Strawberry Words’ Our Journey. Defying Expectations: the Evolution of an Underdog
With great ambitions to rid the world of discrimination, in 1999 this British African-Caribbean-led company entered the training and education field. It had a fire in its belly, love in its heart and lots of ambitions to create a kind and compassionate society to level the playing field for all.
Quickly, however, it struggled to gain momentum as only those on the fringe were ready to talk about discrimination. It was deemed “taboo”, “Too political” or “Not a polite topic for the workplace.”
Though it was supported by the companies that understood and championed the cause, there was a felt sense of being beaten down and persecuted. This presented itself by way of curt receptionists, blunt short-term contracts and unsuccessful bids. Not to be deterred, however, there was determination to continue, no matter what.
They ploughed on. Trainers attempted to broach unconscious bias with professionals during cultural awareness training sessions but were met with irate faces.
Funding was sought to upskill minority business owners, but was flatly denied.
The company applied for awards, but even though it had been functioning for over a decade, it was regularly deemed a “community” newcomer.
What they didn’t realise was just how much the undercurrent of societal and organisational trouble was bubbling beneath the surface, as minoritised people were tired of facing prejudice and discrimination in their places of work and in society. Nevertheless, the company faced difficult decisions as it contemplated changing direction.
In 2016, things started to change much to their surprise. The company wrote a blog about the lack of diversity in the arts for an arts magazine, and it went viral. Suddenly, they were being asked to be on panels to discuss diversity and lead diversity training sessions with leaders. The pace was so fast, that members hardly got time to process the turn of events.
2020, saw the Black Lives Matter movement and the company was inundated with requests to talk about race, microaggressions and allyship! The rest as they say is history.
Now, they work with some of the world’s most esteemed universities including Birmingham and Cambridge. They work internationally having delivered projects in New York, New Delhi, Toronto and Kenya. Hundreds of learners study their antiracism CPD-accredited courses daily. In 2022 the CEO won an award for Educator of the Year and in 2023, it launched its very online learning hub to enable more people to gain valuable knowledge on how to craft compassionate cultures.
The journey has not been smooth, but finally, Strawberry Words is communicating to the world the danger of underestimating the underdog.