Listening. Learning. Growing. Committed to making real change.

Over the course of the pandemic we have discussed how fortunate we are as an organization to continue to have great success, while recognizing that many are struggling based on health, economics, employment, family situations and more. We have strived to balance our messaging in a way that celebrates our success while understanding that many others are just trying to endure and hope for better days in the future.

These last few days have left us at a loss for the appropriate words, and they have challenged us to listen, and to question, how we think about our lives and our work. We are deeply saddened and angered by the senseless killing of George Floyd and the understandable series of protests across the nation have added complexity, depth and pain to our emotions.

As sincere as we may be in our wishes for equality, many of us can never fully understand what our Black Community has lived through for generations, and we are appalled by the hate and racism that has systematically plagued our country. We recognize and encourage the right of people to speak out peacefully about injustice and to demand much needed change.

In these extremely tense and troubling times, we look inwards first and want to make sure that each of you feels protected and safe. Please reach out to HR, the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) or directly to any executive to discuss concerns you have surrounding this emotionally challenging time. As an organization, we don’t have all the answers, but we are a community of people that share in a culture that is based on inclusiveness, diversity and equality.

As we grapple for a way forward and acknowledge the right of people to speak out peacefully about injustice, a clear path forward presents itself to us on the leadership team: It is essential that we recognize the humanity in the diversity of all people. We are asking you to join us in re-committing to live that recognition at the corporate level here at work, and in your everyday lives as well.

It’s a timeless truth that when we honor the humanity in others, they mirror that back to us. And when people who feel honored become part of teams, those teams honor each other. When those teams form companies, those companies honor their workers, and when those companies engage the world at large, they honor one another. We believe diversity makes us stronger as a company, a community and a country. We proudly stand with all of you and will do our part to fight racism and injustice as we move forward.

We are committed to ongoing listening. We are taking action to grow diversity in our workplace. We live by our values and that includes openness to diverse thoughts and opinions. We are proud of our company and the long history of charitable impacts made through our Foundation. We will continue to change and to challenge ourselves as an evolving corporation to always be better and positively impact the communities around us.

Our actions define us and let us continue to stand up for what is right at our company and in our communities.