The Responsibility to Address Racism

Dear friends, graduates, members, speakers and sponsors of Leadership Women,

Like so many others, we have been reeling from the events that have followed the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and the countless others that came before them.  Subsequently, we have seen tens of thousands of Americans take to the streets in communities around the country to speak out in protest.

As an organization of women –wives, mothers, sisters, daughters, aunts, grandmothers, friends and leaders -we empathize with the pain of all women who live with the fear that they, or their loved ones, will be unfairly and violently treated because of the color of their skin.

As a leadership development organization that has been prominent in promoting and developing women leaders in this country for nearly 50 years, Leadership Women adds our voice to all those who are stepping up and committing to being more intentional about confronting the systemic racism that is deeply rooted in our society.  While racial equity has long been a fundamental value of our programming, we must do more to foster a conscious and active anti-racist lens to how women should lead right now. We are committed to creating the space for more conversations that are difficult, but important, and to ensuring that our programmatic agendas and sessions moving forward put an intentional focus on increasing awareness on diversity and inclusion issues.

We invite all of you to reach out and share your thoughts, resources and suggestions as to how we can grow as an organization, and the ways we can provide our women leaders with a more diverse set of learning opportunities throughout our programming.

Our mission is to ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic, and public life –  and we are steadfast in our commitment to this mission, now more than ever.

Sending you all strength and hope for a country that values the lives of all individuals equally.