Our Commitment to Inclusion and Anti-Racism
We continue to be aware that it is us, white people with privilege, that need to do the work to dismantle racism and create actively anit-racist spaces. From now on, our lifelong mission of anti-racism work will inform and guide our actions and choices, as we move beyond this moment of heightened awareness.
We cannot call ourselves community builders if we don't put in the work to build a community of diversity. In the past, we've partnered with brands that we haven’t done the base level of homework on. Upholding a system of white privilege by not questioning policies/pathways of inclusion or accessibility. Always keeping things light in an effort to maintain the happy, carefree, trail runner persona. We acknowledge the privilege we have that has allowed us this.
So, moving forward, we promise we will highlight BIPOC businesses + creators. We are also doing the following to keep ourselves accountable:
We signed the Outdoor CEO Diversity Pledge and promise to hire BIPOC to guide our diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. We will also continue to sign petitions, write letters, and ask those we partner with how they are promoting diversity and anti-racism efforts.
We donated to Colour the Trails and will continue to donate to more causes regarding race and human rights issues. This is not to earn applause or hear thanks, in the end we all benefit from diverse groups and communities. We believe it is the right action to take. We will actively invite and support community groups for Black, Indigenous and People of Colour to participate in our events and trail running activities.
We will continue to diversify our feed with more Black athletes and businesses and will support in any way we can while also encouraging others to do the same. We hope to foster the development of genuine friendships and connections through this process.
We will have difficult conversations with friends and family regarding race, white privilege, and human rights.
We will continue to advocate for Black creators and the BIPOC community for brand partnerships. We will be looking to hire BIPOC for freelance work where we need it.
We will continue to self-educate on systemic racism with books, podcasts, TV shows and movies. Please see a great list of resources from Project Love Run here.
Now, saying things online is easy. With every decision, we must ask ourselves if what we are doing helps to dismantle an inherently racist and imbalanced system. This process will be messy and uncomfortable to sit with a lot of the time.
We all want to be well, to thrive, and to simply live our lives in freedom. But we must fight for BIPOC lives until all are free. It’s a fundamental shift that we believe is moving in the direction of what we know to be right. We hope you too, are stepping in this direction with us.
xoxo
Katrina and Jenny