We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jalyn Gordon a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Jalyn, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.
In our consulting firm, we move away from packages, high prices, and being the most popular nonprofit and business in the world and we support our Partners (clients) in moving closer towards customized pathways for success, an equitable and culturally informed cost structure, and manifesting their divine purpose.
The Afrocentric Communiversity is a consulting company that helps folx keep culture in mind as they develop their institutions. We offer strategic coaching and consulting services to nonprofits and businesses who are culturally conscious.
The industry standard for consulting companies is to complete deliverables efficiently without getting invested in the holistic well-being of the client. I’ve been in many spaces where the focus is only the deliverable ~ nothing more and nothing less.
At the “A.C.”, we are invested in our Partners’ success during and long after contracts end. We have offerings for our Partners they have access to forever to support their development. We host a free, quarterly access to our Zoom account to cut clients’ costs on software; we manage a private, online community for Partners to share updates on their work & develop relationships with like-minded individuals; we manage a community susu (community banking system) for financial support for Partners, a grant & fellowship database with 150+ entries; and a vendor program with companies & professional services such as a lawyer, childcare provider, brand strategist & designer and a spiritual consultant.
We believe incorporating these programs & services with a village framework will ultimately make institutions who are historically marginalized and overlooked, successful.
Jalyn, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My name is Jalyn Gordon (she/her) and I am a Strategist, Black Mama, Soror, Coach, Consultant, Avid Reader, Community Builder, Black Millennial, Womanist and proud Visionary & Founder of The Afrocentric Communiversity, LLC. I founded the “A.C.” in 2017 after receiving a divine vision at my altar of helping grassroots organizations and nonprofits excel in their work.
The A.C. offers culturally conscious strategic coaching and consulting services to nonprofits and businesses. Our speciality is ‘infrastructure building’ ~ helping folx organize the nuts and bolts of their work. We offer services for organizational development, coalition alignment & management, community outreach strategy, conflict resolution & mediation, program // project evaluation & learning, team transition & succession planning, Board Member guidance, planning & policy creation, and team member development & recruitment. Through all of our services, we support our Partners in figuring out how to “do business” from an anti-white supremacist, anti-patriarchal and Afrocentric framework. This is what sets us apart and makes our company so unique.
We are most proud of our ability to help folx centralize their experiences as a Person of Color in their work. We love to see our Partners transform their approach and thinking about business in a capitalist system. We always rejoice in the small wins ~ the wins that affirm the possibilities of living in an unshackled imagination.
The main things we want others to know about our work is
1) We care deeply.
2) We push boundaries and thinking.
3) We prioritize holistic wellness.
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
Nurture relationships and live your values.
As a Coach & Consultant, it can take a loooooong time to go from meeting someone for the first time to signing a contract. In this field, people share sensitive information about themselves and their work. It’s imperative clients are assured they can trust you before signing the dotted line. Nurturing relationships is pivotal for this exact reason. Go to conferences, invite others for coffee, share resources freely, be loving, be compassionate and be sincere. The clients will come, ESPECIALLY if you live your values.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
Most definitely! In alphabetical order ~
Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Shaping Worlds by adrienne maree brown
Radical Candor: Be a Kickass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity by Kim Scott
The Healing Wisdom of Africa: Finding Life Purpose Through Nature, Ritual, and Community by Malidoma Patrice Some
The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: Beyond the Nonprofit Industrial Complex by INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence
The Upstream Podcast (Radical ideas and inspiring stories for a just transition to a more beautiful and equitable world)
Contact Info:
- Website: https://afrocommuniversity.wixsite.com/afrocomm
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afrocommuniversity/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/afrocentriccommuniversityllc
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC13Wwmx8zO3VeSh1Gz5fwmg