6/8/20 Remarks to Brew Crew

Morning everyone.

I don’t want to start this meeting in typical fashion as these are anything but typical times. 

I want to follow up on my remarks from last week’s all-hands and my hope is that all of the questions that had been asked by team members in the last week will be answered. 

Like all of you, I have spent hours thinking, reading, watching and talking about all that has transpired since George Floyd’s death on May 25th. 

I’ve been watching protests that have taken place in all 50 states. 

I’ve been reading books, op-eds, memos, and letters from civil rights activists, professional athletes, and business leaders. 

And I’ve been talking with friends, family, and co-workers about what is happening & what we can do to actually have an impact. 

And what I have found is that all of this consumption has led to greater reflection. Reflection that has pushed me to ask hard questions of myself. 

I have asked myself, “As a privileged white jewish male, how could I possibly empathize with friends & colleagues who have endured unequal treatment their entire life because of the color of their skin?” 

The answer? I can’t possibly empathize.

To empathize is to understand the feelings of another. As someone that has benefited from privilege since birth, I couldn’t ever truly understand the lifelong inequality & oppression that black Americans and other marginalized groups in this country face. 

But what I can do is educate & act. 

I can educate myself on my own privilege & I can educate myself on the systemic discrimination that has plagued our country for far too long. 

And through this education, I can take action.

I can give my money & my time. 

I can sign petitions. 

I can support black-owned businesses. 

I can use my platform & brand to amplify the voices of activists and changemakers. 

I can engage with local & state officials to support criminal justice reform. 

I have also asked myself, “Why now? Why does it take an atrocious murder & public coverage to drive me to think harder, have hard conversations, and take action?” 

The answer? I don’t know.

And that answer in itself is a perfect example of my privilege. I am thinking now & acting now because I have the privilege to do so. Black Americans have no such luxury. 

And there are no excuses or justifications for my complacency. 

I just need to do better moving forward. It’s that simple.

Now why do I share all of this?

Because I believe education & conversation is the best precursor to action & I want to make sure that everyone feels supported to learn more, speak up, and do more today & all days moving forward. 

Further, everyone in this company deserves openness & honesty from their peer & one of the leaders at Morning Brew. 

We as an organization need to do better & we will do better.

We must do better to build a truly diverse and inclusive company. 

We must do better to highlight the writings, voices & perspectives of diverse talent, internally & externally. 

And we truly have such a rare opportunity….a platform that few others in the world have. We have the undivided attention of 2.2 million leaders. 

Someone asked me “how have our company guidelines and mission changed to ensure we speak up on matters of social justice?”

I don’t believe our mission has changed, but I believe our interpretation of this mission must be refined. 

Morning Brew’s goal is to empower the modern business leader through accessible & engaging content. 

It is my view that we have an incredible opportunity & privilege to help make modern business leaders not just more effective in their work, but more compassionate, more educated, and more socially responsible professionally & personally. 

And at the same time, we have the ability to lead by example to help shape the very leaders we’re working to educate. 

So, what are we doing RIGHT NOW, as a company to use our platform for good? 

It starts with our $5,000 donation to EJI. But that’s only a single positive action. And it’s only a single type of action. We can’t be self-congratulatory & we must always be asking how can we do more. 

Which is why it is my view that Kate’s email from last week highlights the best way to do that. 

We need to create a structure that sits within the foundation of the business to ensure that we have hard conversations & take direct action for years to come. 

That’s why we are establishing a CSR committee at Morning Brew. 

What will the committee be responsible for? 

At its core, this committee will act as the nucleus for positive impact & continued action as it relates to systemic discrimination & so many other causes that we can & should be supporting as an organization. 

Continued actions of the committee include:

1. Volunteerism involving our team & our readers
2. Implicit bias training & educational opportunities for employees
3. Oversight into hiring practices that encourage diversity/inclusiveness
4. Vetting & researching organizations to donate to based on an annual charitable giving budget the Brew sets

[I’m going to quickly pass it to Kate for any other words about the CSR committee & addressing a few questions that had been asked by teammembers about diverse hiring practices]

I want to reiterate that these are a few actions within a continuous effort that our organization will make to use our platform for good.

Before concluding, I want to pass it to Samir to talk about how our approach to editorial will be reflective of the responsibility we have to molding the next generation of business leaders as well as what measured steps we’re taking to improve diversity.

[Samir remarks]

Thanks Samir. 

As always, please talk with Austin, Kate, or myself about all of this. We want to get better. We want to continue to build a great company. And we want you to feel the freedom to voice your thoughts/ideas/and opinions to achieve that. 

And finally, I want to end this meeting by taking a moment of silence. I want to take a moment of silence for the 48 million Black Americans that have had to face systemic discrimination & inequality their entire lives & I want to take a moment of silence for George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and countless other Black Americans that have lost their lives as a result of police brutality & rampant racism in this country.