The Root Social Justice Center
Community Consulting Overview and Fee Schedule
Our values around our work
The Root values BIPOC lives. We value our labor. We value our time. We value our wisdom. We value the diverse range of gifts we have to offer our communities. We believe in reciprocity. We do not provide free labor to white organizations.
Our capacity
The Root regularly receives more requests for community consulting support than we can accommodate, and many of these requests fall outside our organizational capacity or priorities. Please keep in mind that The Root may not be available to accommodate your request or do so within the timeframe you need.
We invite you to review our fee schedule below and complete our community consulting request form. If we are able, we will make efforts to fulfill your request or refer you to one of our trusted community partners. Please note our community partners have their own fees and The Root may not receive any monies from these entities.
Collaborating with The Root
If you identify as BIPOC and are interested in collaborating with us, we would love to hear from you. Please email us at therootsjc@gmail.com and let’s get a conversation started.
Hiring The Root
Because The Root does not perform community consulting as part of our regular work, we do not offer these services for free. If you are interested in hiring The Root for community consulting work, please review our fee schedule below and fill out our community consulting request form .
What we offer
The Root offers three tiers of service: HIGH, MEDIUM and LOW. These tiers reflect the amount of time, effort, creativity and level of expertise or experience necessary to provide the requested service. Examples for each tier include, but are not limited to:
HIGH: strategic planning, Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) plans, trainings
MEDIUM: general consulting, panels, facilitation,workshops or presentations, interviews, program development, speaking and lectures, mentoring/accountability buddy/harm reduction counseling
LOW: tabling, focus groups, community connection, resource sharing
Our fee schedule
Fees for service are structured in accordance with the annual operating budget of the organization making the request:
Organization | Annual Budget | Hourly Rate |
Colleges, Universities, Non profits, private schools, public schools, and other entities | Over $1.2 million | $450–$1000 |
$500,000 to $1.2 Million | $300–$625 | |
Under $500,000 | $150–$375 | |
BIPOC led Vermont organizations | Under $250,000 | $100–$150 |
Under $100,00 | $25–$75 |
Fees for service are evaluated on a case by case basis. Hours for prep, planning and coordination are included in our fee. Below are some examples of estimated hours for frequently requested services:
Tier | Service Example | Total Estimated Hours* |
HIGH | Full day training | 12–16 hours |
DEI plan development | 20–40 hours+ | |
MEDIUM | Panels | 3–6 hours |
In person or virtual workshop | 4–8 hours | |
Speaking and lectures | 2–4 hours | |
LOW | Tabling | 1–2 hours |
Focus groups | 1-3 hours | |
Resource sharing | 1 hour |
*Note: services provided for over 30 people may require additional hours for additional staff(s)