Shattered

Let me start by saying this message will be as imperfect as the person writing it. I am sending this from my heart to yours, with the best of intentions, so please forgive me when I don’t get this entirely right.

I am deeply saddened by the racism that exists and the escalating tensions unfolding all around us. It’s unbearable for me and yet I know my pain and sorrow is a small fraction of what our Black EY family and EY people of color are experiencing. What I’ve heard in speaking with so many of them recently has been heartbreaking and truly shattering to me personally. So many Black and African Americans and their families have already been struggling with an outsized impact of the COVID-19 virus and adding these events – the tragedy inflicted on George Floyd, Christian Cooper, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade and many others – to their suffering is simply unconscionable. The depths of injustice and heartbreak inflicted in every one of these situations is unbearable, as is the cumulative impact of the bias, racism and the disregard for the value of these lives.

Pain and numbness are common themes expressed both by oceans of tears and justifiable feelings of anger and fear. Those of us with white privilege will never know this kind of fear for our safety. As a white person, I’ve done nothing to earn it, just as Black and African Americans have done nothing to be deprived of it.

At its most essential level, this is about systemic racism, discrimination and injustice. Those of us with privilege must do more than expressing regret and sorrow from the sidelines. Public statements of outrage and condemnation are important, but wholly ineffectual if not accompanied by our commitment to meaningful, sustained action. It’s not enough to be not racist – we need to speak out and take action against racism and discrimination. Said more explicitly: we need to be ANTI-RACIST.

Let me be clear that racism, discrimination and injustice have no place at EY and will not be tolerated. I’m incredibly proud of our great firm and people, but there’s no question that we have continued work to do internally as well as externally – to truly build a better working world that is fair and just for all. Our platform of influence is powerful. This is a moment of truth in which we need to do more than simply speak of our values – we must live them in explicit, overt and courageous ways.

In the coming days and weeks, I will share the actions that we will be taking to strengthen our internal position on eradicating racism and discrimination. You’ll hear about what we’re doing to drive positive change externally, leveraging our powerful platform on policy matters and those we do business with. And you’ll hear how we’re going to direct our community support to challenge some of the systemic impediments to truly moving past these intractable issues for the underprivileged. The current events may serve as a catalyst, but lasting change will only come if we persevere through the quiet periods as well as the crises of the moment. We can and will contribute to and accelerate the pace of change.

I invite you to join me in this mission. Speak out and take action against racism. And remember, those among us are hurting in unimaginable ways, often in silence. Continue to express care and empathy. You don’t need to be an expert on the issues or news of the day to engage on a personal level to express care and concern. The unrest in our society is causing anxiety and fear, so remember to check in on those who may be hurting. At EY, we should live our values always and remember having the courage to lead extends to fostering inclusivity with care and concern above all else.

No one would have ever invited a social crisis amidst a health crisis, which has precipitated a financial crisis, but here we are. This is when leaders lead. It’s hard to imagine a more powerful testament to our EY values and having the #CourageToLead than to say “enough, change begins now.”