Last year, we wrote about how we’re creating a culture of belonging at thinkPARALLAX, in part thanks to programs like our tPX Culture Share. Culture Share is how we give each tPX-er an opportunity to practice leading the DEI conversation in their own way, while also helping us continue getting to know each other in a remote-first work environment. 

The first season of the program focused on our team’s individual stories of embracing parallax. This year, we tackled the question: “What is the story of the land you’re on?” More than 90% of our team chose to participate, sharing about the history, culture, and contemporary concerns of Native American communities around the country. We divided our team up by geography and, using tools like Native Land Digital, each team focused on one or two of the tribes local to their region. Although these presentations were not comprehensive histories, we urged employees to follow their own interests to learn more; sessions included pictures, videos, music, and even guest speakers!  

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Beyond an opportunity to engage with our teammates in a new way, our intent with this season was to acknowledge and explore the responsibility we have — particularly as a remote-first team dispersed across the country — to the Indigenous people who first belonged to the land we now live on. Rather than simply writing a land acknowledgement specific to our Encinitas headquarters, we wanted to include our full team in learning more about the land we each call home — and ultimately (understanding the limitations of land acknowledgements themselves), how we can take action to further our support for the Indigenous people it was taken from.

We also recognize that, as a company with a mission to “better the world by driving meaningful sustainability progress, action, and conversation,” the history of our country’s broken relationship with the land needs to be part of the conversation — and the solution. The United States was founded on stolen land and broken treaties with Indigenous people, and built up through the labor of enslaved Africans. These thefts at the foundation of our country have not been formally addressed. Now more than ever, as we are surrounded by the consequences of this broken relationship — in our natural environment and in our communities — we are working to continue educating ourselves, listening to and amplifying Indigenous voices, and together pursuing new paths to move forward. 

One of the ways we chose to support Indigenous people is through Perspectives Space, our Encinitas office that doubles as an art gallery and community gathering space. Each month, we feature a new artist in the building, fostering a network of creativity while also helping us pay our bills. Now, every November, we’ll offer the space to an Indigenous artist at no charge in honor of National Native American Heritage Month — and as a way to honor the debt we owe to the original occupants of the land. 

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This year, we’ll be featuring Johnny Bear Contreras, a multidisciplinary artist and activist who is also a member of the San Pasqual Band of Kumeyaay. Working with materials such as wood, stone, and metals, Johnny integrates traditional teachings into his work, contextualizing the Native experience while breathing new life into contemporary art. Perspectives Space will be hosting his exhibition, Creation Story, through the month of November. 

Please join us for the opening reception of Creation Story at Perspective Space on Nov. 16.

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