Dear partners and friends,

We hear the call to fight – no justice, no peace. If there is no peace for black and brown families, our work is not complete. We hear the calls to action as individuals and as a foundation and know that collective healing is in order. We commit to activating our networks and sector to examine our beliefs and biases. We commit to anti-racist work, and to finding more and deeper ways to act in support of justice. We understand the urgency of this moment and we will not stop at listening.

There is no better way forward than to commit wholeheartedly to advancing racial justice in our community and country. We acknowledge the deeply embedded hold that white supremacy has on our humanity through longstanding systems of oppression. We understand that we play a role in upholding unjust systems, and we must do more to ensure we are not causing harm as we do work with communities around education, climate, and civic engagement. To accomplish any of our aims, and our larger goal of building a more just and sustainable society, we must do more work to dismantle systems of oppression, sharing and building power. As a foundation, we acknowledge that we have work to do.

On a personal note, I acknowledge that as Executive Director of a private foundation, I sit in a position of privilege. While the majority of my career has been spent moving wealth to community impact, I know that I need to be more resolute in the actions that I take to support building power outside of my community. I am committed to growing my antiracist practice, to bringing my network and specifically white friends and colleagues to a place of acknowledgement and action.

Achieving justice in this country will take unprecedented intention and discipline, starting with decolonizing our minds and our practices. It will also require deep political, structural and cultural changes. As a team, Stolte Family Foundation will continue to work on a deliberate path of examining our position, power and responsibility. We will maintain openness and transparency as we advance. We will post these commitments on our website and report back on our actions to hold ourselves accountable for the role we play and the work we must complete. We welcome the opportunity to stand in solidarity as we collectively work for transformative change. We hear the call, no justice - no peace.

Standing firmly against racial injustice,

Kim