Words Matter NYC is a communication platform that treats language as infrastructure.
We design tools, workshops, and digital resources that help people build trust through the way they speak — at work, in schools, and across communities.
Our focus is simple:
Language shapes opportunity. Language shapes safety. Language shapes belonging.
Through our Speak With Care framework, Language Intelligence tools, and restorative communication training, we help organizations reduce conflict, increase clarity, and strengthen relationships — because in a city of 8 million voices, trust starts with how we talk to one another.
Language isn’t soft.
It’s structural.
Words Matter NYC stands out by addressing language bias and microaggressions with a creative, culturally relevant approach. We focus on everyday communication, showing how our words can either build bridges or perpetuate harm in New York’s diverse communities.
We don’t just talk about bias — we design systems that reduce it. From career mobility and workplace communication to restorative dialogue and community trust, our work treats language as infrastructure — because in a city as complex as New York, how we speak directly shapes how we live, lead, and build together.
Words Matter NYC was founded on a simple but urgent idea:
Language is infrastructure.
The way we speak shapes opportunity, safety, trust, and access — in workplaces, schools, public systems, and neighborhoods.
Founded by Ahsaan Mitchell, Words Matter NYC has evolved from a public campaign into a communication platform that helps people and institutions use language more intentionally, more equitably, and more effectively.
Words Matter NYC has worked with civic institutions, including the NYC Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes (OPHC) and the NYC Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) to strengthen how language shapes safety, trust, and belonging across New York City.
These collaborations reflect our role as a communication and language infrastructure platform — designing tools, workshops, and narrative strategies that help institutions intervene early, before conflict escalates.