This summer, the Chamber pledged to become an antiracist organization by engaging our BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) members and partners to use our collective voice and influence to drive racial equity impact and change. This commitment is a natural part of our mission: to help the 2,600 employers we represent thrive in an equitable and inclusive regional economy.
Specifically, we’ve pledged to use our voice and influence to:
- Use data and best practices to create systems that add a lasting anti-racist lens to Chamber operations, recruitment, retention, culture, and Board leadership in order to achieve greater diversity and representation in all of these aspects of our work
- Make space to understand the unique needs of BIPOC-owned businesses so that we can be an effective partner and advocate for policies that support a more equitable and inclusive regional economy
- Educate, convene, and provide impactful tools on anti-racism in the workplace
- Amplify BIPOC voices and businesses through our programming and owned media content
- Support BIPOC organizations through A.R.C.:
- Awareness/amplification about their mission and work
- Resources to make broad impact in and beyond their communities
- Collaboration and access to opportunities for growth
In addition to this antiracism pledge, we also established an Equity Committee, led by co-chairs Amelia Ransom, with Avalara, and Tim Lieb, with Regence Blue Shield. The committee’s charge is to help us map our path toward becoming an antiracist organization and help the Chamber lead our regional business community into a more equitable economic future.
We are not alone on this path. On Tuesday, two of our companions, Challenge Seattle and the Washington Roundtable, announced a commitment signed by over 55 CEOs in our region, with 10-year collective goals. These goals include driving equity for Black Washingtonians in the corporate sector, supporting Black-owned businesses, and pursuing actions and policies that will support equity across Washington communities.
This commitment is rooted in research by the Boston Consulting Group that we highlighted at our Regional Leadership Conference, as well as listening sessions with Black community and business leaders; diversity, equity, and inclusion specialists; and data and research experts. Their findings are included in a new report that clearly documents inequities that Black Washingtonians and their families experience across multiple dimensions of life including healthcare, education, criminal justice, personal finance, and the corporate workplace. The interrelated effects of these inequities compound over time, cross generations, and exist regardless of socioeconomic status or education level. Further, COVID-19 and the recession are only magnifying disparities.
The Chamber is a supporting sponsor for this new commitment. This will not be the only commitment we make in our work to address racial inequities, but it is an important step and I invite you to join us. You can learn more at the website
https://www.employers4equity.org/.
This is a productive step forward for the business community and is aligned with our own efforts. We are working on programming that will help members achieve these collective goals. Meeting this commitment will look different for each company and we want to help each of our members understand where they are and how to help us achieve the ultimate goal of equity and opportunity for all Washingtonians.
