What was the initiative?

As a Pathy Fellow, Jamal founded Color in Practice, a grassroots organization providing free and low-cost programming and resources to BIPOC of all ages, with a focus on connecting folks living in the city with the outdoors. Color in Practice is an organization dedicated to serving and empowering BIPOC communities through educational programming, skills-building, and community connections. One of the core goals of Color in Practice is to recenter white ally ship, and instead, focus on how BIPOC communities can work together in solidarity to create a more inclusive world for all.

What was the community connection?

Jamal chose to work with Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) that are interested in connecting with the outdoors and being positive change makers within their communities. At the time of his Pathy Fellowship, Jamal had eight years of experience as a community organizer, and was fortunate to build a solid community of BIPOC interested in making positive change. During his work as a community organizer, Jamal witnessed and experienced the cycle of burnout far too many times within his community. He decided to pair his passions, using the outdoors as a gateway into building stronger inter-community connections among BIPOC. Over the course of the Fellowship, Jamal’s community has continued to grow as he had the opportunity to connect with other community organizers working at the same intersection of dismantling oppressive systems of control and finding joy in the outdoors.

How was it innovative?

Throughout the Fellowship, Jamal employed a range of tools, approaches, and methods to empower BIPOC communities through his project and organization, Color in Practice. Adopting a community-led approach, Jamal actively solicited feedback and ideas from community members to shape programming, making project activities relevant to the community’s needs and interests. Jamal also used decolonial and anti-oppressive frameworks to inform his work and challenge dominant narratives, further centering BIPOC experiences and perspectives. Throughout the Fellowship, Color in Practice achieved several significant milestones. Jamal coordinated many successful pilot events through Color in Practice’s inaugural program entitled, “Bridging the Nature Gap,” that connects BIPOC living in the city with nature through free guided hikes. Color in Practice also established partnerships with BIPOC-led organizations focusing on community empowerment and equitable access to the outdoors. Jamal was successful in securing a contract through Color in Practice with the University of Ottawa Faculty of Social Sciences to lead the design of a 5-day leadership forum for ten Black and Indigenous youth leaders across Canada. The forum, designed and implemented by Color in Practice, provided interactive programming that promoted leadership, confidence, self-exploration, cross-community collaboration, and asset-based community-driven development (ABCD) as tools for creating positive change in their communities. The forum was implemented immediately following Jamal’s graduation from the Pathy Fellowship, and required collaboration with Black and Indigenous leaders and organizations from across the country.

What is Jamal doing now?

Jamal continues to develop and grow Color in Practice’s programming.