Sesana Allen, Co-Founding Anti-Racism Fund

June 22, 2020

Recent events have shed light on the inequities experienced by the Black Community. As a response, Sesana Allen co-founded Anti-Racism Fund (ARF), a non-profit organization that provides capital from a pool of donations to a dynamic portfolio of curated organizations whose ethos align with ARF’s four Pillars of Purpose. Simply put, they take the guesswork out of where you should donate your money.

In this feature, Sesana shares with us how consulting provided the skills necessary to launch Anti-Racism Fund, context for the "Subscribe to Change" initiative, and what we can all do to step up. Read along to soak up her incredible career advice for ambitious women, such as yourself.

Early Career

After graduating from University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics, you started your career at Accenture. Why did you decide to start your career in consulting?

What I thought consulting would be and what it actually is are widely different. In hindsight, I am pleasantly surprised with my decision to join Accenture. Consulting has been a great experience for me for two reasons. First, it enabled me to quickly identify the field of work that I enjoy and excel in. Second, consulting has allowed me to explore my passions and engage with new people on a regular basis.

After graduating in 2018, I was unsure of the industry that I was passionate about, and Accenture has given me the opportunity to explore options through project work, ranging from Life Sciences to Media & Entertainment. More importantly, I have had the opportunity to be in different positions within those roles, from the less “sexy” project management to the more “sexy” growth strategy and innovation work. In my first two years out of college, I feel like I received the experience of having ten jobs.

What has been your biggest takeaway from your experience in consulting thus far?

My biggest takeaway is I’ve learned how to connect with people, understand their concerns, and deliver against them. Every person, their experience, and the way they work is unique. Being able to connect with people despite one's differences is transferable to any facet of life.

Outside of work, I recently co-founded a non-profit and am heavily involved in community organizing. I have utilized my design thinking and agile methodologies that I have learned at Accenture to help our community mobilize out of the Black Lives Matter movement. Consulting gave me the foundation to excel in both areas and further my involvement in this movement.

Anti-Racism Fund

You recently co-founded Anti-Racism Fund, a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering support and raising awareness by providing capital to a dynamic portfolio of organizations. Your team has already raised more than $250,000. Why did you co-found this organization and what steps did you take to launch it?

I have been passionate about diversity and inclusion efforts as well as mobilizing to fight racial injustice since an early age. Being born and raised in South Africa, Nelson Mandela’s work has inspired me throughout my entire life - while in high school in Seattle, I launched Our Diversity Week, a week-long celebration of student’s different cultures. Additionally, while in college, I founded the diversity and inclusion board where I was engaged in conflict resolution and hosted seminars on race for various student groups.

Moving to the present day, with recent events, I was active within my physical and virtual communities in response to the unjust killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade and countless others. Many of my friends reached out to me wanting to help monetarily, but were unsure of the best way to get involved. One of the Anti-Racism Fund (ARF) co-founders called me expressing similar confusion amongst his friends. We understood that systemic racism plagues many sectors in our country and we knew that a myriad of organizations were already on the ground doing the work to bring change - we simply couldn't pick one to recommend. Through research, we selected four organizations whose missions resonated with us because they address racism from multiple angles.

I remember posting our launch while at a protest and returning home to write personalized thank you notes to our first 50 donors - mainly close friends and family - thinking the donations would end there. After two days, we had tripled our initial goal of $40,000, and it became abundantly clear we had created something special.

Anti-Racism Fund just launched its website (www.antiracismfund.org) and its second fund - Subscribe to Change initiative, an integrated donation tool where you can “Subscribe to Change” on a recurring basis. Can you share more about this initiative and why you structured your business model this way?

The Anti-Racism Fund provides capital from a pool of donations to a dynamic portfolio of organizations whose ethos align with ARF’s four Pillars of Purpose. We called our second portfolio the “Subscribe to Change” initiative because we want this to be a movement, not just a moment, and encourage our donors to incorporate anti-racism into their daily lives. We were inspired by people's desire to take action and wanted to build on this momentum. Robin DiAngelo accurately describes how we understand racism in her book White Fragility, as it is not limited to our “individual intentional acts committed by unkind people,” but rather understanding how our implicit biases amalgamate in our lives. Further, an anti-racist mentality helps us understand that racism is more than the way we treat each other, but it’s also ingrained in our systems from education and health access to criminal justice.

Being anti-racist is committing to taking an active role in deconstructing all of the above. These structures have oppressed marginalized communities that were built with checks and balances which are difficult to abolish. Dismantling these systems and healing our communities will take time. By “subscribing to change” our donors will commit to contributing to a portfolio of organizations that do just that.

There’s been recently more media exposure on the inequities experienced by the Black Community. Many are educating themselves on the systemic racism that exists in America and speaking up to express their allyship. What other ways do you recommend readers step up?

Stepping up can be simple. There is a broad spectrum of things one can do to express their allyship. These items can range from having conversations with Black friends and listening to what their experiences have been like, to participating in protests that amplify social justice. Getting involved in the movement looks different for each person. There is a ton of literature that individuals can read or listen to in order to further their knowledge. People can then take those learnings and utilize tools to bring actionable change.

It’s important that our allies recognize the burden that the Black community faces. We are tasked with mobilizing and educating our peers, and simultaneously healing from the generational trauma that our ancestors never had the opportunity to address. We must protect, support, and elevate Black voices as well as relay these stories and messages to our friends, families and colleagues. The first step to being an ally is understanding what Black members of the community are tasked with and incorporating anti-racist actions into your daily life.

Advice

What do you wish you knew when you were first starting your career?

Nothing is permanent. We all have the liberty to try new things and create new experiences. Many of us graduate with the idea that we will be locked in to our first jobs for the rest of our lives with no room to pivot. This is not the case!

What advice do you have for young women in their early career who are interested in pursuing a career in media?

Don’t be discouraged by thinking you can’t make a change. During my first diversity and inclusion meeting at UPenn, no one showed up. Literally not one person. Be unwavering in your goals, commit to your passions, and opportunities will present themselves. As a woman, don't forget your voice is important and it needs to be heard.

Who is one woman you aspire to be like?

Michelle Obama, Beyoncé, and my mom.