Building Meaningful Partnerships with Black & African Diaspora Communities

A Moment of Reflection and Dialogue

In February, Afro Van Connect had the privilege of facilitating a workshop with the City of Vancouver focused on building meaningful partnerships with Black and African Diaspora communities.

This gathering created an important space for reflection, dialogue, and shared learning—bringing together staff and leadership to consider how institutions can engage more intentionally with communities. Not as a one-time exercise, but as an ongoing, relational practice.

Grounded in Community Experience

The session was rooted in lived experience and community-based work across British Columbia. Through Afro Van Connect and our broader network of initiatives, we have spent years cultivating spaces where Black communities can come together—spaces grounded in:

• Cultural expression
• Storytelling
• Collective care

These experiences continue to shape how we approach partnership-building. At its core, this work is about more than engagement—it is about fostering belonging, recognizing community leadership, and creating conditions where Black voices are seen, heard, and valued.

Moving Beyond Consultation

A key theme that emerged throughout the workshop was the need to move beyond traditional models of consultation.

Too often, engagement processes are:

• Short-term
• Extractive
• Disconnected from long-term outcomes

What we explored instead is a shift toward trust-based relationships, where communities are not only consulted but are active partners in shaping decisions, processes, and futures.

This includes:

• Building relationships over time—not just within project timelines
• Centering lived experience as a form of expertise
• Creating feedback loops that demonstrate accountability
• Investi