Like many other institutions, NCFL is reflecting on the recent mass murders that have taken place over the last several days. Hate and racism motivated some of these tragic events. We stand in solidarity with families in Georgia and Colorado—both states in which NCFL works—where communities mourn their loved ones, violently ripped from their lives. We stand in solidarity with women as well as Asian American and Pacific Islanders—whose communities withstood brutal attacks in Atlanta.

More than ten months ago, NCFL released a public statement responding to the murders of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Amhaud Arbery, and James Scurlock. We acknowledged these tragedies resulted from deeply rooted racism that pervades the communities in which we live and work. While NCFL has always been an organization committed to equity, we had never released a public statement about national events that were seemingly unrelated to our core mission. Ultimately, we concluded these events are, in fact, related to our core mission and we need to use our voice and resources to actively work on changing the system. When people do not receive the same opportunities because of their race, it impacts families’ ability to thrive.

We must all commit to the work of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). NCFL has a long way to go, and this is a journey we will be on forever. For 32 years, we have leveraged our voice as a national organization to share information with the field about our work, and our DEI efforts deserve that same attention. To that end, please read on to learn about some specific actions we are taking as an organization.

• Diversity, equity, and inclusion are pillars embedded throughout our latest 3-year strategic plan, which was inclusively designed to gather inputs from many stakeholders including staff, board members, and a sampling of families participating in NCFL’s programming. In the coming months, we will have a public DEI vision for our organization. 
• NCFL staff members have formed an Equity and Action Committee to seek continuous improvement in all areas of our work including programming, employee engagement, and communications.
• We continue to practice language justice across our two-generation programs so that families can participate in their preferred language. In the pandemic era, we have successfully pivoted this work to occur online so that families and partners can join online meetings in their heart language.
• NCFL’s place-based programs work to remove barriers for families of color across the United States and in tribal nations. A vast majority of parent participants in our programs are women.
• NCFL works to evolve its communications and programming efforts, including a new podcast, to help change the narrative around family engagement to view low-income, ethnically diverse families through an asset-based lens.

Again, we ask you to please join us—and challenge us—in standing up and taking action to dismantle systemic racism.