Statement from the Executive Team of Rare.
We, the Executive Team of Rare, kneel in support of Black Americans and people of color around the world, including our colleagues, friends and family in the communities where we live and work.
The brutal killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, and the Central Park intimidation of Christian Cooper, all in the past weeks, add to a litany of similar injustices spanning centuries. These incidents and the outpouring of grief, anguish and protest, put in sharp relief the need not only to reflect on our own individual roles in perpetuating racial injustice, but also to reflect on the values to which we aspire to live and to work.
We want to be crystal clear:
- We stand with the Black community. Black Lives Matter.
- We stand with those who take action to address injustice and elevate compassion.
- We stand for the dignity of individual human life and for the collective power of community.
We make this statement as a commitment to our coworkers and partners to make Rare not only diverse, equitable and inclusive, but anti-racist. To do so, we must begin by recognizing that the environmental and conservation fields in the US and around the world have at times played a part in perpetuating racial injustice, in excluding and oppressing people of color, in imposing white and euro-centric systems on diverse, minority, and indigenous communities. To foster change, we must recognize, however uncomfortable, our own individual and institutional contributions to racial injustice, and we must be open to change. And a lot of listening.
In the months ahead, together with the extended Rare family, we will make Diversity, Equity and Inclusion a fundamental pillar of our five-year strategic plan. We will work to diversify our board, and our talented and inspiring workforce. And as we embark on designing our first-ever programs in the US, we will join and support those already leading the way in the call for environmental and climate justice.
Black Lives Matter. And we pledge to help make this moment matter too.