Equity, if you’re talking about it right, can be a touchy subject. And if you’re actually trying to persuade people to take action to create equitable outcomes for marginalized people, the subject is literally a minefield. I’ve never seen anyone navigate it as gracefully as Kike Ojo-Thompson. The ways she’s able to bring honesty and tact to table in her work as an equity expert and consultant is impressive, and right now, her work is more important than ever.

At the head of her Equity Consulting agency, Kojo Institute, Kike supports the public sector, non-government organizations, and the private sector to create more equitable outcomes for their clients and staff. All across Canada, she’s worked with unions, school boards, healthcare organizations, post-secondary institutions and more.

But with coronavirus shutting down gatherings and travel, she’s had to find innovative ways to keep her important work in motion. Here’s how she’s doing it.

How has the pandemic impacted your business?

Easily 80% of my work happened when people gathered, always in groups of more than five. Two to three hundred, typically. So, all of that got cancelled overnight. All of those gigs, all of those appointments, all of those keynote guest lectures. I think we’re more sober now about what the pandemic means—that it could go on even longer. But at the time, I didn’t think it was gonna go on this long or as long as it has the potential to go on for. I wasn’t conscious of just how much I would have to change my business.

So, I’m home, facing a whole bunch of cancellations. But then I start to feel hope, and my creativity starts to increase when more and more of those clients would turn to me and say, “Hey, that thing we’re going to do, do you think you can do it online?” And a few colleagues in the work across North America tapped me on the shoulder and said, “Hey, we could do this group for a week, like a panel presentation over four weeks where we’re taking up a major question each week. We can promote it online and do it on Zoom.” These things really started to ignite my thinking around options and new and diverse ways to do similar work.

One of the interesting thing about my work is just how intuitive it is. I’m in a room of 100 people, and I’m talking about anti-black racism and white supremacy, and whether I even say those words is driven by the energy I’m feeling in the room. I feel a certain energy. But, if I can’t see you, I don’t know what made you sit back, roll your eyes, turn your head, cross your arms. I continue to be impressed by all the different ways that my practice is informed by the energy and posture that I’m watching. So, that’s a major pivot and I’m trying to think of creative ways to take care of that.

Kike Ojo’s impressive resume of equity work includes leading One Vision, One Voice, the intiative that addressed anti-black racism in Ontario’s child welfare system.

What strategies are you using to pivot?

When I teach, the shortest events I would typically do would be two hours. Three is a comfortable half-day, and the ideal is multiple days. So, I’ve really had to be thoughtful about that, because it inevitably means spending less time with people. So, we’re doing more series stuff. We’re running a series with a union right now. I see them every Tuesday morning for an hour and a half over six weeks. So, it feels like they’re getting six of what other people are getting once, and I think it’s beneficial. Strangely, there’s a longer time commitment for me, but it creates a rhythm which is not necessarily bad.

I also really increased my coaching practice, which I really love. With a course or training, there are people there, so you can have every single one of your issues attended to. Coaching is like being trained but getting that individual attention. If there are 30 people in the room, somebody’s getting left. People may not be as open in a group setting. So, coaching is a rich space.

Your business thrives when you do. How are you taking care of your personal well-being?

I usually go to clients, I drive around, I fly or whatever, but I’m going, I’m on the move and I typically stand all day if I’m in a session. Now, in every session, I’m sitting, It’s just too much sitting. So, now, I work out. And I found that I have more time to fit in the workout because I’m not having to disrupt my flow to be present for a client. So, that’s amazing. We live on a high floor in a condo, and I do all 42 flights of stairs up and down as a workout, which is really good, because there’s something meaningful about the ascension. I realized I really like self-care practices where there’s a sense of an end, you’re sweating a bucket, and you feel accomplished.

Another thing I would say is your spiritual health is a part of our health that we don’t pay attention to. I’ve been doing a practice for at least ten years in the mornings. And now I’ve found I’ve really loved being a part of the Sacred Circle of the Global Leadership Village. Every morning at 7 during the week and 9 on the weekend, we’re led through an Afro-centric spiritual practice. It’s really been great, I think because COVID has impacted the part of us that needs human connection. So, when you get up in the morning at 7, and there are 30 people on a Zoom call, there’s something beautiful about that and the community it’s creating. That’s really sustained me through COVID.

Kike’s work in equity, diversity, and inclusion gets beyond buzzwords and diversity quotas to empower companies to enact real change.

What advice do you have for Black women creatives who are struggling to manage during this time?

There's nothing wrong with pivoting to focus on what people need right now. For example, some of my longer-term clients who serve people, I said to them, “If we're not careful, we can default to old, problematic ways, because we're in crisis, so it’s important to be hypervigilant to come back to how you can help in this moment. You can't be rigid in your offerings. You have to show some sort of relevance.

Don't be afraid to reach out to your clients and say, “I'm still here, and I've created these new ways of operating. Do you want to meet for virtual coffee?” I think reaching out to your client base like that lets you hear about what's going on in their context. Talk about what they're experiencing and their challenges and how you can help them solve it. It’s not meant to be proposals or pitching them anything. It’s just about hearing where they’re at and how they’re doing. Because, even if it’s not for them, you could end up creating something that other people need that they just didn’t even realize they needed.

Connect with Kike and the Kojo Institute on Instagram and on the web.