Founded by IU alumna Maqubè Reese in 2017, Tribe Consulting, LLC is an organization of consultants in different fields that suggests anti-oppressive practices to organizations of all sizes. The Black-and-woman-owned business offers a variety of consulting services and community engagement to businesses in Bloomington and nationwide.
Tribe is an acronym for what the consulting LLC aims to achieve., “Together; we are choosing to make room for Reconciliation focused on Intersectionality while Building a sustainable Ecosystem of care and responsibility,” their website reads.
Its mission is to infuse anti-oppressive practices and informative services to reduce harm in any organization,” Reese said.
Reese, the founder and CEO of Tribe Consulting, was born and raised in Fort Wayne before earning a bachelor's degree in human development family studies and two certificates for non-profit management from IU Bloomington. She also holds an Eli Lily Philanthropy certificate through the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, which she said provided her with the necessary skills to work in philanthropy.
Reese said she became involved in the Bloomington community after graduating in 2014. She was a member of the Black History Month Committee from 2013 to 2017, a Commissioner on the Status of Women from 2017 to 2019 and was invited by former mayor John Hamilton to be on the Board of Public Safety in 2018, where she was employed until 2022.
In 2017, Reese decided to go back to college. She pursued a master’s degree at the IU Purdue University Indianapolis School of Social Work, where she came up with the concept of Tribe Consulting.
“I knew I wanted to do something;, I didn’t know exactly what it was,” Reese said. “When I was on the Commision for Status of Women, I noticed an opportunity to bring in women of color that were leading the way.”
Reese had her practicum at Girls Inc. of Monroe County, a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to fostering a safe and educational environment for young girls, where she shared her idea with the executive director.
“She believed in my mission,” Reese said. “I told her about Tribe Consulting wanting to bring in diverse voices and she said, ‘absolutely.’”
Tribe Consulting began with Reese’s MSW practicum in 2017.
“I had a moment where I could actually share about successful women of color in that space, and it was great,” Reese said. “A lot of the girls loved it; they were excited to learn more and their parents loved it too.”
Tribe Consulting continued to grow during Reese’s time in graduate school as she became more confident in her equity work. After graduating from her master’s program in 2020, she was ready to commit full time to the organization.
“In 2020, the world was reconciling with all this racial discrimination and all the reckoning that was taking place, and so I committed,” Reese said.
As a graduation present, Reese gifted herself with the purchase of an LLC and officially launched Tribe Consulting. On June 4, 2021, Reese soft launched Tribe Consulting after hiring a graphic designer.
Since its official launch in 2020, she said Tribe Consulting has grown. Now Reese has a graphic designer, three consulting partners, four accountability partners and a COO to continue the outreach of the cultural sensitivity consulting Tribe offers. They tackle topics such as race, gender, sexuality, ability, inequity and social movements.
The consulting LLC offers equity audits, training for raising anti-racist children and offers tailored workshops to help companies meet their equity and anti-oppression goals. They also offer longer-form tailored contracts, from six months to one year, for organizations who may need more work in creating their psychologically safe environment.
One of Tribe Consulting’s first major clients was the Bloomington Chamber of Commerce, where Reese was given the opportunity to do work as a community engagement coordinator with local businesses in Bloomington.
“They believed in me so much,” Reese said. “I loved doing that work with the Chamber of Commerce here in Bloomington, and I’m hoping to do more with different chambers of commerce throughout the country.”
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion education programs in the workplace first emerged in the mid-1960s with equal opportunity and affirmative action laws, according to ABC News. In the recent decade, however, it has grown tremendously as a priority for businesses in every industry and sector.
Tribe Consulting refers to their services as anti-oppressive instead of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion because it aims to focus on the root of systemic issues in their services and programs.
“Enterprises need to highlight equity and inclusion because this is where people get to feel safe,” Reese said. “They get to choose to belong at that space of work. The goal is to show how social justice is connected in every sphere: healthcare, business, education, private and public entities."
