We are saddened and outraged by the anti-Black racism happening in our communities and the continued racial injustices perpetuated by a culture of white supremacy. We know these events are demonstrative of an entrenched system which needs to be addressed well beyond this moment.
We acknowledge these words have been said many times before and they often feel quite empty. Without giving the performative allyship laundry list here, we are working hard to change our role; we are and have been complicit in upholding systems that contribute to anti-Black racism and white supremacy.
Our initiative to do anti-racism work has often come at the expense of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of colour) staff and community members. We are allocating time and resources to repair the harm we have done and working to unlearn the ways white supremacy shapes our actions and on how we hold relationships.
As an organization dedicated to economic transformation, we recognize we have to work to undo an economy that actively exploits and harms BIPOC communities and to build an economy that centres equity through all of our education, training, and community programming. We are making the changes needed to foster a place of learning where Black entrepreneurs, activists, and community can thrive and drive the system change they know is needed. We will make mistakes, and we want to be held accountable to the principles shared here in everything we do.
For our white team members and community, innovation and economic transformation cannot happen without acknowledging the hard truth of how anti-Black racism, white supremacy, and the exploitation of BIPOC communities have benefited your life and provided you privilege.
We encourage our community, especially those just embarking on their learning journey, to rise up and join the folks who have been doing this work for so long. Our responsibility is to do this work in a way that does not burden those already carrying so much. There are countless resources being shared on social media right now. Read, donate, have those difficult conversations, listen to Black voices, and know this work is continuous.
We will share more about the things we read, causes we support, training we recommend, and leaders we are looking to as part of our commitment to follow up and show up beyond this moment.
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