Fundraising update: June 15, 2020

6/15/2020

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Thank you for getting us this far!

UPDATES ON THE GREEN BOOK PROJECT
BY CRYSTAL AND PARKER

WE'VE FORMED AN LLC

Inclusive Journeys LLC is working to create a digital version of the green book.

Greetings from the new headquarters of Inclusive Journeys, LLC! Yes, the office space is divided between Crystal’s back deck and Parker’s bedroom-office, but you did hear that right-- we have filed for an LLC to continue our work on the digital green book project.
We were so overwhelmed by how quickly our gofundme was able to get to our half way point that we took a break from fundraising posts over the weekend in order to fully flesh out our business plan, pitch deck, marketing/PR strategies, and reassess our fundraising goals.
It took us less than a week to get to the half way point of our initial fundraiser, with our family and friends coming through for us in a BIG way. We have to thank each and every one of you, whether you donated $5 or $500.

THANK YOU !

$25,000 goal by Juneteenth

(June 19th, 2020)

We are hoping to reach our $25,000 goal by Juneteenth, which is this Friday, June 19th.

[pssst! What is Juneteenth?]

I’m so glad you asked!

Although the emancipation proclamation went into effect on Jan. 1, 1863, it wasn’t until two and a half years later that word about it got to Texas and the last of the enslaved people were officially released from bondage.

That was June 19th, 1865-- Juneteenth.

[psst! I’ve already donated and shared, what else do you want from me?]

Our strategy this week is to launch our new social media accounts to help the word about our work go nation/worldwide. However, we currently have exactly 1 follower.

We could really use your help in bringing legitimacy to our accounts by having you follow, tag and share the following social media handles as much as you can.

Repost anything we post, tag people, organizations, celebrities, or anyone you might think would be interested in helping us meet our $25,000 Juneteenth goal.

Facebook
URL: https://www.facebook.com/InclusiveJourneys
Twitter
URL: https://twitter.com/InclusiveGuide
Handle: @InclusiveGuide
Display Name: Inclusive Journeys

Instagram
URL: https://www.instagram.com/inclusiveguide/
Handle: InclusiveGuide
Display Name: Inclusive Journeys

LinkedIn
TBD (keep an eye out for us!)

WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT?

UNIQUE FEATURES OF OUR DIGITAL GREEN BOOK PROJECT

It’s like Yelp, but for inclusivity.
On this website, users can submit business locations they feel safe in, as well as businesses owned/operated by people of marginalized identities. Users can rate a business on a range of things, such as courtesy of staff, ADA compliance, sense of personal safety as it relates to their identity, gender neutral bathrooms, and more.

We take it even further...
Also available on our website:

Resources to help businesses self-audit for inclusiveness
Resources to help businesses improve
Referrals to Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity trainers
There will be a range of free to paid options for these resources.

It’s like if a restaurant listed on Yelp got a bad review for cooking, and then provided the restaurant with cooking classes to help them become better.

REIMAGINING THE QUILT CODE

Does the logo with the triangles look vaguely familiar to you? For those fleeing enslavement on the Underground Railroad, this symbol was a Code Pattern called “Flying Geese”. It was used to indicate a safe place for food, water, and shelter on a journey that was inherently dangerous and potentially deadly. This symbol and the places that displayed it were critical to the safety of those traveling away from danger.
Journeys today - to the corner store, or even your own doctor - are often still inherently dangerous and potentially deadly for Black and other marginalized communities. We plan to actively cultivate a database of safe spaces for people of marginalized identities, and allow for businesses, friends and family to proudly display their allyship. At Inclusive Journeys, we feel the need to rebirth a Code Pattern to ensure people from marginalized identities can easily identify safe locations to - well - exist. The reimagined Flying Geese symbol and corresponding inclusive travel guide will identify businesses, restaurants, medical professionals, and other key places that are safe and inclusive spaces for people from marginalized identities.

But it doesn’t stop there. We envision storefronts and restaurants marking their doors with Flying Geese stickers, allies proudly wearing pins to identify themselves, teachers putting the sticker on their classroom door… the opportunities are endless.

(Is our company name and logo starting to make more sense now?)

Making Our Moms Proud.

Updates on Media /Press Coverage.

Making our moms proud…
Last week we sent a press release to the media about our work on creating a digital version of the Green Book. Here are some media updates for the week:

GearJunkie.com will be releasing an article about us today.
We’re being interviewed live on Colorado Public Radio this Thursday between 9-10am MST.
We spoke with a journalist who works with National Geographic. He’s going to be mentioning us in an upcoming article about the history of the Green Book, and after speaking with us decided he wanted to prioritize a stand-alone article about our work as well.
Our press release went out on the Black PR network, which means it will be distributed to every Black owned/managed news outlet in the country. We’re not sure when that is going to happen exactly, but we’re very excited about this!

CALL TO ACTION

We would be very grateful for any additional media contacts to send our project to. If you know anyone who works for a blog, newspaper, tv station, talk show, or is an influencer who wants to help uplift Black voices and Black work, please have them email us at info@inclusivejourneys.com

Last but not least…
We launched a landing page! Head over to www.inclusivejourneys.com to keep up to date with our progress and media mentions.

Again, we would really like to say thank you for everyone who has supported us with donations, shares, and kudos. You are an amazing network of friends and families (and some strangers!), and we are so grateful for everything you have done for us. Reaching our $25,000 goal by Juneteenth will go so far to help us maintain our fundraising momentum, so THANK YOU for your support and action!

LET'S CHANGE THE WORLD!!!

Crystal and Parker

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