Building bridges

We are lucky in New Hampshire to have a strong and thriving small business community. At Seacoast Outright, we are thankful for our ongoing partnership with the Portsmouth Chamber Collaborative that allows us to be a resource and a partner with the local business community. Each of us has a role to play in building a more just and equitable New Hampshire. Together, we build strong communities where all can thrive.

It is critical in our current moment in New Hampshire for businesses to recommit to the work of supporting LGBTQ+ employees and their families. The climate in our state is growing increasingly hostile. Employees are likely coming to work carrying worry or concern about themself, an LGBTQ+ child or family member and more. The toll of that constant emotional stress cannot be overstated.

Of course, the struggle for LGBTQ+ inclusion goes hand in hand with work to combat racism in all of our spaces and places, too.

In the last year, we have seen a meteoric rise in hate-based activity across the state targeting LGBTQ+ individuals and business, Black-owned businesses and BIPOC individuals, our Jewish and Muslim communities and much more.

The goal of hate-based activity is to silo us from one another, or cause us to turn on each other. We must do the opposite and turn toward one another, hand in hand.

When swastikas appeared on businesses, houses of worship and more in Portsmouth last year, the community sprang into action.

Led by the Reproductive Freedom Fund, Lovering Health Center, Black Lives Matter NH, Cup of Joe, and others, Love Blooms Here showered the affected businesses and organizations and the streets of Portsmouth with flowers. Community members were lined up down Market Street at the start of the event and the flowers disappeared out the door in 30 minutes.

Love blooms here indeed.

Businesses set the tone in their local communities when hate knocks on our door. The community often looks first to business leaders for how they will respond in a given moment. Will there be silence, or will there be a robust response lifting up love, unity and commitment to combat this activity whenever and wherever we find it? Who are the local businesses who show up consistently for underrepresented or targeted voices in the community? What policies exist to allow employees to thrive at work?

Similarly, businesses cannot, and should not, do the work alone. As evidenced by the Portsmouth Event, building strong coalitions across sectors and organizations is key. That work must happen proactively before our communities are targeted, so we can respond quickly, effectively and meet the moment. Consider this an invitation to reach out today to build new relationships in your community.

Seacoast Outright and our partner organization, Affirming Spaces Project, are grateful for all of our partners on the Seacoast, and across New Hampshire committing to this work together. Activist Mariame Kaba tells us hope is a discipline; it is a thing we must practice. Together, we can practice hope, build a better Granite State and a better world for us all.

Seacoast Outright is a member of New Hampshire Businesses for Social Responsibility, which provides this column monthly to NH Business Review. Heidi Carrington Heath is the executive director of Seacoast Outright and an advisory group member for the NHBSR DEI Workplace Innovation Challenge.