Donating $10,000 to Help The Black Community

In my nearly 17 years leading StrataCore, there have been very few moments when I felt compelled to write to offer thoughts on a political or current event. Sadly, every week the news is filled with atrocities somewhere in our country and our world. Our current times, however, with the horrific killing of George Floyd and the protests that have followed in Seattle and elsewhere, compel me to connect. These are the moments when mission-driven organizations have a choice to lean in or to sit back to wait and see what happens. This is not the time to sit back.

I believe several things:

1. Our system has major structural flaws that restrict justice for all.
2. Mass protests and civic disruptions are legitimate and warranted actions.
3. Rioting, looting, and burning businesses are counterproductive and I also recognize that buildings can be replaced, and lives cannot.
4. Policing is very difficult work, and the majority of police are good people. However, officers work within a broken system that lacks accountability, transparency, and candor.

We must all understand that people in our country are hurting. From my conversations with friends, both white people and people of color, I have become even more aware that we cannot move forward by turning away from the pain, as hard as it is to witness.

We must recognize the historical and current suppression and discrimination that exist in our society. A painful example is simply that your life expectancy varies up to a decade, solely based on which Seattle neighborhood you were born in.

I would like to impress upon all of us the importance of having real conversations with our families, friends, and with one another. Approach these conversations from a place of curiosity not conviction. These conversations will no doubt be difficult, uncomfortable, and painful. As teammates, parents, and human beings, we cannot ignore the impact that systemic racism has on our country nor can we fail to dismantle oppression in all its forms. We must learn to see and honor the humanity of others if we are to recover our own humanity.

We have those conversations, sometimes skillfully and sometimes less so. We do this because we are committed to building a better life for the people in our lives. It is not easy, and it is what we must do.

And through these conversations, we believe the time for change is now. Change requires action. Here is what StrataCore is doing to help eliminate racism within our organization and our community. 

1. We are committed to a process of lifelong learning about the ways in which race has fundamentally shaped our economy, world, and our workspace. Our leadership team has committed to each picking a book on the topic of racism and we are inviting our employees to join us in this discovery.
2. We will continue to invest in bias training and awareness.
3. We will continue to seek out diverse representation within our team while upholding our standards of only employing the very best people. We recognize there is an abundance of talent and that our organization should reflect society. 
4. Our executive team will participate in a mentorship program by identifying and engaging our talent to help remedy the structural inequalities that exist in our society today by investing in the success of a recent graduate or up and coming black professional within our area of expertise.
5. We will invest in our community by making a $10,000 donation to Rainier Scholars. Rainier Scholars is a 12-year program that offers a pathway to college graduation for hard-working, low-income students of color. They provide intensive academic preparation, leadership development, and personalized support so their scholars can earn four-year degrees and become career professionals and leaders in our community. We will also match any additional donations made by our employees.
6. We will support our employees who engage in volunteerism with civic organizations (Urban League, NAACP, National Action Network, etc) that fight against social injustice aimed at all people of color.

We support our black community and we know this will be a long, tough road. We believe positive change will emerge through this deep pain, grief, anger, and hurt. We are hopeful for a better tomorrow and will work to make it so.

-Aaron