Silicon Valley is home to deep and persistent economic and racial disparities that carry devastating consequences to Black, indigenous, and people of color. Nonprofit organizations have a responsibility and opportunity to work with our communities to fight systemic racism in our organizations and in our governmental, philanthropic, and private sector partners.

Despite years of prosperity, income inequality in Silicon Valley is now at a historic high, with 13% of households holding more than 74% of the region’s wealth. Meanwhile communities of color are hit the hardest by persistent poverty, and negative health and education outcomes. Public policy decisions have only exacerbated gentrification and displacement of households of color. The disparate health and economic impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on communities of color are a profound illustration of the devastating cost of systemic racism.
 
These inequities are rooted in racist and discriminatory legal and institutional structures—historic and current—as well as in the racial biases that still exist in our families, schools, workplaces, and neighborhoods. These and similar structures and systems of oppression also disadvantage indigenous people, immigrants and other people of color, women, people with disabilities, the LGBTQ community; these structures and systems of oppression have compounded negative effects for Black lives.
 
As members of this community and as nonprofit leaders, we both recognize these inequities and commit to action for racial justice. We pledge to take anti-racist stances in our community, and to incorporate core values of racial equity, inclusion, and diversity in our organizations.
 
Therefore, as change agents, we commit to:

• Support the voices of the communities we serve in order to share power and resources.
• Actively support the movement to transform the systems that perpetuate racial inequities.
• Develop clear and transparent objectives and measures of progress toward racial equity, while ensuring those goals are informed by and accountable to affected members of our community.
• Condemn public and private-sector policies that disadvantage members of our community based on race, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, nationality, documentation status, socioeconomic status, educational attainment, veteran status, age, disability, and arbitrary bases.
 
As nonprofit organizations and servant leaders working within such organizations, we commit to:
 
• Prioritize racial equity work. Ensure that equity goals and responsibilities within the organization are clearly incorporated into work plans and budgets at all levels.
• Center the perspectives and lived experience of people of color and oppressed communities in decision making in our organization’s operations, programs, and services, recognizing that staff may have more societal power than those we pledge to serve.
• Create and maintain a workforce and leadership that is racially diverse, reflective of the community we work with, and culturally responsive.
• Promote inclusion within our organization by fostering a culture where the histories and life experiences are acknowledged and valued.
• Advance workplace equity through professional development, inclusive decision making, and transparency for staff at all levels.
• Examine whether our organization is perpetuating inequities by only focusing on the consequences of inequality versus addressing root causes.
• Develop anti-racist leadership of employees, board members, and volunteers.
• Collaborate with other organizations and cross-sector allies to build the capacity of communities of color and organizations led by these communities to achieve an equitable and thriving community together.
• Support and hold each other accountable in living out the tenets of this pledge.