Our Process
Our model integrates the proceeds from each item sold into implementing a human-first program and co-building a community centered space. Kuluntu practices the principles of radical Ubuntu. Radical Ubuntu is the process of transforming the world with and from people towards a more dignity-centered, just and liberated society. This world cannot be built within traditional models in which domination occurs when decisions are made for people, without people, for practice on people.
Kuluntu’s approach is always to work from and with people, centering people, communities and the environment throughout program development, implementation and evaluation. Adapting the participatory ideas of Paulo Freire, Sally Timmel and Anne Hope, our methodology works to dismantle from the roots of injustice. We work to collaborate to enhance local self-reliant community development efforts and link such efforts within wider national and global civil society. We are committed to bringing this world of liberation to life in the present moment.
Photo by Kelsey Foster Photography
What does community building mean to us?
Community building is commonly defined as the creation of a group of people with social and psychological ties. For us, community building digs deeper. It is the formation of a group of open-minded, accepting people that will lift each other up. It is cross-cultural, intersectional, and breeds understanding and empathy for others. This expansive definition of community is what we mean when we say “us”.
At its heart, Kuluntu Bakery breaks down barriers through education and collaboration. We focus on women because we believe wholeheartedly that women are the center of a just, equitable and peaceful world.
Why the food industry? Why women?
The wellbeing of a community is directly proportional to the status of women in that space. Women are the center of society. Yet, because of bias, violence, policies and structures, women occupy the margins of society.
The food industry reflects these intersecting barriers to women. It is the largest minimum wage employer in the country with the majority of those workers being women, and disproportionately women of color. Women in these spaces report high levels of sexual harassment, poverty wages, and exploitation.
We are excited to launch programming and a community-centered space and bakery to work towards our mission and vision of a more just world.