Know Your Worth

We’ve all heard the proverbial saying “know your worth,” generally spoken in the context of relationship advice and putting up boundaries to avoid colossal pitfalls in love. However, this is advice I have found myself giving my clients more and more as I navigate helping them with rebrands, communication campaigns, storytelling, and business advice. All too often, I work with organizations that are doing great work in the communities they serve and creating models of practice that do everything from create pathways for economic mobility for residents, help career-seekers land sustainable job opportunities, encourage and support the co-creation of programs that invite wealth generation and investment in underinvested communities. And all too often, these organizations and social changemakers do this impactful work without fully realizing that the models that have been put in place in their communities can be and should be branded and replicated in other communities across the country to bring about the same prosperous results for residents. I tell them: Know Your Worth.

This requires taking a step back and naming the work you have put in place, such as partnering with local champions and organizations to support residents, families, and businesses, and advocating for the programs and services they need to thrive in their community. Are you creating workforce training programs that harness ambition and build human capital, placing them in sustainable careers? What about your work with developers and funders to ensure access to affordable housing? These are all of the key ingredients needed to open doors to a successful life for families and the economy as a whole. These are also the ingredients that make up a replicable model that your organization can and should brand and use to help other underinvested communities follow suit.

We are in a difficult political climate, but now is not the time to lie low, hoping this too shall pass. Now is the time to lean into the great work and models you have created and lift them up and pass them along to other communities that may not be as far along or may need a replicable model to get them over the finish line. Then take your model to the next community and the next community and do it all over again. The work you are doing is worth the thriving communities you’ve built and stand on!