CFC Fifth Wave’s Equity Diversity Inclusion (EDI) Advisory Council is pleased to present this new quarterly installment: Notes from the EDI Advisory Council.

Meet our two new members

Some time ago, an article was shared announcing our BIPOC Advisory Council as part of the ongoing EDI commitment within the Fifth Wave Initiative. Joining the Advisory Council most recently are Edna Simmons and Chloe Tse. With more than 25+ years experience working with vulnerable and marginalized communities, Edna brings with them leadership, compassion, extensive theoretical knowledge and support for individuals experiencing complex and intersectional needs. In addition to being part of the BIPOC Advisory Team, Edna is running a series of sessions on Anti-Oppression Training and Healing Work as they provide support to the Fifth Wave Community. With a background in social justice, anti-racism and anti-hate work, Chloe is a journalist and co-founder of The Feminism Project helping to support better understanding and positive representation in media and to foster important conversations.

Here’s where we’re at as we start 2022

The work never stops — and we’ve never been more eager to have our boots on the ground. With goals to address the inherent, structural and systemic racism and inequities of race-based structures of power and privilege, we are actively preparing ourselves and the Fifth Wave team to take the right actions.

Our aim is to:

• Identify and address where harm is being perpetuated through the various layers of authority and discourse in the dominant business landscape.
• Share perspectives and provide consultation on how to shift from ‘harm reduction’ as a strategy to anti-racism, anti-oppression and actionable change embedded into the program narrative.
• Bridge equity-concious thought leadership with socially-aligned networks across the ecosystem.

The Advisory Council is engaging in many meaningful conversations. From exploring our understanding of what intersectional feminism means in 2022 and how to best support it, to workshopping harmful case scenarios with the goal of creating safe solutions, we are designing a system of trauma-informed support — taking everyone into account. We’re critically thinking with desire for equity and believe an inclusive, transformed brave space is possible, to heal and to thrive. The necessary discourse is happening to challenge status quo strategies as we continue to work on identifying risks and pitfalls with accountability measures. 

The Advisory Council is actively preparing ourselves and the Fifth Wave team as an organized group is taking necessary steps to do this work properly.

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