In March 2021, Creative Collective celebrated Women’s History Month with #shareHERstory, sharing the the stories of women small business owners and woman-led organizations on the North Shore and in Greater Boston with a series of featured blog posts and highlights on social media.
In addition to highlighting the contributions of local women, and telling the stories of their business members (of which almost half are women-owned or women-led) Creative Collective also focused on amplifying the voices of communities who have been historically underrepresented, particularly those in Disabled, Queer, Transgender, Black, Indigenous communities and communities of color (SDQTBIPOC) and the intersections between them.
The month culminated in a special coffee with the collective featuring Mayor Kim Driscoll, Rosario Ubiera-Minaya of Amplify LatinX, and Adriana Paz of Prevent the Cycle.
“Women’s history is intersectional, because it’s impossible to separate the challenges, and victories, of women’s history and women’s rights apart from other issues of women’s lives like race, class, disability, age, sexual orientation, transgender and cisgender identity, citizenship status, and body size, to name a few” said Joey Phoenix (they/them/theirs), Director of Brand Strategy and Innovation.
“If only stories of the loudest group are told, that paints an unfinished picture of our history, communities, and the story of who we are,” said Arielle Kaplan (she/her/hers), Director of Operations.
“Storytelling is one of the most effective ways we can create a sense of belonging. Once we feel like we belong we can design and build an equitable future together,” added Tia Cole (she/her/hers), Special Projects Manager and ECCF Coordinator.
But while this Women’s History Month inspired initiative was created for the month, the purpose behind it is something that has and will continue year round. As part of this ongoing effort to lift up and amplify underrepresented voices in the community, Creative Collective also recently released an Anti-Racism, Equity, and Accessibility Resources Page which lives permanently in the resources section on their website.
“Doing this work is more than just one month, it’s something we need to do whenever and wherever possible,” said Joey. “And as a white-led organization, we’re very aware of the fact that while we can tell these stories and use our platform to do so, our most important role is to listen. And we plan to do just that.”
