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The Antiracist Business Book: An Equity Centered Approach to Work, Wealth, and Leadership
The Antiracist Business Book is the first of its kind, as DEI business coach Trudi Lebrón offers business owners real-life lessons on how to build, reshape, and re-envision their work to support and repair the wealth of all people.
The Antiracist Business Book: An Equity Centered Approach to Work, Wealth, and Leadership is the business book for the modern world. Trudi Lebrón has spent the last decade working as a DEI and impact coach for businesses, nonprofits, and entrepreneurs.
And what she learned over that time was that making a lasting change wasn't about fixing old systems; it was about building a new one. In this seminal work, Trudi lays out a plan for all businesses, leaders, entrepreneurs, and coaches to remix business, so that equity and impact become synonymous with profit and power.
Trudi provides lessons on understanding the long-term impacts of living in a hyper-capitalist, post-colonial world (aka White People Sh*t) and an examination of the way we have viewed wealth (whether as an obsession or an obscenity). She will compel business owners and leaders to rethink how they do business.
Trudi shares ways to create an antiracist business in a capitalist system, showing readers:
How to make the shift from toxic capitalism to justice-based commerce – Trudi has spent years working with corporate leaders, online entrepreneurs, and mid-level managers on understanding how to build profitable businesses based on ethical transparency, justice-based leadership, and equitable business practices. She explains how justice can be found in a system that places profit above all else, re-imagining our economic systems not just in theory but in practice.
How to move from the streets to the suites ("-isms" in business) – Trudi identifies the new form of leadership, which isn't from above but is built from the trust, creativity, and community usually found in the streets. As younger generations demand a new world order, the old one is dying and is being replaced with something remarkably more dynamic, equitable, and wealth-generating for all.
How to make friends with money – This is for all you activists in the back row. Money is not the devil. In fact, without embracing and creating wealth generation, antiracism will always struggle at the corners of the conversation. In this work, Trudi will help readers heal their business journey, inviting them to redefine and re-envision their relationship to wealth.
Unlike any other book on the market, The Antiracist Business Book takes an antiracist perspective. It applies it to how we are doing business—at the top, in the middle, and at the bottom, offering tools for advancement in how we work, earn, and lead. The wisdom inside this timely and essential book advocates for a new order of business that creates transparency, opportunity, and disruption. Businesses can no longer be successful while operating as tools of the status quo.
The Antiracist Business Book: An Equity Centered Approach to Work, Wealth, and Leadership is the business book for the modern world. Trudi Lebrón has spent the last decade working as a DEI and impact coach for businesses, nonprofits, and entrepreneurs.
And what she learned over that time was that making a lasting change wasn't about fixing old systems; it was about building a new one. In this seminal work, Trudi lays out a plan for all businesses, leaders, entrepreneurs, and coaches to remix business, so that equity and impact become synonymous with profit and power.
Trudi provides lessons on understanding the long-term impacts of living in a hyper-capitalist, post-colonial world (aka White People Sh*t) and an examination of the way we have viewed wealth (whether as an obsession or an obscenity). She will compel business owners and leaders to rethink how they do business.
Trudi shares ways to create an antiracist business in a capitalist system, showing readers:
How to make the shift from toxic capitalism to justice-based commerce – Trudi has spent years working with corporate leaders, online entrepreneurs, and mid-level managers on understanding how to build profitable businesses based on ethical transparency, justice-based leadership, and equitable business practices. She explains how justice can be found in a system that places profit above all else, re-imagining our economic systems not just in theory but in practice.
How to move from the streets to the suites ("-isms" in business) – Trudi identifies the new form of leadership, which isn't from above but is built from the trust, creativity, and community usually found in the streets. As younger generations demand a new world order, the old one is dying and is being replaced with something remarkably more dynamic, equitable, and wealth-generating for all.
How to make friends with money – This is for all you activists in the back row. Money is not the devil. In fact, without embracing and creating wealth generation, antiracism will always struggle at the corners of the conversation. In this work, Trudi will help readers heal their business journey, inviting them to redefine and re-envision their relationship to wealth.
Unlike any other book on the market, The Antiracist Business Book takes an antiracist perspective. It applies it to how we are doing business—at the top, in the middle, and at the bottom, offering tools for advancement in how we work, earn, and lead. The wisdom inside this timely and essential book advocates for a new order of business that creates transparency, opportunity, and disruption. Businesses can no longer be successful while operating as tools of the status quo.
272 pages, Hardcover
Published April 19, 2022
28 people are currently reading
300 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
April 28, 2022
Trudi has been my personal coach for two years but I learned so much in this book especially in the area of capitalism, just commerce, money mindset and how they align with our values and help us create antiracist businesses. I knew Trudi's book would be valuable but after reading it, it far exceeds my high expectations. Every business owner and CEO must read this book!
July 23, 2025
I read this book for an assignment as part of my Master's in Library Science courses. For that assignment, I had to write a professional book review about a leadership book and relate it to libraries. I am pasting below my review that I submitted.
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Entrepreneur Trudi Lebrón takes issue with people who dismiss for-profit businesses as not having a positive role to play in social justice movements. For Lebrón, running a business is an opportunity to dismantle inequities and create new systems that ultimately advance justice and equity. In The Antiracist Business Book, Lebrón explains that starting and leading an anti-racist business is ultimately about “reconnect[ing] business to be in service of the people” (p. 29). Beginning by telling readers to throw out the phrase “it’s not personal, it’s business,” Lebrón’s overarching point is that an anti-racist leader knows the decisions they make are deeply personal because decisions affect people (p. 33). More specifically, an anti-racist leader knows that in our society’s context of structural racism and oppression, a leader’s decisions affect Black, Brown, and other minoritized groups in disproportionately negative ways.
The Antiracist Business Book is a mix of new concepts (“the five dimensions of impact”), specific practices (avoid non-compete clauses for employees and contractors), and overarching principles (“urgency interrupts equity”) relevant to anyone starting a business or leading a team (pp. 195, 77, 155). Lebrón intermixes personal stories from her work in non-profits, launching a business, and advising corporations on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Many of these concepts, practices, and principles are applicable to leadership roles beyond traditional businesses, including libraries. The advice to “start with your values” that “go beyond a mission and vision statement” can help librarians stay connected to their own humanity and that of the people with whom they work and serve (p. 67). As more libraries are implementing anti-racist and DEI initiatives, Lebrón’s concept of “explicit inclusion” is not only relevant, but may also require librarians to rethink principles of neutrality (p. 127). In addition, Lebrón reiterates that there is no single right way, model, or structure that is inherently anti-racist. It is the intentionality, transparency, care, and the leader’s self-awareness of their own power and positionality that drive an anti-racist institution.
Useful for any leader, The Antiracist Business Book, helps fill a gap in anti-racist guidance by tackling everyday institutions like businesses and workplaces where anyone can make an impact.
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NOTE: One thing I did not mention in the review I submitted for my course, and that I think is really important, is that the book does not fully address the issue of how to pay people who do work/labor for your business. To clarify, it does say you need to pay staff and contractors well. But, it does not address the issue of making more or the same money as the people who work for you. It needed a section that up front addresses the issue of profiting off of other people's labor and how to navigate this as a business owner in a capitalist system. Although it does address capitalism broadly, and is somewhat critical of it, it does not address this issue, which is what I see as the most difficult predicament for a social justice business.
----
Entrepreneur Trudi Lebrón takes issue with people who dismiss for-profit businesses as not having a positive role to play in social justice movements. For Lebrón, running a business is an opportunity to dismantle inequities and create new systems that ultimately advance justice and equity. In The Antiracist Business Book, Lebrón explains that starting and leading an anti-racist business is ultimately about “reconnect[ing] business to be in service of the people” (p. 29). Beginning by telling readers to throw out the phrase “it’s not personal, it’s business,” Lebrón’s overarching point is that an anti-racist leader knows the decisions they make are deeply personal because decisions affect people (p. 33). More specifically, an anti-racist leader knows that in our society’s context of structural racism and oppression, a leader’s decisions affect Black, Brown, and other minoritized groups in disproportionately negative ways.
The Antiracist Business Book is a mix of new concepts (“the five dimensions of impact”), specific practices (avoid non-compete clauses for employees and contractors), and overarching principles (“urgency interrupts equity”) relevant to anyone starting a business or leading a team (pp. 195, 77, 155). Lebrón intermixes personal stories from her work in non-profits, launching a business, and advising corporations on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Many of these concepts, practices, and principles are applicable to leadership roles beyond traditional businesses, including libraries. The advice to “start with your values” that “go beyond a mission and vision statement” can help librarians stay connected to their own humanity and that of the people with whom they work and serve (p. 67). As more libraries are implementing anti-racist and DEI initiatives, Lebrón’s concept of “explicit inclusion” is not only relevant, but may also require librarians to rethink principles of neutrality (p. 127). In addition, Lebrón reiterates that there is no single right way, model, or structure that is inherently anti-racist. It is the intentionality, transparency, care, and the leader’s self-awareness of their own power and positionality that drive an anti-racist institution.
Useful for any leader, The Antiracist Business Book, helps fill a gap in anti-racist guidance by tackling everyday institutions like businesses and workplaces where anyone can make an impact.
---
NOTE: One thing I did not mention in the review I submitted for my course, and that I think is really important, is that the book does not fully address the issue of how to pay people who do work/labor for your business. To clarify, it does say you need to pay staff and contractors well. But, it does not address the issue of making more or the same money as the people who work for you. It needed a section that up front addresses the issue of profiting off of other people's labor and how to navigate this as a business owner in a capitalist system. Although it does address capitalism broadly, and is somewhat critical of it, it does not address this issue, which is what I see as the most difficult predicament for a social justice business.
August 19, 2023
This is an excellent primer on how to create and run a business in a different way, one that is not centered around treating people as resources to be exploited to generate profit at all costs for the benefit of the owner (thanks, capitalism!).
Instead, Lebrón shares how to run a business in a more equitable way, by:
-- distributing decision making and including those affected by the decision in the decision
-- being radically transparent, as lack of transparency is generally due to inequities
-- paying employees and suppliers and contractors a living wage and treating them respectfully
-- honoring people as individuals who have their own needs and preferences
-- creating inviting spaces that welcome everybody, no matter their background, with special attention to the culture, rules, agreements and language that we use.
One point I particularly liked was that money and profit are not evil in and of themselves. Wanting to make money does not make you a bad person. Money can be a way of increasing the capital you can use to support communities and equitable causes, in which case accumulating more of it creates more equity, not less. Her point is that money is a tool, and you can earn it and allocate it in alignment with your values.
While I was familiar with most of the concepts in the book, I appreciate the way Lebrón brings them all together as a blueprint for running an antiracist business.
Instead, Lebrón shares how to run a business in a more equitable way, by:
-- distributing decision making and including those affected by the decision in the decision
-- being radically transparent, as lack of transparency is generally due to inequities
-- paying employees and suppliers and contractors a living wage and treating them respectfully
-- honoring people as individuals who have their own needs and preferences
-- creating inviting spaces that welcome everybody, no matter their background, with special attention to the culture, rules, agreements and language that we use.
One point I particularly liked was that money and profit are not evil in and of themselves. Wanting to make money does not make you a bad person. Money can be a way of increasing the capital you can use to support communities and equitable causes, in which case accumulating more of it creates more equity, not less. Her point is that money is a tool, and you can earn it and allocate it in alignment with your values.
While I was familiar with most of the concepts in the book, I appreciate the way Lebrón brings them all together as a blueprint for running an antiracist business.
April 20, 2022
“I hope you were drawn to this book because you’re looking for another way to lead, or maybe you’re looking for language to express feelings that you’ve had but haven’t been able to put into words.” - from the conclusion
This one sentence perfectly describes my feelings about this book. As I am starting my business, I feel isolated in the ways so many people talk about profit or connection or power as the outcomes or successes of being an entrepreneur. I cringe as people suggest ideas or host workshops around doing less work and making more money by outsourcing and/or scaling to improve profit margins.
While it focuses on anti-racism, it is much larger than just making your business less racist; it’s a good overview on broader anti-oppressive business and ideas for a path towards an economy based in just commerce.
This book made me feel confident and comfortable, reassuring me that I am far from alone in my desire to prioritize people and community in my business. It gave practical advice about searching for a balance that allows people to both have a livable income and make a positive impact on the world around me, as well as theoretical ideas about the world we can be working towards. Highlighted so many passages to consider how to incorporate into my operating agreement and my future planning & strategy.
On a practical level, the book is very well written and easy to read; it’s conversational tone was enjoyable and lent itself to reading quickly.
Highly recommend for anyone who feels that the business books they are reading or advice they are getting is too focused on profit and not focused enough on people.
This one sentence perfectly describes my feelings about this book. As I am starting my business, I feel isolated in the ways so many people talk about profit or connection or power as the outcomes or successes of being an entrepreneur. I cringe as people suggest ideas or host workshops around doing less work and making more money by outsourcing and/or scaling to improve profit margins.
While it focuses on anti-racism, it is much larger than just making your business less racist; it’s a good overview on broader anti-oppressive business and ideas for a path towards an economy based in just commerce.
This book made me feel confident and comfortable, reassuring me that I am far from alone in my desire to prioritize people and community in my business. It gave practical advice about searching for a balance that allows people to both have a livable income and make a positive impact on the world around me, as well as theoretical ideas about the world we can be working towards. Highlighted so many passages to consider how to incorporate into my operating agreement and my future planning & strategy.
On a practical level, the book is very well written and easy to read; it’s conversational tone was enjoyable and lent itself to reading quickly.
Highly recommend for anyone who feels that the business books they are reading or advice they are getting is too focused on profit and not focused enough on people.
May 15, 2022
Trudi expertly shared her own experiences as the case study for the importance of anti-racist business models, and created an opportunity to weave business practices, historical racism and oppression, and actionable steps into one book that ... I could not put down. We are reading it together as a team for work, so I opted to not underline / dog ear / highlight, but instead placed strategic sticky notes in the book to draw attention to what was really poignant or insightful. There are sticky notes EVERYWHERE!
This is one of the better books I've read recently about leadership, equity, and business ... and yes, it's wholly applicable to the nonprofit world as well! Highly recommend.
This is one of the better books I've read recently about leadership, equity, and business ... and yes, it's wholly applicable to the nonprofit world as well! Highly recommend.
May 4, 2022
This is just the beginning of my Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Antiracist learning. Trudi has created a great foundation for learning about the history of racism, white supremacy, and oppression and especially in business and gives us a roadmap to create a business that is diverse, equitable, inclusive, and antiracist. Like I said, this is only the beginning. Do yourself a favor and not only buy a copy, but read it, and implement it. Thank you, Trudi!
January 31, 2024
Every business owner should read this! Let's bring our personal values into our business and make capitalism a bit more humane. It was really confirming to read that the way I have been intuitively running my business already has a lot of antiracist elements in it. And I got inspired to further implement a few concrete things in my business for it be truly antiracist. Loved the writing as well, it was like the author was speaking to you and flowed really well.
May 4, 2022
How to make the shift from toxic capitalism to justice-based commerce is what truly inspired me most about Trudi's powerful book that I believe will shift humanity. Thank you Trudi for all that you BE ☆☆☆☆☆
March 11, 2023
An energetic and practical combination of self-improvement tips, resources for businesses and entrepreneurs, and memoir. Lebron has written an engaging guide that has something for everyone wherever they are in their cultural development journey.
July 5, 2023
I liked how she laid out a roadmap for steps to take to build an antiracist company strategically and what policies to consider putting in place.
Recommended for anyone who is building their own business and wants to build a better world through their business.
Recommended for anyone who is building their own business and wants to build a better world through their business.
January 23, 2023
This book is necessary.
The information is easy to understand and to apply.
It makes you reflect on your behaviors and inspire you to do better.
The information is easy to understand and to apply.
It makes you reflect on your behaviors and inspire you to do better.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews