To PRC Members and The Running Community At-Large,
PRC Members and the Running Community at-large,
In the midst of the world’s human rights movement for freedom, liberation, and justice for Black lives in America, I want to respond with my plan for the club going forward. I’m committing to deep, necessary, long-term structural changes and want these changes to be thoughtful, informed, and timely.
I’m committed to the private, internal work of dismantling my own white supremacy and I am also committed to the public responsibility I have as a leader of a community and an owner of a business.
I want to respond now in a way that I expect other community leaders and business owners to as well: with a plan of structural changes that promote equity and that center voices of Black people, Indigenous people, and People of Color.
I share these necessary, tardy changes below to prioritize transparency in my work as a coach and as a member in the running community.
I’ve come to categorize these changes, via Rachel Maddox and brontë velez, as Urgent Work and Slow Work. This is how I’ve chosen to approach the changes in PRC’s future.
Urgent Work
Some of the most pressing work for PRC is the most straight-forward work: redistributing wealth to POC communities. Starting in June 2020 and each month going forward, PRC will support 4 individuals/organizations with 20% of all monthly sales. I will personally select the 4 individuals/organizations for the month of June and provide the financial contributions on the 30th of the month.
In July, members at the Town Hall meeting (see below) will select the 4 individuals/organizations we’ll support going forward. We’ll support 2 individuals/organizations each month annually, and we’ll support 2 on a rotating monthly basis to highlight different individuals and groups leading communities towards health and wholeness. I will share the names of the 4 individuals/organizations on July 30th, with continued support via financial contributions on the last day of each month.
Slow Work
The long-term piece (including business model, business structure, program format, services and offerings) is more involved. As a solo entrepreneur, it’s important to me to not create the details of this long-term plan by myself because of my own biases as a white woman that will be at play.
Starting June 2020, I will begin working with a Black educator/business advisor to help me navigate restructuring PRC’s existing training format, pricing, and offerings with the goal of accessibility and equitability.
In July 2020, PRC will host our first Town Hall meeting with BIPOC runners and white allies. In addition to reviewing training material and future program offerings/events, these runners will provide insight into how best to support, coach, and train runners of all levels in a way that centers voices of BIPOC in the spaces of running, health/wellness, body-liberation, and body-trust. These are paid positions.
These upcoming business advisory and Town Hall meetings will be the contexts and voices that evaluate the impact of the club, that assess if/how the club is helping or hurting the running community, and that contribute to creating the detailed roadmap for the club’s future. I will communicate these findings and initiatives going forward.
As a fellow runner, I want to say thank you for your support thus far, and for your future accountability in making this space more equitable. Please email me at karly@thepublicrunclub.com if you have questions, ideas, concerns, or interest in participating on any level. I’m all ears.
Onward, upward, and inward,
Karly