b'Focus on Becoming an Anti-Racist OrganizationOn June 1st, 2020, Philadelphia Futures shared the following statement: For over 30 years, Philadelphia Futures has supported thousands of low-income, first-generation-to-collegestudents to graduate from high school, gain admission to and succeed in college, and graduateWe are committed to becoming from college. The majority of our students and graduates are students of color, specifically Blackan anti-racist organization.and Brown young people.We know that this work takes time and requires a deepWe are unable to continue this work if we do not pause and be clear: commitment from all who are involved with PhiladelphiaBlack Lives Matter at Futures. We also know that we need help to truly transform, which is why we are hiring a consultant tohelp. Since June 2020, we have actively accelerated our anti-racist transformation in concrete ways. We havePhiladelphia Futures. drafted a series of commitments that we will take tochange as an organization and examine and eradicatehow systemic racism and implicit bias may show up inour organization and our programming. We have createdanity groups for our sta. We have reviewed and We know that we have work to do in ensuring that everything at Futures is informed by an anti-racist lens. updated our job postings. We have oered trainings We are listening deeply and acting intentionally, learning from our staff, students, and greater community. for our volunteers and mentors about implicit bias and how to best support our scholars. We have oeredWe are sharing this message because systemic and individual racism threatens the lives of our students, training for our sta on trauma-informed care of their families, and our staff. Silence is not an option. ourselves and our students. Finally, we are looking atour human resources practices, including our employeeOur students, their success, and their lives matter. handbook, salary structure, and performance evaluationsystem. And there is much more work to do.We welcome others to join us in speaking out and taking action to break down the systemic and insidiousbarriers that are killing people of color, and specifically, those in the Black community. Thank you for partnering with us.We look forward to exploring ways we can work together to ensure that our students succeed in collegeand in a world premised on respect and dignity. 10'