Chemonics’ Statement on Racial Injustice and Police Brutality

All of us at Chemonics continue to be shocked and angry by the pervasive racism that led to the senseless deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and countless other Black men and women across the United States and throughout so much of this country’s history. We condemn, in the strongest possible way, any act of violence toward people because of their race, religion, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, or creed. These actions go against what we stand for as development professionals and are counter to Chemonics’ values and mission.

Our thoughts are with the families and communities affected directly by these events. In recent days, our Chemonics community has convened formally and informally to discuss and process the ongoing struggle with racism and police brutality in our nation. Many of us expressed anger, frustration, exhaustion, and pain. And, together we recognized that we have a collective responsibility to uproot bigotry and end systemic racism in our society. While we will continue to live our values, celebrate our global diversity, and seek a shared understanding of one another with respect and compassion, we must do more.

As a member of the development community, Chemonics implores our colleagues and partners to chart this path together. Our collective experience tackling complex, difficult issues and the collective determination we see in the protests throughout the United States and the world make us confident that we can set a course that is relevant and consequential inside and outside of our organizations. Chemonics commits to standing with the Black community and will allocate our energy, our talent and creativity, and our resources to address the injustice we have seen and that some among us have personally experienced. We will support meaningful actions to change the systems of oppression that perpetuate racial inequities and injustice in the United States and beyond, and we look forward to sharing these approaches with our colleagues in the development community.

As a small step in that direction, on Friday, June 5, the Chemonics community will together take 8 minutes and 46 seconds of silence at 9 a.m. ET in memory of George Floyd. We are also dedicating this day to reflection and solidarity with those grieving and fighting for equity. We ask our community to join in reflecting on what we can all do — as organizations and as individuals — to make systemic change happen. Together we can make a meaningful difference, in the countries in which we work and here at home.