Today marks the one-year anniversary of the murder of George Floyd, a tragic event that served as the catalyst for a lot of realization, reckoning, and calls for change. Over the past year, we have worked to figure out our place in the conversation around social justice.
We knew that as a company, we wanted to be allies to and supportive of our Black community members, neighbors, and partners, but we didn’t know the best actions we could take to make a true difference. We had difficult conversations, took time to listen, and have been working to ensure that diversity and inclusion is a bigger focus at CRA. We are a work in progress, with far to go. But we also have realized doing better starts with a few steps. This is where we have started:
Working with diverse partners. We have begun to reach out to and develop new partnerships with Black-owned businesses and vendors as well as minority-owned firms with similar offerings. We will continue to work to expand these partnerships and the opportunities available. Reach out to us any time for a discussion and let’s see how we can work together.
Internship program. We have expanded our internship program with a specific goal of increasing diversity in our hires. The upcoming intern(s) will join current client and project teams as well as work directly with our minority business grant recipient (see below).
Minority business grant. Starting this summer, we are creating a grant program for a minority-owned business. CRA will work with the selected business to better develop its brand and position it for greater success. The grant is worth 150 hours of work.
After an initial immersion session with the business, CRA services could include logo creation, brand development, communication or creative audits, social media planning, website enhancement, media strategy, and more. Applications are open now for the first grant, to be awarded in the coming months.
Internal discussions and learning opportunities. We created a Diversity and Inclusion subgroup of passionate staffers to continue the conversation. They have been integral in helping to develop these programs, as well as make plans to bring in speakers for the entire team on issues like racial justice, supporting Black-owned businesses, and more.
This is in no way the end for us—rather, just the beginning. We will continue to listen, learn, and invite diversity and inclusion.