Black Lives Matter
Here at Rainfall, we were outraged after learning of, and ultimately watching the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.
That outrage compounded the anger we felt after watching Amy Cooper lie to the police to tell them that “there was an African American man threatening her life.” She intentionally victimized herself because she knew, the same way that Ahmaud Arbery’s killers did, that the police were likely to take her side because of the color of her skin.
That assumption turned to truth as the police have shown us this week that systemic racism and a culture of violence plague departments across the nation, fueling a culture of belief that black lives literally don’t matter. Breonna Taylor’s life didn’t matter to Louisville police as they forced their way into her home, and it continued to not matter as they scrambled to justify their wrongdoing. It is disgusting and appalling that the individuals we pay to protect and serve have repeatedly proven that they cannot be trusted to safely and respectfully interact with all members of their communities. This is not new news, but enough is enough, and it is time for change.
As the founder of a startup business I face adversity often, but never once have I had to question whether those difficulties were due to the color of my skin. Black Americans who have worked harder than me have received less through no fault of their own, because we have created a society in which the American Dream does not apply to them.
Simply saying that Rainfall celebrates and encourages diversity was not, and will no longer be enough. We are small, meaning that we have an opportunity to define an actively inclusive culture moving forward.
Here are the steps we are taking:
Immediate and recurring donations to charities that celebrate diversity and aid current needs brought about by protests, including Black Girls Code, Color of Change, and Northwest Community Bail Fund.
- Annual employee donation matching to the charities of their choosing.
- All current and future Rainfall staff will complete unconscious bias training via multiple sources on a continuous basis.
- Active measures will be taken to be more diverse and inclusive when seeking out future candidates and making future hires, including the wording of our job postings, the locations in which we post them, greater acceptance for remote work, and alternative methods of candidate assessment.
- We will celebrate diversity internally through events and educational opportunities organized by staff members around their individual interests, cultures, and backgrounds.
- We will pay for membership into organizations that advance the careers and interests of our employees.
- We will continuously evaluate all of these activities through conversations with our staff to ensure that they feel seen and heard.
Marc Anderson
Founder/CEO