Listening, Learning and Taking Action
On Friday, June 19th, we honored the 155th Anniversary of Juneteenth – a time of celebration and reflection of a critical point in American history. To me, Juneteenth is a reminder that social justice and racial equality begins with the individual actions of people. As someone in a position of leadership, it is my responsibility to deepen Banfield’s commitments to creating greater equity, inclusion, and diversity.
I am proud of what the Banfield community has accomplished over the last few weeks through honest, transparent conversation and collaboration, but we will not stop here. Our Inclusion & Diversity journey as an organization has led to progress, but it is critical that we continue to push through our discomfort as we make lasting commitments to listening, learning, and taking further action towards equality.
Banfield––and our greater Mars organization––are committed to holding ourselves accountable. Aligned with our Five Principles, I believe that through solidarity with our associates, clients, and partners, we can all sustain essential, long-term changes. These changes won’t happen overnight, but we are not sitting idle. Immediately, we have expedited these three actions:
Increasing diversity in our talent and leadership pipeline: Increasing diversity in our talent and leadership pipeline continues to be a strategic priority. We are also broadening and deepening our existing relationships with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)––to strengthen our opportunity to connect with Black candidates and candidates of color.
Investing in and partnering with organizations that fight for racial equality: In addition to Mars’ initial investment of $1M in 2020 towards Black-owned businesses and organizations fighting for racial equality, we will be offering opportunities to associates that volunteer their time and skills in support of racial justice. Each of our Diversity Resource Groups - which were created to drive connectivity and change across our organization - will be instrumental in this effort.
Expanding training and educational resources: We will be adding mandatory inclusive leadership and unconscious bias training to our core curriculum, as well as expanding our resilience support and educational resources. Each of our more than 19,000 associates should have the opportunity to bring their unique and authentic selves to their work.
I want to recognize the incredible efforts of Banfield’s Inclusion & Diversity Team, the leaders and members of the POWER Network, and the allies within our Banfield family. In the last few weeks, the POWER Network – a community of associates that provides tools and resources to attract, retain, develop, and elevate Black talent – have led powerful discussion forums that have engaged 250 associates per weekly session. These conversations have been a vital addition to our organization’s efforts towards equity, diversity, and inclusion and I am grateful to every one of the associates that participated. Our collective voices are vital to our growth and I look forward to continuing to listen, learn and take action.
I believe it’s essential to create an environment of belonging, where we can all bring our unique selves to work and allow people to show up as individuals. Inclusion unlocks our differences so we can have belonging; belonging is about being your unique and authentic self at home and work. At Banfield, we are committed to ensuring that each voice is heard, and that we are all held accountable. We are taking steps to listen and meet this moment. We believe our culture of inclusion and our humanity is made stronger by being here for each other. This is about humanity.
