A Message from Graham’s Anti-Racisim Steering Committee
Over the past year, the candid images of racial inequities and injustice have demanded a response from people all around the world. Everyone was faced with the decision to either preserve the old way of doing things or to stand up and create change toward equity. History has shown us that steps toward dismantling racism requires active participation from all racial groups. We, as a community, have a responsibility to educate ourselves and use our resources to move the needle forward.
In this brief video, our CEO, Jess Dannhauser, and President, Kimberly Watson, discuss our commitment to becoming an anti-racist organization. Kym mentions that “there are things we don’t see and we want help learning about,” and Jess talks about how “racism is its most pernicious with people of color but that it affects all of us.”
To bring awareness to the “things we don’t see,” we have collaborated with consultants who are experts in building equitable and inclusive workplaces to help us better understand our efforts in achieving racial equity at Graham. They will produce distinct surveys for youth, parents, foster parents, and staff, and conduct interviews and roundtable discussions with these groups as well. They will then review the information they gathered and report back to us on their findings. We look forward to their assessment and to developing a plan that will guide our anti-racism efforts.
