Community, Social Services
and Non-Profits

Guiding organizations and institutions dedicated to helping the underprivileged to center equity to better achieve their missions and visions

Community, Social Services
& Non-Profits

The Challenges

Companies in the community & social services and non-profit sectors share one key similarity: they exist for the main purpose of improving the lives of those who need it most. Because of this, many of the professionals who enter these sectors do so because they are passionate about helping others. Still, neither these organizations nor their staff are immune to problems with equity. In fact, they are just as susceptible to Anti-Black Racismes about marginalized groups. Though these organizations and institutions typically have some commitment to diverse communities, they rarely center equity as a goal, and their staff have a very limited understanding of social issues that directly impact an overwhelming number of the people they serve.

These conditions lead to inequitable outcomes for marginalized groups that often go unnoticed and unaddressed. When concerns are raised by members of equity-seeking groups, they are met with resistance from people and spaces that incorrectly consider themselves to be neutral. Without proper education about the social issues that affect their clients and an equity-centred approach to serving them, organizations and institutions in the community & social services and non-profit sectors will continue to be complicit in producing poor outcomes for members of marginalized groups.

Kike Ojo-Thompson photo

Achieve transformational results.

For example, studies have shown that Black, Latino (US) and Indigenous (US and Canada) patients admitted to hospitals are less likely to receive effective services like cancer screenings, and more likely to be given unnecessary and potentially harmful tests and interventions. These same patient were also more likely to be uninsured. Research also suggests that health care professionals often underestimate the pain levels of racialized patients even when they provide the same descriptions as their white counterparts. Similar issues arise when you examine mental health.

Children of colour are less likely to receive diagnoses of ADHD despite showing symptoms at the same rate as their white counterparts, but they were more likely to be placed in special education. Meanwhile, some doctors are prescribing ADHD medications to low-income children, purely as a means of improving poor academic performance, despite uncertainty about the long-term effects of these drugs.

Community, Social Services
& Non-Profits

Our Solutions

KOJO Institute helps organizations and institutions in both the community and social services sector and the non-profit sector to identify and correct equity issues in their policies and practices. From customized curriculums to process facilitation and strategic planning, we offer our clients support and direction to create organizational systems change. All our delivery methods are executed through the lens of equity and in an approachable yet effective style that engages staff, gently reveals their Anti-Black Racismes, and guides them towards a better understanding of the equity-seeking groups they serve. We also provide opportunities for critical conversation as a follow up to formal training processes to give staff the opportunity to discuss what they have been working on and through.

Whatever delivery method our clients choose, they become better equipped to provide equitable outcomes to all the communities they serve. In turn, these communities begin to feel better served and reflected by these organizations, and engage more frequently and transparently, making it easier to learn, understand, and meet their needs.

8 Levers To Organizational, Institutional and Systems Change

  • Engaging the Board of Directors
  • Impacting Staffing Strategies
  • Examining the Accountability Framework
  • Maximizing the Use of Data
  • Implementing Fresh Training and Learning
  • Amplifying Communications Strategies
  • Widening Community and Stakeholder Relations
  • Revisting Service or Business Models

What We Do Well

  • Equity & Human Rights
  • Diversity & Inclusion
  • Anti-Racism & Anti-Oppression
  • Anti-Black Racism
  • Employment Equity
  • Human Resources Diversity
  • Organizational Culture Change

How We Prepare You

  • Training
  • Executive Coaching
  • Community Consultations
  • Content & Research Development
  • Keynotes & Guest Lectures
  • Conferences
  • Multi-Session Programs

Building Transformation Skills

KOJO Institute leads executives, managers and organizations through an innovative approach that reconstructs their paradigms and systems connected to equity, diversity and inclusion. We amplify the vision for change through deep-dive explorations that identify the scope, segment competencies and quantify resources required to birth social innovation.

With a clear focus on client expectations, we aim to produce actionable frameworks and solutions that ultimately better the lives your people and organization. Contact us.

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We Are Proud To Work With

What Our Clients Say

Joanne Adair
Development Manager, House of Friendship
Game Changing and Empowering

Kike visited House of Friendship for a Leadership/Management training session last June. It was incredible and life-changing for many of us. Kike’s gift to the world is to be able to openly name and allow us to sit in the discomfort of this work, holding us accountable, but also not judging anyone. She created a…

Javeed Sukhera
Chair, London Police Services Board
Profound and Actionable

The London Police Services Board asked Ms. Ojo-Thompson from the KOJO Institute to start off a day-long strategy session devoted to anti-racism in policing. Her presentation hit on all the right notes. In addition to challenging the Board to question long standing assumptions that are built upon racist legacies, she guided Board members towards actionable…
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Janine Manning
Granting Committee Chair, Laidlaw Foundation
Conscious and Skillful

Laidlaw Foundation had the privilege and pleasure of having Kike Ojo-Thompson support our collective staff and board anti-oppression training. Our individual levels of awareness and competency on the issue was from ‘none’ to ‘well versed’. Regardless of where we were on the spectrum of knowing, she supported all of us, with patience and enthusiasm. Miigwetch…
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Chris Robert
Co-President, BOLDforce for Salesforce Canada
Business-Critical Training

Kike exceeded our expectations at Salesforce.  She dynamically navigated audience demographics to provide extremely relevant Equity Training that stimulated immense conversation and insight. Her teachings should be at the centre of every organization’s strategy moving forward. I can’t wait to work with her again!

Graeme Young
President, Eva’s Initiatives for Homeless Youth
Enlightening and Effective

We thought we already had a pretty good handle on equity, diversity, inclusion and Anti-Black Racism, but Kike’s presentation was enlightening.  I have used her concepts several times since. Her style is energetic and engaging and she has a very positive manner. Our thirteen board members were engrossed by her work. Extremely effective.

Yasmin Razack, M.Ed.
Centre for Global Citizenship Education and Inclusion
Global Mind Innovator

Kike Ojo has the depth, knowledge and experience to engage participants of diverse backgrounds with highly complex subject matters that are relevant to all organizations. The sheer brilliance of her mind and ability to connect ideas is masterful, which allows everyone in the room to powerful moments of learning.

Achieve transformational results.