Reflection, Learning, and Action to Address Racism
There are moments when just watching events unfold in front of you without action is insufficient and silence is not an option. For us, now is such a time.
If our society is to thrive, we believe we must end the suffering of Black Americans that stems from racism. The pain and heartache of the murders of Black Americans at the hands of law enforcement and the disproportionate loss of Black and Brown community members to the COVID-19 crisis cannot be ignored. These events further illuminate a long-standing history of violence perpetrated on Black people and the health disparities in communities of color across our country.
This change in our society and in our communities will occur when each person, specifically White Americans, acknowledges and finds abhorrent the structural and systemic inequities that are so apparent. We must recognize and acknowledge our own privilege and take action to change mindsets, shift resources, and advocate for justice and the right of Black and Brown people to lead a life free of the fear that the color of their skin determines their destiny.
As an organization, Fio Partners helps nonprofit and public sector leaders make better decisions. We partner with leaders to strengthen organizational capacity and enhance the impact of their efforts. In that role, we prompt leaders to consider their commitments to advancing equity through deeper partnership with community members, recruitment and promotion of staff, strengthening organizational culture, and diversifying Board composition. We do this now but should do more.
We acknowledge that capacity building itself can reinforce structures and systems of oppression within organizations. Looking ahead, we will continue our own learning as a firm to better understand how we can support leaders to drive grassroots and system-level change to address structural and systemic racism. We will actively work with our clients to use models and ways of working that amplify voice and distribute power.
We are committed to helping leaders transform their organizations and contribute to eliminating racism from our society.
In partnership,
Anne Yurasek & Jane Arsenault
Principals of Fio Partners