BLACK LIVES MATTER.

Over the past few weeks, we have joined communities around the country and around the world in mourning the lives of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Rayshard Brooks, and countless others who, over the past four centuries have been murdered at the hands of a white power structure that enforces a system that privileges the lives and rights of its white members over Black, Brown, and Indigenous members of our society.

During that time, we have marched. We have used our blog to help others craft statements of support and action. We have served clients who are fighting on the front lines. And we have continued our commitment as a company to work towards greater diversity, equity, and inclusion within our own team. And yet, we know we can do better.

We recently published a blog post in which we counseled our readers that, even though many organizations—from the Asian Art Museum to Eddie Bauer—had already published statements of solidarity, it is still important to add one more voice, one more statement proclaiming that Black Lives Matter. The power of this movement comes from the broad chorus of voices crying out in unison that liberty and justice must be accorded to every member of our country.

We know as well as anyone that words matter. And so we want to state here that Mission Minded as a company unequivocally stands alongside our allies in the social justice movement who are calling for systemic changes in policing, prison, education, immigration, and social services, because we know that such deep-seated challenges demand an equally determined response.

We founded this company almost 20 years ago because we chose to dedicate our careers to serving the organizations that improve our communities. We have opportunity every day to live out our vision—that no good cause should suffer from bad communication. At the same time, we know that there is more that we can do to dismantle the racist systems in which we operate.

For the past few years we have engaged in two initiatives that reflect our commitment to the movement. The first is our dedication as a company to building our understanding and commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, which has resulted in new policies and practices. The second is our commitment to asset-based framing, knowing that the stories we choose to tell—and help our clients tell —can either reinforce or deconstruct stereotypes many of us hold in our minds. These initiatives move our company in the right direction, but still fall short of the outcomes we hope to achieve. In the months to come, we will prioritize these efforts and will seek new ways to bring them to life in our company and on behalf of our clients.

As many others have said, the journey ahead is a marathon, not a sprint. We’re here for the long haul and will continue to fight for justice on the long road ahead.

Sincerely yours,

Jennie & Zach

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