What People Are Saying

“Equity work asks a lot of leaders, and it asks even more when we are committed to moving beyond good intentions to real change. Be Culture understood that responsibility and came alongside AAPCHO with care, clarity, and respect for both leadership and community. Their guidance helped us be more intentional about how we lead and how we stay accountable to the people most affected by our decisions. Through a culture first approach and structures like community engagement caucuses, we’ve been able to stay near the shore, learning with community and reimagining what equity can look like in practice. Reimagine Equity invites leaders to envision a brighter future and to take responsibility for building it. It is a guide for leaders who are ready to reimagine their systems, organize for positive change, and fulfill the promise of DEI in ways that are practical, sustainable, and deeply human.”

 Jeffrey Caballero, MPH, Executive Director, AAPCHO (Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations

“In a moment when many organizations feel stuck between good intentions and real impact, Reimagine Equity offers leaders a clear, grounded path forward.

James and Kristen Whitfield move beyond performative DEI efforts to focus on what drives change: systems, leadership, and shared ownership. With clarity, compassion, and deep respect for the realities of executive decision-making, they provide a practical framework for embedding equity into the way organizations truly operate, not just what they say they value.

 This book doesn’t ask leaders to be perfect. It asks them to be intentional, courageous, and strategic. By anchoring equity in a moral imperative and pairing it with actionable tools, Reimagine Equity equips leaders to create durable, meaningful progress, even amid complexity, resistance, and change.

 For leaders who are ready to stop circling the conversation and start doing the work, this book is an essential guide.”

 Jonni Ressler, Principal & CEO, Eleven 11 Solutions

 “As someone who has benefitted from their work, I know this is more than just words on a page and theory in a book. What the Whitfields have outlined here in Reimagine Equity is a blueprint for leaders, particularly in this time, space, and rhetoric of anti-DEI pushbacks, to stand up and align their DEI efforts in meaningful ways.

Reading this text made love and DEI real and actionable. It moved beyond philosophy and provided actionable, practical steps for leaders to lead with equity in mind and for people from the margins to be included in processes. This work is a call to action for leaders that challenges equity to be more than lip service or a press release; instead, it calls for personal convictions to meet action and purpose.

While the tone is inviting, it is steeped in accountability and expectations for leaders to lead. It puts the responsibility on leaders to make equity a priority, examine their cultures/systems, and make decisions. While equity is truly everyone's responsibility, leaders have the agency and responsibility to make equity actionable.  As the book says, if we do not move beyond awareness and training, equity work will not be successful. As such, we need leaders to hold equity as a priority just like other organizational outcomes.

 There are a lot of people who work in this space who compromise truth telling for comfort. Be Culture is not that group. They have the hard conversations while maintaining their values and principles. Working with them truly helped me grow as a leader and helped our leaders have the hard, yet necessary conversations about our equity work and culture. Be Culture will give you the tools and show you how to use them. Leaders must act to make the tools work. Be Culture's work is transformational, and this text is a snippet of the work they lead in the consulting space and nothing short of amazing.”

 Dr. F. Takeshia Brown, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Officer, City of Savannah Georgia

 “If you think DEI is just a checkbox, this book will change your mind. Few books truly change how leaders approach equity—but Reimagine Equity: Leading Strategically to Fulfill the Promise of DEI does.

 As Executive Director of Encompass, a nonprofit serving families in rural Washington, I’ve spent years navigating the challenges of building an equitable culture. For nearly a decade, I’ve had the privilege of working with James and Kristen Whitfield, whose guidance has transformed our organizational culture and energized our strategy—leading to remarkable growth and improved organizational health.

We all know Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are essential to a healthy workplace, but figuring out how to make real progress can feel confusing and overwhelming. This book cuts through that complexity. Unlike many DEI resources that stay theoretical, it offers practical, actionable steps and real-world examples that leaders can implement immediately.

 If you lead people—whether a team, a department, as a board member or an entire organization—this book is essential reading. Written in an engaging, approachable style, it feels like having James and Kristen by your side as trusted advisors guiding you through the work that truly matters.

I’ve seen firsthand how these principles drive measurable improvements in equity and impact. I love this book—and you will too.”

 Nela Cumming, Executive Director, Encompass

 “The flow of the content holds the reader at their growth edge. It balanced familiar concepts with deeper, more challenging insights—exactly as described in the foreword, written for those ready to dive in. I really appreciated the thoughtfully sequenced information, it helped close the gap between desire and feeling equipped and confident to take action.

From cover to cover, Reimagine Equity provides insight that meets you where you're at and intuits what you need next to be a steward of change.

 If you're looking for guidance on “How am I going to work through this in a way that is truly transformative?” — this is the book. Or if, like me, you hold to the principle of leaving people and places better than you found them, then you need to read this book.”

 Kalika Curry, Executive Director, Eastside Pathways

 “Reimagine Equity is the definitive guide for leaders committed to equity and systemic change. The Whitfields’ accessible and insightful approach provides a clear roadmap for organizational success. This is the book you’ll keep close, returning often for its powerful stories, precise definitions, and practical direction. James and Kristen lead us through today’s challenges toward our shared vision of a beloved community.”

 Amy Morrison, EdD, President, Lake Washington Institute of Technology,, Author of The Survival Guide for GenX Leaders, 2025 National Community College CEO of the Year (ACCT)

 “Writing about diversity, equity, and inclusion feels especially bold right now, as DEI is under attack and funding for related programs and initiatives continues to be pulled back.

 The book lives up to its promise. After reading it, I genuinely feel that "equity" has been reimagined for me. The authors offer remarkable clarity about what equity actually means. They start with the literal definition of equity, that is ownership in an asset or company and apply it to the responsibility of creating a culture that fulfills the promise of DEI. In their framing, “equity is shared ownership.”

 They also clarify that equity is not a “predetermined outcome.” Instead, it’s about “ensuring processes and practices” that define both “a shared definition of success” and “meaningful collaboration to overcome barriers to success as perceived by the different (diverse) people involved (inclusion) within a system.”

 One of my biggest a-ha moments came when the Whitfields distinguished between building racial equity and fighting racism. Much of the work in the U.S. focuses on anti-racism, which they describe as dismantling the structures that perpetuate racism. While they acknowledge the importance of those efforts, they are clear that “racial equity is about what gets built instead.” As they write, it’s about “practical ways people can work together within specific systems to build toward a new and reimagined future where all races can thrive.”

 While the book focuses on racial equity, I found myself imagining how this approach could apply to any group that feels marginalized at work—inviting people into collaboration and collectively defining success through how an organization works together.

 The book is full of easy-to-understand analogies and practical guidance, making complex ideas feel both accessible and actionable.”

 Julie Pham, PhD, Founder & CEO, CuriosityBased

 "James and Kristen always bring their authentic selves to DEI work - grounded in love and lived experience. They remind us that the pursuit of equity is both about outcomes (what we accomplish collectively) and the process (how we collaboratively do the work). They offer a roadmap for implementing DEI initiatives with practical tools and advice that can be easily adapted for your organization's goals."

 Michael McKee, WA State Director, Comagine Health

“Anyone in a leadership role who is serious about leading for equity, not just talking about it, will find Reimagine Equity: Leading Strategically to Fulfill the Promise of DEI an essential resource. It offers a clear, practical, and deeply human approach to changing organizational systems, challenging leaders to examine the cultures they reinforce and the voices they privilege or silence. James and Kristen provide clear and honest guidance for moving beyond surface-level commitments to DEI and engaging the deeper work of reshaping power, decision-making, and belonging. This is a necessary guide for leaders ready to take responsibility for the outcomes their systems produce and to create conditions where everyone can thrive.

 Having worked with and learned from James and Kristen, I have seen them practice the kind of leadership they describe, leadership that is grounded in love and compassion, is honest about power, and in service of real systems change. I recognize in this book the same clarity, deep integrity, and commitment to equity and inclusion that they bring to their leadership and partnerships with individuals and organizations.”

 Jennifer Karls, Co-Founder and Director, Roots of Inclusion