Balance Staffing stands in solidarity with the Black community

All of us at Balance Staffing are deeply disturbed and heartbroken by the recent killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and Tony McDade. We are outraged that a continual system of racism, bigotry, and inequality has stolen the lives of Sandra Bland, Tamir Rice, Elijah McClain, Emmitt Till, Freddie Hampton, and Martin Luther King Jr., in addition to others who have lost their lives, and those whose names we do not know.

At our core, we have always been a company comprised of individuals who believe our collective humanity has the power to enrich and shape the world around us. We cannot ignore the intersection of these pandemics as we continue to adjust our daily world in response to COVID-19.

We are driven by our company values of integrity, innovation, passion, and relationships. Within our world and our workplace, we believe that Black Lives Matter and that we have a responsibility to speak up against systems that promote racism, inequality, hate, bigotry, and White supremacy. We understand that anti-racism work is complicated, uncomfortable, and long-term. We are committed to taking swift steps at every level of our organization and carrying out these actions in the future in order to be actively anti-racist.

First, we have donated $10,000 to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF), $5,000 to the Black Organizing Project, and are pledging $5,000 to another non-profit organization in the Bay Area as one step of a larger plan to fight systemic racism. LDF “seeks structural changes to expand democracy, eliminate disparities, and achieve racial justice in a society that fulfills the promise of equality for all Americans. LDF also defends the gains and protections won over the past 75 years of civil rights struggle and works to improve the quality and diversity of judicial and executive appointments.” The Black Organizing Project “is a Black member-led community organization working for racial, social, and economic justice through grassroots organizing and community-building in Oakland, California.”

Second, we are continuing to uphold our long-standing commitment of inclusion across our workforce. We are implementing a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) committee with short and long term milestones that are focused on building an inclusive organization. Some of the goals of our DEI committee will be to establish Employee Resource Groups (ERG), a DEI task force, implementing implicit bias training in hiring, and providing ongoing resources for our internal staff to drive inclusion. Additionally, we will continuously be analyzing our internal hiring practices, tenure, and promotions of our employees to further develop equity and inclusion.

Finally, we have and will continue to provide resources for Black history, mental health, and anti-racism  education for our internal employees, including Black Lives Matter, Juneteenth, The Loveland Foundation, and more. Starting this year and going forward, we will be observing Juneteenth (also called Freedom Day) as a company, with the intent to create a space for learning, reflection, and action steps.

We are committed to listening, learning, and taking action. The power of this movement is undeniable. We look forward to showing up for our community in meaningful ways, continuing to share our actions, and providing updates on our progress as an organization.

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