On the one-year anniversary of the murder of George Floyd, we send love and power to his family, community and the city of Minneapolis for their grief, resistance and commitment to justice. George Floyd’s death created a demand for accountability and a call to action to not only acknowledge, but cease the gross inequities and violence that Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) face at the hands of white supremacy culture, institutions, and systems. 

As a new initiative, AMPT: Advancing Nonprofits is committed to actively growing into an antiracist organization and to stand against racial injustice. 

What does that mean?

We stand in solidarity with BIPOC communities by holding ourselves accountable to the way we show up in our work. We will examine the ways in which harmful practices, policies, and power dynamics within philanthropy and the nonprofit sector also perpetuate white supremacy culture. We will recognize our privilege and use it to challenge these systems. We will lean into our organizational values and build transformational relationships with BIPOC communities that reimagine what it looks like to center BIPOC communities, to believe BIPOC communities and to affirm that BIPOC communities are valuable, the experts of their own experience and deserve lives of love and dignity. 

We are by no means the experts. However, we recognize the importance of “doing the work” to shift the ways BIPOC communities have been systematically marginalized. 

And we ask to be held accountable. We are committed to the growth that requires leaning into difficult conversations. We ask to be partners in the journey towards antiracism and justice. We believe in community power and seek to co-create spaces that are sanctuaries of healing and belonging. 

We also challenge others to make a commitment with us. We challenge other institutions to examine the ways in which they engage in practices that replicate harm in BIPOC communities and take courageous action towards change. 

We recognize joy as the foundation for our collective healing and liberation. Join us as we build with intention and bring our whole selves into our interactions.

We owe ourselves and each other the ability to grow and be in solidarity.