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Due to the ongoing conversation in our community regarding diversity and racism, the Open Harvest Board of Directors has issued the following statement.

Dear Open Harvest Owners:

The murder of George Floyd is not an isolated occurrence. Systemic racism continues to infect our society and we must not tolerate a culture where such horrific acts are possible. As a board we must take action to dismantle systemic racism and create a more inclusive and equitable culture that welcomes, values and empowers all people.

The Open Harvest Board of Directors is committed to establishing an organizational culture that is explicitly anti-racist in its policies and practices. At the March board meeting, Member-Owners came to the board with concerns about a former director. We took these concerns seriously and immediately formed a diversity and inclusion working group to take action. After thorough deliberation, counsel, and considering our policies, the board has voted to take these immediate actions:

• Form a committee of community members, board members and staff to address white supremacy, diversity, and inclusion in order to guide this work for the co-op.
• Reinforce the Board’s policy of transparency regarding our vision, goals, and actions toward establishing an organizational culture that is explicitly anti-racist in its policies and practices, and invite collaboration with the community.
• The board will participate in anti-racism/anti-oppression training immediately and will adopt this into future onboarding of all new directors.
• Review and update our values statements, policies, bylaws, membership agreements, and candidate packets to reflect an anti-racist/anti-oppression culture.
• Provide opportunities for conversations and to engage the community on anti-racism and anti-oppression.

This is not an exhaustive list, in fact this is just the beginning. We are prepared to invest energy, resources, time and spirit into becoming an even stronger and more inclusive co-op for all of Lincoln.