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HOW WE OPERATE

CR Ethics & Compliance - How We Hold Ourselves to the Standard We Set for Others.

Cultural Relevance advises organizations on how to build authentic, ethical relationships with communities. That obligation begins inside our own walls. This page describes the principles, standards, and accountability mechanisms that govern everything we do.

Our Core Ethical Commitments

  • 01Community First, Always. Every engagement — consulting, capital, media, or talent — is evaluated against a single non-negotiable standard: does this serve the community, or does it extract from it? We will not take engagements, accept capital, or publish content that we believe harms the communities we exist to serve. This is not a policy. It is the reason we exist.
  • 02Honest Counsel, Even When It Costs Us Business. We do not tell clients what they want to hear. Our value to every organization we work with depends on our willingness to deliver an honest assessment of their Cultural Debt — including when that assessment reveals problems that are uncomfortable, expensive, or politically sensitive inside their organization. Flattery is not a service we offer.
  • 03Transparent Business Practices. We believe organizations that preach cultural intelligence owe their clients, partners, and communities full transparency about how they operate, how they're compensated, and what interests might create a conflict. We disclose material conflicts. We do not accept engagements we are not qualified to deliver. We do not overstate outcomes.
  • 04Data Stewardship. The Cultural Persona Databaseâ„¢ and AURA AI are built on data collected from real communities. We treat that data as a trust, not a resource. It is never sold to third parties, never used to target communities against their interests, and always handled in compliance with applicable privacy law and our own standards.
  • 05No Extractive Relationships.. We do not take equity from founders in exchange for access to our community. We do not charge communities for access to resources they helped create. We do not position ourselves as the intermediary between communities and capital in ways that create dependency rather than ownership.

Conflict of Interest Policy

Cultural Relevance employees, contractors, and advisors are required to disclose any material financial interest, personal relationship, or outside engagement that could reasonably influence a business decision. Disclosures are reviewed by our leadership team and documented. We do not accept referral fees, placement fees, or commissions from third parties in connection with client engagements without full disclosure to the client. We do not invest in companies we are simultaneously advising without client knowledge and written consent.

Data Privacy & Security

Cultural Relevance collects and processes data in connection with the AURA AI platform, the Cultural Persona Databaseâ„¢, course enrollment, event registration, and consulting engagements. The following commitments govern how that data is handled:

— Minimum collection. We collect only the data necessary to deliver the services for which it is collected.

— No data sales. We do not sell, rent, or license personal or community data to third parties for any purpose.

— Anonymization. Community sentiment and behavioral data used to train AURA AI is anonymized and aggregated before use.

— Your rights. Individuals have the right to request access to, correction of, or deletion of their personal data at any time.

— Security standards. We maintain security practices consistent with industry standards and review them annually.

For privacy requests, contact: privacy@culturalrelevance.com

 

Reporting Concerns

If you have a concern about conduct by Cultural Relevance — our team, our partners, or our platforms — that you believe violates these principles or our policies, we want to hear from you. Concerns can be reported to ethics@culturalrelevance.com. Reports are reviewed by leadership and handled with discretion. We do not retaliate against good-faith reports.


Last Updated
These standards were last reviewed and updated in 2026. We review our ethics and compliance framework annually and update it as our business, our communities, and the legal landscape evolve.

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