some time to get to know her.  She aims to do activism differently, to awaken within herself and others, the courage, vulnerability, empathy, self-awareness, and unrelenting commitment to personal growth required to heal and transform each other- and the world- for the better.

You can also follow her on Facebook.

Tools We love: Being an Ally (We also love Chescaleigh)

Recently Franchesca Ramsey released the video below, 5 Tips For Being An Ally.  It is so important to continuously be mindful of how to be a better ally.  We need to know how to act in any moment of injustice as an ally, even if it is subtle.  As the sign in the cover phote on Franchesca’s Facebook page says, “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” In this picture, she tags the Urban Bush Babes who also rock.

The video from Franchesca, or really Chescaleigh how she is known by her fans, identifies 5 steps we can all use to become a better ally. This video also references all of her resources and added resources from people who have watched the video.  She uses a metaphor of building a house which is extremely relatable. Her 5 tips are:

  1. Understand your privilege. 
  2. Listen and do your homework.
  3. Speak Up, NOT OVER. 
  4. You’ll make Mistakes. Apologize when you do. 
  5. Ally is a VERB. 

For more about Franchesca Ramsey, check out her website and fall in love with her like we have.

Causes We Love: Empowering Allies

Every marginalized community needs to know who their allies are and how to empower them.  Empowerment can only happen with patience and education. Patience is necessary for following new allies through the journey of becoming an ally. They may need time to learn the tools and vocabulary necessary to being a powerful ally.  This process often requires changes in the new ally’s behavior so patience is needed for that as well.

Education is a process and goes hand in hand with patience.  There must be different forms of education in order to best meet the learning needs of new allies.  Also, a list of resources and tools must be readily available for assisting new allies. For new allies, guidelines should be presented so they can visualize how best to be helpful and advocate for the marginalized group.  University of Missouri Kansas City has an excellent list of guidelines for becoming an ally.  This list is specific to being an ally for the LGBTQ community, but if can easily be adapted for other types of marginalized groups.

It may not be obvious to all, but the largest marginalized community in the world is women.  Men must learn how to advocate for women because men are the most powerful allies when fighting harassment, poorly created and hateful legislation, and basic equality issues. A cartoon recently created by Robot Hugs does an excellent job of illustrating what women go through and turning that into ways men can be allies and not perpetuate the problem.  Take some time on Robot Hugs page.  WE LOVE ROBOT HUGS! Here is a teaser of the cartoon.

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Additionally, organizations and corporations can become allies in this still male dominated world.  We sometimes do not recognize that it is happening when these large groups are being allies, but it happens. If we recognize it, then we become better allies.  Project Kinect believes we are all involved (#WAAI) and this is true when advocating for any marginalized community.  Here is an excellent example of a larger organization being an ally for women.  Thank you Buzzfeed!