It Is Past Time For Meaningful Change

It is long past time to take meaningful action to root out systemic racism and injustice in America. The horrific killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and countless others over many years make that clear. 

We know that we do not have all of the answers. But, we do know that as a society, we haven’t done enough. We haven’t educated ourselves enough. We haven’t gone far enough in examining our actions to determine their unintended consequences within marginalized communities. And we haven’t done enough to create organizations free of prejudice, discrimination and bias.

We will do our part to bring about meaningful change. As a majority women-owned business we have always felt a profound responsibility to drive change, and we will continue to take a sober look at our own culture and environment to identify racial bias and discrimination and work to address it. We are actively listening and learning the best ways to support our colleagues and fellow citizens as they endure the unspeakable pain of being marginalized due to the color of their skin. And we intend to support communities in which we have a presence through civic engagement at the local level. We are also continuing our work to bring more people of color into our senior leadership team and onto our board.

We are a global company. The challenges we are facing in the United States today are paramount in our minds, but our work to champion equality and to stamp out institutional racism wherever we see it does not end at the United States border. We commit to doing this work around the world. The road ahead is long, but it will be shortened if we are steadfast and remain committed to continuing to do our part. We are still learning and welcome outside voices and partnerships. We must do better. We will do better. 

Margery Kraus, founder and executive chairman
Brad Staples, CEO
Kelly Williamson, president, North America