Who We Are
For The Culture is an equity and culture shift firm founded by women of color: Jamor Gaffney, Nia E. Martin-Robinson and Sabrina Lakhani. Our commitment to each other and our work is built on trust, transparency and a shared vision for an equitable future. We are Black, Pakistani, Muslim, immigrant, queer and much more. While we do not represent all marginalized communities, the For The Culture team sees intersectionality as the foundation of our approach.
We have spent years working in the fields of equity and organizational culture shift across sectors including education, environment, entertainment, government, and reproductive health, rights and justice. Collectively, we have decades of experience building best practices to successfully and compassionately support and guide complex organizations through processes that, while urgent and necessary, can often be difficult. Our aim is to apply the lessons learned and our people-centered approach to design unique experiences for clients as they move through their own journey towards culture change.
For The Culture works with organizations, institutions and companies of any sector, structure and size, and at any point in their equity and culture shift journeys.
Our Story
For The Culture is three women with deep experience shifting culture within our own organizations and as consultants across many sectors. We know what it’s like to work or learn in a culture that doesn’t allow you to bring your whole self. We know how exhausting and lonely it can be. And we know how to fix it.
In 2020, our country was being forced to face and reckon with entrenched systemic racism and anti-Blackness, while being ravaged by a global pandemic. This was a year of rage, futility, fear, but also of resilience, hope and building power. It was a year of change and progress that pushed people and organizations to ask for real, tangible ways they could take action. We knew that by pulling together our combined experience and expertise, we could be a gateway for organizations, institutions and companies to shift their cultures and be part of the solution.
So Nia — who had long thought about starting her own equity and culture shift consulting firm — decided to stop playing small and called on the expertise of a trusted group of women to join her in building their dream. There was already a community of brilliant, fierce women around her, doing the hard work of racial equity and culture shift in their own universes. Jamor, Sabrina and Nia wanted to expand their universe and build a consulting firm where they could model equity and value each other. They knew they no longer needed permission to start doing the work they knew was necessary.
We’ve all seen firsthand how companies and organizations are strengthened when they make their culture more equitable, and we know why that shift is hard. We can help you to See. Strategize. Strengthen. Shift.
Our Values
Anti-Racism
We must acknowledge that racism was built into the foundation of our country, and therefore plays a role in all other systems of oppression. While oppression takes many forms and diversity is about more than race, sustainable culture shift and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) work must be rooted in anti-racism. It is not about who is most oppressed, but about how systems of oppression intersect.
Collaboration
Strong DEI frameworks cannot be conceived or implemented solely by the C-suite. People from all levels, teams, and departments — especially those who have been most impacted by inequities — contribute multiple perspectives necessary to make DEI work successful. This work belongs to all of us and all voices must be included.
Trust
DEI work is not something you do in silos or in secret. This work calls for transparency and should be shared from ideation to inception to implementation. Tell the story of the process and provide opportunities for staff, board members, constituents, clients, investors to participate and be involved.
Sustainability
To be successful, DEI infrastructure must be embedded in the institution, and all people — but especially leaders — must have a deep understanding of allyship and commitment to accountability. A culture of equity must be built to outlive the urgency of the moment or the passion of an individual.
Our Beliefs
No one knows everything, but together we know A LOT.
Growth and learning happen on the other side of discomfort. We have to keep moving through it, and trust the process.
Organizational cultures that put people at the center will foster inclusive environments and create a sense of belonging for everyone.
Transforming culture and institutionalizing equity is not an act of social welfare or a box to be checked. It is the path to restoring our individual, organizational and collective humanities.