Your Voice Is the Strategy
By Katrina Elise | Founder & CEO, CTRL+Adapt
We are living in a moment where visibility has become dangerous.
Not because people are “too sensitive.”
Not because leaders are being “canceled.”
But because the truth is finally visible, and institutions don’t know what to do with it.
We’re seeing it now with companies like Target, where a public shift away from DEI—whether stated or not—has sent shockwaves through communities who once saw the brand as a symbol of inclusion. It doesn’t matter how carefully the PR is written. When the CEO has to meet with Al Sharpton and sends a tone-deaf internal email “apologizing” for disappearing during a national firestorm, it’s clear: a line has been crossed.
The Impact is Real
and what has become a boycott is being named as the most significant Black-led corporate boycott in 70 years, since the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
And the lesson is even clearer: this is a sacred and strategic reckoning.
The Reckoning With Visibility
What companies are navigating right now is the same thing individuals face when they undergo deep transformation: the terrifying gap between being seen and being safe.
We want the benefits of being bold, but not the backlash.
We want to be celebrated for “diversity”, but not held accountable for justice.
We want to appear values-driven, without being inconvenienced by the values.
But you cannot perform authenticity.
And you cannot scale belonging if your courage crumbles under critique.
The Old Playbook Is Dead
Here’s what the old paradigm of visibility sounds like:
"Post every day."
"Stay on trend."
"Make it palatable."
"Don’t make the board uncomfortable."
But the new paradigm that I call conscious leadership says:
"I want to build trust, not just traffic."
"I want my voice to mean something, not market everything."
"I want my presence to reflect my principles, not just protect my profits."
It’s not just about what you say online.
It’s about what your silence says offline.
A Personal Reckoning
In 2020, I launched my first DEI consulting firm in the wake of George Floyd’s murder.
I’d been doing this work for a decade already. I knew what was coming: a wave of reactive requests for racial justice workshops and optics-driven programming. What did I know? That centering truth, naming white supremacy, refusing to ignore the role of whiteness in organizational culture, would make people uncomfortable.
And it did.
I lost clients. I closed the company. I resigned from a leadership role.
But I never lost my clarity.
Now, five years later, I’ve founded CTRL+Adapt, a strategy firm designed for the future of equity work. We don’t sugarcoat. We don’t coddle. We don’t disappear when things get controversial.
Because the work of equity was never supposed to be comfortable.
It was supposed to be transformative.
From Performative to Principled: The Brands Doing It Right
You want a blueprint? Look at Ben & Jerry’s.
They’ve spoken out consistently and explicitly against white supremacy and have three distinct missions- social, economic, and product. They’ve refused to abandon their values even when it costs them. Just recently, Ben Cohen was arrested while protesting the U.S. government’s spending in Gaza. This may seem extreme, but there are small yet impactful decisions to be made within your own business that demonstrate your ability to balance performance with principle.
That’s not just PR. That’s alignment.
Or look at Nike.
They don’t flatten creators into marketing tools. They invite them to bring their whole lens, recently giving Malia Obama creative control of a campaign that reflected her voice and vision. Even with lesser-known, independent filmmakers claiming plagiarism, there’s an opportunity now to integrate minoritized perspectives, which are required, given the level of problem-solving and innovation required today.
Nike Campaign Video directed by Malia Obama for WNBA player A’ja Wilson’s new sneaker release
That’s what trust in creative, cultural intelligence looks like.
That’s what evolution looks like.
The Real Question
So the question isn’t: “Should we still do DEI?”
The real question is:
What kind of leader are you when DEI isn’t trending anymore?
Are you hiding behind algorithms and strategy decks?
Or are you building the kind of company that can withstand truth?
Let’s Be Honest
You don’t get to extract from Black, Brown, queer, disabled, immigrant, or marginalized communities and then shrink back into silence when those same communities need you to show up. You can’t ignore the value of a multiethnic, multiracial employee and consumer base and the level of insight and skill now to navigate innovation with it accordingly.
You don’t get to dominate a platform, an industry, or a cultural moment and pretend that your voice has no responsibility.
Visibility without courage is cowardice.
Capitalism without conscience is collapse.
What Comes Next
If you're a founder, executive, or brand builder who feels the tension of this moment…good.
That tension isn’t something to run from.
It’s your invitation to lead differently.
The truth is, visibility was never the problem.
The problem is not having the internal clarity, cultural intelligence, or systems support to stand fully in it.
That’s where the CTRL+Adapt ecosystem comes in.
We don’t just tell you to be bold. We build the conditions for you to do it with strategy and alignment:
🧭 CTRL+Compass helps you lead with voice, values, and vision through coaching and cultural fluency.
🛠 CTRL+Design transforms performative optics into real, equitable infrastructure.
💻 CTRL+Thrive provides wellness tools for navigating corporate harm and reclaiming your leadership clarity.
🏛 CTRL+Archive grounds your strategy in cultural memory because legacy isn’t a luxury, it’s leverage.
Whether you’re navigating backlash, ready to speak more boldly, or building something that needs to stand up under pressure, you don’t need another playbook.
You need a blueprint.
Book a 1:1 Visibility Alignment Session and receive the Visibility-to-Voice Leadership Guide.
Because the truth is still visible.
The real question is: Are you ready to be?
