A Message from Valley Leadership: Our Commitment to Our Community

The deaths of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Breonna Taylor in Louisville and Dion Johnson here in Phoenix – among many others – have been heartbreaking. It is important to us that you, as our community, know that we are angered by these deaths and that we stand together in solidarity to root out racism from our systems. We believe that Black Lives Matter.

We as a country, and as a state, have work to do to change the systems that lead to an unlevel playing field for many Americans and Arizonans, their families and communities. Our work has always focused on preparing leaders, giving them the tools they need to challenge, reimagine and ultimately remake our systems in a way that contributes to an Arizona where families and communities can thrive.

Words are important, but as an organization driven to do, we believe actions speak louder. We are committed to living our values – among those to act and to support diversity, equity and inclusion, because we know a diverse Arizona is our advantage.

We know we have work to do.

Here’s what we are committing to you and our community going forward:

• Engage in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) training for our staff;
• Determine how we can improve our current program curriculum on DEI;
• Outline clear goals and measurable outcomes that will help us as an organization live our values around DEI in our organization, through our program participants and our alumni; and
• Explore how we activate an Impact Maker Team to explore the role race plays in systemic issues.

At its core, the Impact Maker seeks to create not just immediate impact but also long-term systemic change, currently around issues like education, health and access to good jobs. We invite you to take part, to engage and to act with us. We’ll share more about these opportunities and invite you to share your views with us at vl@valleyleadership.org.