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Justice & Sustainability Associates
Justice, Sustainability & Land Use Decision-Making
l Our Logo l The Symbols l
1. Gyn Nyame (jeh N-yah-me)
Symbol of omnipotence, omnipresence, and immortality of God.
Literally: Except God. An Akan proverb states, "This Great Panorama
of creation dates back to time immemorial, no one lives who saw its
beginning and no one will live to see its end, Except God."
Symbol of omnipotence, omnipresence, and immortality of God.
Literally: Except God. An Akan proverb states, "This Great Panorama
of creation dates back to time immemorial, no one lives who saw its
beginning and no one will live to see its end, Except God."
At JSA, we aim to exercise good judgement with our clients and avoid being
judgemental of them. We have all types of clients and projects because we are
willing to help anybody wanting to be more just and sustainable. Yes, our clients
start from different places, some not so pretty. But should that disqualify them from
the chance to do better? At JSA, we don't judge who is a good or bad actor. If "good
faith" progress is the intended product, we will help you.
judgemental of them. We have all types of clients and projects because we are
willing to help anybody wanting to be more just and sustainable. Yes, our clients
start from different places, some not so pretty. But should that disqualify them from
the chance to do better? At JSA, we don't judge who is a good or bad actor. If "good
faith" progress is the intended product, we will help you.
2. Assase Ya Duru (ah-sah-see-yea doo-roo)
Symbol of the providence and the divinity of Mother Earth.
Literally: The Earth has weight.
Symbol of the providence and the divinity of Mother Earth.
Literally: The Earth has weight.
At JSA, we don't apologize when our heads are in the sky because we make sure we
keep our feet on the ground. From humanity's earliest societies on the African
continent, we have evidence of their recognition of the divinity of the land from
which their lives derives sustenance. With our clients, we model the balance that we
believe is crucial to making the transition towards creating individuals and
organizations that are more just and more sustainable.
Our starting point is making sure we use technology so that our efforts for clients
add the shallowest ecological footprint possible. Next we make sure that we speak
for the land and the things that have been done to it and on it in the past. In this
way, we make reconciliation more possible. Finally we adhere to the axiom that
character is what you show when no one is watching. And this is how we advise our
clients regarding their relationship with the earth and nature.
keep our feet on the ground. From humanity's earliest societies on the African
continent, we have evidence of their recognition of the divinity of the land from
which their lives derives sustenance. With our clients, we model the balance that we
believe is crucial to making the transition towards creating individuals and
organizations that are more just and more sustainable.
Our starting point is making sure we use technology so that our efforts for clients
add the shallowest ecological footprint possible. Next we make sure that we speak
for the land and the things that have been done to it and on it in the past. In this
way, we make reconciliation more possible. Finally we adhere to the axiom that
character is what you show when no one is watching. And this is how we advise our
clients regarding their relationship with the earth and nature.
3. Binkabi (bee-in-ka-bee)
Symbol of justice, fairplay, freedom, peace, forgiveness,
unity, harmony, and the avoidance of conflicts or strife.
Literally: No one should bite, outrage, or provoke another.
Symbol of justice, fairplay, freedom, peace, forgiveness,
unity, harmony, and the avoidance of conflicts or strife.
Literally: No one should bite, outrage, or provoke another.
This Adinkra symbol is one of justice and societies where all members aim to live in
peace and harmony. Central to JSA's business case is our belief that any enterprise
committed to profit-- be it broadly or narrowly defined-- should be committed to
justice. Shareholders and stakeholders are people. Globally, a new consciousness is
emerging in which justice is no longer a "high-minded" intellectual principle, but a
central guidepost for large and small choices made in every realm of daily life by
CEO's and children.
At JSA we help our clients be the just people they want to be and create the just
organizations and systems they want to be a part of. Being just is not just good
business-- it is good living.
peace and harmony. Central to JSA's business case is our belief that any enterprise
committed to profit-- be it broadly or narrowly defined-- should be committed to
justice. Shareholders and stakeholders are people. Globally, a new consciousness is
emerging in which justice is no longer a "high-minded" intellectual principle, but a
central guidepost for large and small choices made in every realm of daily life by
CEO's and children.
At JSA we help our clients be the just people they want to be and create the just
organizations and systems they want to be a part of. Being just is not just good
business-- it is good living.
4. Nkyinkyin (n-chin-chin)
Symbol of toughness, adaptability, selfless devotion to
service, and an ability to withstand hardships and difficulty.
Literally: Twistings.
Symbol of toughness, adaptability, selfless devotion to
service, and an ability to withstand hardships and difficulty.
Literally: Twistings.
In all relationships, there are twists and turns. Business relationships are no
different. At JSA we want to be selected by a prospective client because they think
they want a relationship with us. But we also select our clients because we think
we want a relationship with them. In the best selling book, The Discipline of Market
Leaders: Choose Your Customers, Narrow Your Focus, And Dominate Your Market,
Michael Treacy and Fred Wiersema state the following thesis: "successful
organizations-- the market leaders-- excel at delivering one type of value to their
chosen customers. The key is focus. Market leaders, they say, choose a single
"value discipline" and then build their organization around it.
JSA's value discipline is customer intimacy. We focus on delivering what each of our
clients want. We are not pursuing one time transactions; We want to cultivate
relationships that through all their twists and turns make progressive change
possible.
different. At JSA we want to be selected by a prospective client because they think
they want a relationship with us. But we also select our clients because we think
we want a relationship with them. In the best selling book, The Discipline of Market
Leaders: Choose Your Customers, Narrow Your Focus, And Dominate Your Market,
Michael Treacy and Fred Wiersema state the following thesis: "successful
organizations-- the market leaders-- excel at delivering one type of value to their
chosen customers. The key is focus. Market leaders, they say, choose a single
"value discipline" and then build their organization around it.
JSA's value discipline is customer intimacy. We focus on delivering what each of our
clients want. We are not pursuing one time transactions; We want to cultivate
relationships that through all their twists and turns make progressive change
possible.
5. Pempasie
Symbol of need for ever-readiness, steadfastness, hardiness,
valor, and fearlessness.
Literally: To have foresight (sew it in readiness- be prepared).
Symbol of need for ever-readiness, steadfastness, hardiness,
valor, and fearlessness.
Literally: To have foresight (sew it in readiness- be prepared).
Where does justice and sustainability come from? We believe it comes from
individuals who have made a personal decision to be just and sustainable all by
themselves. Just and sustainable organizations are created by leaders who want to
cultivate systems, methods, and products that sustain nature and develop better
human beings. This is not an accidental process.
At JSA, we believe that almost every person has a spirit that strives to do good. Our
focus is the person. It is not the job title, demographic, or even the first impression.
At JSA, we are "new beings," courageous, resolved and confirmed in our
commitment to stand with our clients as we create more just and sustainable
nations, businesses, communities, families, and individuals.
individuals who have made a personal decision to be just and sustainable all by
themselves. Just and sustainable organizations are created by leaders who want to
cultivate systems, methods, and products that sustain nature and develop better
human beings. This is not an accidental process.
At JSA, we believe that almost every person has a spirit that strives to do good. Our
focus is the person. It is not the job title, demographic, or even the first impression.
At JSA, we are "new beings," courageous, resolved and confirmed in our
commitment to stand with our clients as we create more just and sustainable
nations, businesses, communities, families, and individuals.
6. Funtummeriku-Denkyemmeriku
Symbol of unity in diversity, democracy, or the oneness of
the human family despite cultural differences and diversities.
Literally: A Ghanaian mythical two-headed crocodile with a
common stomach.
Symbol of unity in diversity, democracy, or the oneness of
the human family despite cultural differences and diversities.
Literally: A Ghanaian mythical two-headed crocodile with a
common stomach.
In the Akan myth, Funtummeriku and Denkyemmeriku were two crocodiles that had
only one stomach. Yet they struggled over which one should eat the food. The
paradox of the myth-- that whatever one of them eats is good for the other, yet
they still quarrel over food-- helps explain JSA's primary business lines. We help our
clients achieve excellent ends and means through designing and implementing
collaborative human interactions founded on consensus based agenda setting and
decision making. The myth of Funtummeriku and Denkyemmeriku tells us that,
"although members of a group may be different and thus have different opinions,
they can still cooperate, achieve mutual goals, and be creative and a collective." JSA
works with our clients to achieve "unity in diversity."
only one stomach. Yet they struggled over which one should eat the food. The
paradox of the myth-- that whatever one of them eats is good for the other, yet
they still quarrel over food-- helps explain JSA's primary business lines. We help our
clients achieve excellent ends and means through designing and implementing
collaborative human interactions founded on consensus based agenda setting and
decision making. The myth of Funtummeriku and Denkyemmeriku tells us that,
"although members of a group may be different and thus have different opinions,
they can still cooperate, achieve mutual goals, and be creative and a collective." JSA
works with our clients to achieve "unity in diversity."
7. Sankofa
Symbol of the wisdom of learning from the past to build for the future.
Literally: Go back and fetch it.
Symbol of the wisdom of learning from the past to build for the future.
Literally: Go back and fetch it.
Sankofa is one of the most widely recognized Adinkra symbols. For JSA's services
and products, it speaks to our understanding that learning from our past and that
of our clients is essential to our helping them and ourselves progress into the
future. So much injustice and unsustainability result today from the ignorance
historically imposed on billions of humans by white supremacy, atheism, patriarchy,
militarism, and materialism. But Martin Luther King, Jr. reminds us that "even truth
crushed to the ground will rise." At JSA, we promote individual truth telling and
truth hearing by our clients as a way of arriving at collective statements of truth
that promote justice for all, now and in the future.
and products, it speaks to our understanding that learning from our past and that
of our clients is essential to our helping them and ourselves progress into the
future. So much injustice and unsustainability result today from the ignorance
historically imposed on billions of humans by white supremacy, atheism, patriarchy,
militarism, and materialism. But Martin Luther King, Jr. reminds us that "even truth
crushed to the ground will rise." At JSA, we promote individual truth telling and
truth hearing by our clients as a way of arriving at collective statements of truth
that promote justice for all, now and in the future.
8. Mpatapo
Symbol of reconciliation, peace-making and pacification.
Literally: A knot of reconciliation.
Symbol of reconciliation, peace-making and pacification.
Literally: A knot of reconciliation.
As the end of the 20th Century loomed closer, globally, nations and organizations
began to embrace the value that could be derived for their members by
acknowledging past historical actions of significant human rights abuses and
attempting to make amends by paying financial reparations. The process to make
financial and social amends for the most well documented wrongs of the past 500
years has only begun and may or may not proceed with any long term integrity.
While we recognize the value of acknowledgement and reparations, we choose to
emphasize the necessity of reconciliation before sustainable progress can be made.
At JSA, we believe that progress is being re-defined and that this presents a
daunting challenge to organizations and leaders that are conscious of costs
exacted to achieve a previous and increasingly discarded standard of success. We
also believe that guilt and anger, while understandable, are not useful because
physics tells us that the past cannot be altered. Therefore, we focus on
reconciliation as a foundation upon which humans can construct something today
that can be sustained into the future. At JSA, we oppose injustice and we do so by
showing the unjust another way forward.
began to embrace the value that could be derived for their members by
acknowledging past historical actions of significant human rights abuses and
attempting to make amends by paying financial reparations. The process to make
financial and social amends for the most well documented wrongs of the past 500
years has only begun and may or may not proceed with any long term integrity.
While we recognize the value of acknowledgement and reparations, we choose to
emphasize the necessity of reconciliation before sustainable progress can be made.
At JSA, we believe that progress is being re-defined and that this presents a
daunting challenge to organizations and leaders that are conscious of costs
exacted to achieve a previous and increasingly discarded standard of success. We
also believe that guilt and anger, while understandable, are not useful because
physics tells us that the past cannot be altered. Therefore, we focus on
reconciliation as a foundation upon which humans can construct something today
that can be sustained into the future. At JSA, we oppose injustice and we do so by
showing the unjust another way forward.
9. Mate Masie (mah-tee mah-see-uh)
Symbol of wisdom, knowledge, and prudence.
Literally: What I hear, I keep (I understand)
Symbol of wisdom, knowledge, and prudence.
Literally: What I hear, I keep (I understand)
One of JSA's objectives is to build the capacity of our clients to work for justice and
sustainability after we have done our work with them. To achieve that objective, we
give away our data, information, and wisdom. Information theory tells us that giving
away information does not decrease it, the availability of it in the universe, or its
value to each end user. Rather, it makes the creation of new human communities
based on more humane values and behaviors possible. We are committed to putting
the human and intellectual capital that we have accumulated at JSA at the disposal
of our clients without fear of loss. We do that because we believe that what God
has for us, is for us. Hence, we do not need to fear the lack of abundance.
sustainability after we have done our work with them. To achieve that objective, we
give away our data, information, and wisdom. Information theory tells us that giving
away information does not decrease it, the availability of it in the universe, or its
value to each end user. Rather, it makes the creation of new human communities
based on more humane values and behaviors possible. We are committed to putting
the human and intellectual capital that we have accumulated at JSA at the disposal
of our clients without fear of loss. We do that because we believe that what God
has for us, is for us. Hence, we do not need to fear the lack of abundance.
As we work with our clients, we will strive to stay grounded.
Grounded in time and place; in culture and nature. Grounded in our
belief that the situation can become better.
Grounded in time and place; in culture and nature. Grounded in our
belief that the situation can become better.
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