A Message To Our EGPAF Community

The following remarks were emailed to our EGPAF community from President & CEO Chip Lyons on June 20, 2020.

I sit here struggling to write to you today in light of the intense burn in the US – literally and figuratively, generated by anger, fear, and despair.

Throughout the last two weeks, we have witnessed widespread protests against systematic racism and injustice, including unlawful killings, by police and others against people of color. I share in the anger and despair that so many of us around the world are feeling at this time. These past few months have already been filled with fear and uncertainty as we navigate the COVID-19 pandemic. On top of that, we are now vividly and painfully reminded once again of the systemic racial inequality that continues to exist in the US and around the world still in the year 2020.

Every person has the right to equal freedom, safety, opportunity, and voice – and with these rights comes responsibility. Confronting racism is a responsibility we all have and EGPAF stands in solidarity with every organization, every individual to reject systems and communities, and individuals that do not extend the basic principles of human rights to every person equally.

I do not have the answers on how to achieve this everywhere, but I do know it requires the collective effort of us all, everywhere.

In the weeks and months ahead, EGPAF will continue working to shape what the post-COVID environment will look like in the communities we serve. Simultaneously, we are taking the responsibility to speak up and out when and where we can to contribute to an environment in which racism and inequality is acknowledged, confronted and not tolerated.

You see it, we see it. We have to face it, face what is behind it, and re-affirm our values and priorities as an EGPAF community. I encourage you to use your voices, share your thoughts and feelings, and let your friends and family know what you need at this time and vice versa.

If there is a community of people bound closely by values, it is EGPAF. Let us draw on that together, and work even more closely.

Thank you for everything you do to help us in our mission.