Where Do We Stand? A Message to Our CEOs on Racial Inequality

Today, we sent a message to our CEOs about our position on the tragic killing of George Floyd and the broader issues of race and inequality in our country. We are sharing this message because we believe it is important to be public about our position during these difficult times.

Commerce Ventures CEOs,

Over the past week, our team has discussed how to appropriately comment publicly on the tragic killing of George Floyd and related events across our country. We’ve concluded that we’ve been too quiet on this issue in the past and that silence is simply no longer acceptable. As your partner, we believe it is your right to know who we are and what we stand for.

At Commerce Ventures, we believe that all lives should matter equally. Today, we find ourselves in a country where that is not the status quo for too many of our fellow Americans. The shocking, horrific and painful events of the past few weeks highlight this inequality — especially for the Black community.We believe we need to do more than we have done in the past. We are far from figuring this out and recognize that many of you are struggling with the same issues. In particular, how can we make a positive impact and lead our teams through these challenging times?

We stand with you in support of racial equality,
The Commerce Ventures Team

We want to be part of the solution and are actively working on several initiatives in an effort to make a real and measurable impact. Over the coming days we are taking the following steps:

• Convening our full portfolio to discuss the issues and share immediate actions / advice
• Committing real dollar resources to help in the future (more details to come shortly)
• Seeking engagement with and advice from organizations who are doing the heavy lifting on how we can be part of the solution
• Sharing what we learn from our network to help others better contribute to the solution and to our society as a whole

We are inspired by people across the country taking constructive action to bring about awareness, justice, and change. There is so much work to do, and we can only hope to be a small part of a broader solution.