News

To our communities and partners,

Today, and every day, we stand in support of our Black neighbors and communities who continue to suffer injustices and loss of life due to the color of their skin. With the backdrop of the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on people of color, the pain, suffering, and anger resulting from the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and many others have touched every neighborhood in our country. In addition to the personal bias that still exists within some Americans, the events of the past few weeks have amplified the systemic racism that exists in many of our societal institutions. Both are wrong, and more must be done to reform our systems and infrastructure to promote racial equity and justice.

At VCC, we embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion as part of our core value system. We know we still have listening and learning to do, and we will work collaboratively with impacted communities to envision a path forward.  The path must include collective visions and changes. Together with partners and clients, we will continue our work with renewed urgency and a broader expression of our values to help eliminate systemic injustice and promote racial equity.

Here at VCC, we own our institutional responsibility to eliminate racial injustices. We have included both internal and external work in these areas in our strategic plan. The responsibility to understand and change belongs to those that created the systems, not those oppressed by them.  We will renew and expand this work in all areas of our programming, purchasing, hiring, recruiting, and marketing.  We will also determine what else we can do within the constructs of our business, and how we will embrace and support partners in other businesses too.

VCC and our family of social enterprises believe “equitable access to capital and collaborative leadership promoting vibrant local communities and enhancing quality of life for all citizens is right and good.” These beliefs continue to drive who we are and how we do our work. In our mission to do more together, we will work to eliminate racial injustice in our communities.

In solidarity and partnership,

The VCC and LOCUS team