8 June, 2020
The team at Hearken is feeling frustration, anger, and despair over the continued acts of violence perpetrated by police and our justice system towards Black people. The recent killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, and so many others are a result of systemic racism and a culture of white supremacy. Their deaths stem from generations of racial oppression that continue to play out across our country including in our unjust education system, incarceration rates, hiring practices, and healthcare system. Hearken condemns these oppressive systems and the ongoing violence against the Black community. We publicly join the call for justice and change.
Last week our entire team came together to discuss how Hearken can bring anti-racist practices into the core of everything we do. Here are some of the actions we’ve agreed to commit to this year:
- Revisiting our recruiting, hiring, and salary policies to not only ensure equity but also to actively recruit and retain more BIPOC team members for key roles. In the coming weeks we’ll be sharing specific measures on how we’ll be accomplishing this here.
- Evaluating our current vendor relationships, and increasing our collaboration with BIPOC consultants and supporting businesses that are BIPOC-led.
- Donating money to organizations who are already doing this work, including a monthly contribution to the National Association of Black Journalists.
- Training and educating our team members to identify and counter implicit biases and systemic inequities. This includes additional training for our consulting team so they can better facilitate conversations about racial justice with our partners while engaging the communities they serve.
- Actively discussing white supremacy culture and anti-racist frameworks, and developing continuing commitments our team can make.
- Working with our partners to support them in their ongoing work for justice.
We started Hearken with the belief that every individual is worthy of being heard, and we are committed to listening and supporting our Black team members, partners, and community members. We are ready to adjust and revise our plan as appropriate, and we welcome feedback or questions at any time.
In staunch allyship,
The Hearken Team
Cover photo by Teemu Paananen on Unsplash