Natalie Jenkins on Equity

Natalie Jenkins is CEO at Block Branding and a champion of the arts in Western Australia. We were delighted when she said yes to our request for her thoughts on equity. This is what she had to say…⁠

‘I think equity is a challenging lens to look through unless you’ve experienced inequity. To remind myself of what it means, I reflect on the cartoon showing the difference between equality and equity, where people of different heights are looking over a fence.

Giving them the same size boxes to stand on just gives the tallest one even more advantage over the others, whereas different size boxes – and only for those that need it, ensures they all get to the same level.

It illustrates that different measures are needed to ensure equity for everyone – it’s not about treating everyone the same and I’m comfortable with that. ⁠ ⁠

Equity has a very different meaning in business/financial terms and I find it interesting to compare that definition to what equity means to me. It seems worlds apart, however in financial terms it reflects value and therefore, equity is valuable. That works for me.’⁠ ⁠

Natalie’s thoughts were first published in our fifth journal, Equity. 100% of all revenue generated through journal sales will be distributed to First Nations community projects through TheFulcrum.Fund. ⁠Copies can be purchased here .