In pursuit of our mission to improve children’s nutrition, our team is committed to being in constant action to achieve equity and inclusion on our team, in our schools, in our work and in the world.

We wrote our commitment a year ago when we set goals for 2030. The work has always been in our hearts, but when we put something on paper and make a plan…we get so much farther. We needed time to make our commitment authentic before sharing it publicly.

And that brings us to today. When working quietly behind the scenes is not enough.

I am proud to share that our team is in action…from recruiting differently to choosing and changing our language carefully to having hard conversations. And it is not enough.

Today, we are sharing our commitment publicly. We are in the business of kids. Our children are precious, filled with possibility and they are our future. Every single one of them.

We stand in solidarity with Black and Brown communities. We are outraged by the recent acts of violence. In these days following the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, words are not adequate to soothe the hurt or heal the wounds of the dehumanizing injustice towards people of color that has festered for centuries in our country.

Racism and discrimination of any kind have no place at Whole Kids Foundation. Our Team Members have participated in Undoing Racism workshops and are each on their own personal journey to understand history, privilege and our roles in the future we want for our children.

Our organization is working with anti-racist professionals that specialize in outdoor education. We have a session this month that will help us further unpack power and privilege, examine unconscious bias and eliminate microaggressions. We regularly review every aspect of our programs to incorporate equity into all that we do – we recognize this as a journey with no end.

I wanted to share these things because it’s hard to know what the work is. My hope is that by sharing our team’s journey, others may find a starting point or know us as an ally.

We took time this week to FEEL the magnitude of the moment. If we don’t take time to feel the fear, anger and sadness, we will not be able to heal our trauma and create meaningful change.

When you see us bounce back into the world with passion and enthusiasm, I want you to know that underneath is a collective heart that is working hard toward equity and inclusion.

With deep respect and on behalf of our team,