Like you, CWLI mourns the loss of the lives of George Floyd, Ahmaud Aubrey, and Breonna Taylor as well as the profiling of Chris Cooper. These are just the latest, and most publicized, examples of racism and police violence in this country. Their stories have reminded us to examine our position in this community and evaluate where we go from here.

The significance of this moment requires that we acknowledge our failures in not doing enough to shape the conversation around race in our community to this point. If we believe that women are the nucleus for social and economic change, then we should be bolder in our approach to this issue.

The CWLI board of directors believes it is within our mission to use the CWLI platform to foster critical conversations regarding antiracism and take what we learn and put it into action. In 2020 we adopted FORward as our program theme for CWLI. We continue to see ways where defining what we are FOR needs to look different in order to realize systemic change.

We commit to accelerating our focus on inclusive representation throughout our organization. Additionally, we have already begun work on curating what we are calling a Civil Engagement series. We want to see civil discourse and civic engagement galvanized in this community and we embrace our responsibility to lead in this space in solidarity with others working toward reform. We hope you will join with us in our efforts.

Let’s move FORward Together.
– CWLI Board of Directors