On this episode of the Virtual Business Generating Good Summit, we welcome Yayra Tamakloe and Jennifer Cable from The P.A.L Project to explore the topic of advocating for good.

Birthed out of frustration from the lack of cultural material for the global black and Pan-African community, The P.A.L. Project is a resource platform dedicated to restoring strength in their cultural identity through cultural immersion, education, and preservation. Yayra, herself an immigrant from Ghana, experienced the gap as she sought to stay connected to the African continent upon which she grew up and calls home while adjusting to what she calls her second home in the US. Her inability to find cultural materials from which she could engage with her culture and learn about others’ cultures. In an effort to close this gap, Yayra launched The P.A.L Project just last year at the 2020 GiveBackHack in Columbus. Jennifer, who heard Yayra’s pitch, was intrigued and soon joining the team.

The P.A.L. Project casts a vision of creating equity and identity for people of African descent and currently focuses on creating educational content that promotes cross-cultural education for youth. Yayra shares the importance of engaging with youth, bringing holistic and truthful history into the classroom, and having honest conversations about the stereotypes of mainstream media. In addition to classroom connections, The P.A.L. Project hopes to create a centralized platform where cultural knowledge can be shared. Yayra eloquently shares her global vision for the future of the nonprofit:

“Our vision is to create a world where people of African descent are not separated from each other… a world where our kids can talk about different communities that are inhabited by people who look like them. That is the kind of world we are creating… the vision of P.A.L. is to create a go-to place where you can get information in a digestible way about the different members of the Pan-African community…”

The P.A.L. Project is a great resource to begin to dip your toes into the difficult conversations surrounding this topic. Yayra and Jennifer share their views of advocacy, highlighting the importance of both speaking out and doing the work that comes with it.

“Advocacy is a platform -- in the moment you have attention, it is leveraging the space and opportunity to bring attention to things and people that might not be heard.”

As individuals, there are many practical ways to get involved. Yayra speaks to the importance of acknowledging history and engaging in conversation with an open mind. Ask questions! It is okay to be uncomfortable, this is a sign of progress. Yayra leaves us with a call to action -- engage with the difficult conversations, press in, be willing to learn, and use privilege in the community.

“This is a community movement, not an individual project.”

Thank you for joining us on this episode of the virtual Business Generating Good Summit. Head over to The P.A.L. Project website (https://palproject.africa/about-us/) or check them out on Instagram (@the_p.a.l_project) to learn more about their upcoming class series and educational resources. Don’t forget to check out our other podcast episodes where we continue to explore topics around volunteering for good, consuming for good, and advocating for good.