Ethos Equity Consulting

This past weekend we partnered with to host a planning retreat for . Welcoming new additions to the board of directors and witnessing legacy members recommit to supporting a strategic approach that honors the vision and leadership of SSR’s founder and CEO, , was meant for a time as this!

We spent several weeks reviewing historical context and collecting new data through brainstorming sessions and a survey. Then, allowing what we learned to spark conversation and collaboration, we set the stage for a strategic framework that will guide the organizational operations of SSR for the next 3-5 years. Join the journey by following and keep up with how the team is fighting environmental, economic and racial inequities through education, coalition and power building, policy advocacy, and mutual aid.

To the entire board of directors, thank you for your dedication to SSR’s mission and environmental justice in Southern Dallas and beyond! Keep moving mountains!!

As part of our outreach and engagement work with the ’s , hosted a Partner Appreciation Dinner earlier this month.

We set the table and curated an evening of inspiring conversation and delicious food in honor of the residents and organizational leaders who contributed to the initial phase of the ’s five-year timeline. It was a lovely way to connect neighbors and catalyze continued community-building by sharing insights, exchanging ideas, and learning about the impactful work taking place on various scales across .

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Today we eulogized a dear friend and fierce advocate for education, housing affordability, environmental justice, and his hood — West Dallas. It’s been a week since his passing, but the words to memorialize Raúl Reyes Jr. have not come easy.

He was the first neighbor I met in 2017 when I started leading community outreach and engagement for a nonprofit based in West Dallas. He was known as the “go-to” guy and immediately pulled me in. When he easily could’ve been a gatekeeper he was a connector who mentored and supported me. Raúl showed me what building community is truly about and how we must find common ground, even in the most unexpected people and institutions, to uncover equitable solutions that empower people to live their best lives. Without his guidance and encouragement Ethos Equity would not be what it is today.

No matter if we were strategizing partnerships, discussing business over breakfast, sharing song lyrics and memes, reviewing each others work, recapping meetings, planning our professional pivots, or simply catching up on each others lives — we communicated daily. He loving referred to my son as “nephew” and looked out for me like a big brother.

Raúl became family, but more than that he was a visionary. He shined bright, dreamt big, and worked tirelessly to preserve the place that helped mold him into an invaluable leader whose legacy will live on. To say I’m heartbroken is an understatement but I know Raúl would tell me to toughen up and get to work so that’s what I’ll do. Thanks for showing me what it means to be .

Dr. King’s legacy is an inspirational reminder of the impact that can be made when we allow experiences of injustice to spark an internal desire to create change. Brittani Hite, our founder and strategic director, shared this message with more than 1,200 students and faculty at last Friday’s all school MLK Jr. Celebration/ONE Hockaday event.

Brittani encouraged taking courageous action to create change rooted in equity and justice. “Find and nurture your passions, cultivate community and abandon fear,” she said. “No matter the size of the change the world is waiting for you to create it. So why not you and why not now?”