To Our Shareholders —
We stand up against all forms of racism that we are aware of as a company. The recent acts of racism that we have seen on camera compelled us to take a harder look in the mirror and think about racism within our organization. We have work to do! We are committed to dramatically increasing the percentage of executive leaders who identify as People of Color by 100% within the next 36 to 48 months. To do this, we have committed to hiring or promoting at least one person of color into a leadership role by 2025. We are grateful for our customers and especially Black customers who have trusted us over the years, and we want them to know that we stand with them.
With Optimism,
Connie from Corporate
To Our Valuable Staff—
In the year 2020, it is a travesty that we are still seeing racism. We are committed to not just speaking out but becoming actively anti-racist and driving racism into the shadows where it belongs. As such, we are revamping our hiring practices and mandating that every new candidate who makes it to our final interview stages includes at least one reference who identifies as Black/African American. Also, as part of our performance review process next year, we are mandating that all non-Black staff take a subconscious racial bias test. If you show a strong, favorable preference for white people and/or negative associations with people of color, you will need to commit to joining our anti-racist book club that will meet once per month. Selections include To Kill a Mockingbird and The Help. Of course, we will make sure book club members remain confidential, and we will have some rules to ensure that all participants feel safe. Chief among them will be to always assume positive intent no matter what is said. This is a daring move for sure, but the time for change is now!
In Solidarity,
Connie from Corporate
Team & Family—
We got some feedback that our mandatory book club initiative did not feel progressive enough. We heard you. To be clear, we have a long history of fighting for racial justice. Six years ago, we changed our attendance policies to ensure that staff could take MLK Day off without it counting as an absence. Four years ago, we included Diversity as one of our core values. We have also allowed staff to take half days for any national elections so they could exercise their right to vote. Moving forward, we are going further in support of equity. Starting July 1, we are allowing all staff to accrue .25 mental health days for each racially motivated act of violence that makes national headlines. Unfortunately, our tracking system does not allow days to roll over each fiscal year, but we are looking into future options here. We are also allowing Black staff to take one day of community service for each year of service up to three days total during the month of February starting 2021 with no questions asked. We are also urging our partner companies to follow suit as we care about all Black employees. Not just our own.
No Justice, No Peace!
Connie from Corporate
To Our Loyal Customers—
We heard you loud and clear that there is more we can be doing as a company to serve our communities. We agree! We have been working hard to address internal issues and rolling out new policies, but we know there is more we can do to serve others. That is why we are doubling down on our community service efforts and particularly those aimed at urban education reform, which we have always passionately supported. We are partnering with donors to raise enough money to send every child a pair of blue light blocking glasses to reduce their headaches if they need to continue remote learning in the fall. Education is the only way out for our children, and we are excited to support them on their journey. We have also hired a new Chief Diversity Officer. If you have any additional feedback in the future, you can find her information on our website.
Stay Awake!
Connie from Corporate