Social Justice
“Striving for social justice is the most valuable thing to do in life.”
-Albert Einstein
““It is time to look in the mirror and ask why we have done so little to educate ourselves, foster racial egalitarianism and be a better ally and supporter within communities of color. This is now a time of actions and not words.””
Recent events have shone a spotlight on the continuing racial inequality in society, and the devastating impact it has on the lives of black people particularly. We support and stand with Americans and others worldwide who are expressing their pain, anger, and frustration at systems that oppress and devalue Black lives. Black lives matter.
Our core mission is to support and sustain the financial prosperity of our employees, our affiliates, and especially of independent retailers, who are social and economic pillars of their communities. But how can retailers truly flourish if the communities they serve are wracked with injustice? And how can we claim to support all independent retailers if our own retail customer base and internal team lacks representation from persons of color? While this disparity was in no way intentional, we can certainly accept responsibility for not actively seeking to correct the obvious imbalance. If we are truly to follow our mission, we must recognize the specific need to increase our support for black-owned and other minority-owned retailers. In order to accomplish that mission, we have committed to greater diversity and inclusiveness among all our key constituencies: our employees, our affiliates, and our clients.
We are turning that commitment into action in several ways:
Actively seeking out retail experts of color to become Management One affiliates, to participate in our educational events, and to become members of our employee team. We are redesigning our outreach and recruiting methods to fill available positions by qualified Black, Latino, and other minorities and expand our talent base.
Measure the diversity of our affiliates and client bases along dimensions of race and gender, and set goals for improvement.
Explore new products and service models specifically designed to benefit minority business owners in underserved communities.
Ensure that we reflect the diversity of the world - in race, in gender, in age - in all outbound and internal communications where applicable.
Communicate our commitment to racial justice in our educational events for retailers. This will ensure that people of all backgrounds, especially in the Black community, feel represented and understood at our events and educational seminars.
Effective immediately, source suppliers that are owned by women, minorities, or veterans to diversify our synergistic partnerships.
Commit to work with partners that share our direction and are purposefully moving to make and implement change.
Direct all M1 employees to dedicate time to learning/understanding the history of racial injustice.
As an EOS practicing company, our formal long-term objectives will include specific targets for activism supporting equality and justice within the retail community in which we operate. All quarterly leadership meetings will devote time to measure our effectiveness in changing and reaching our targets.
What is Management One doing right now?
Education and Outreach
Management One joins this effort through education, reaching out to our community for ideas, and self-evaluation of how we can expand our services to benefit the underserved in the retail community.
Internal education includes all employees taking time to actively engage with resources like “Justice in June” and other curated content that serves to enlighten our understanding of the issues. We also encourage our retail experts to embrace this educational material.
Contribution
Movements for change are not self-funded. They require generosity from a coalition of like-minded individuals and organizations to achieve their righteous goals. Most recently, we have contributed to worthwhile causes like the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI). The Equal Justice Initiative challenges racial and economic injustice with a commitment to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society.
In April 2020, with personal protection equipment in seriously short supply during the height of the COVID-19 shutdown, we leveraged our network of resources to create a Safety Toolkit full of vital equipment to help retailers reopen safely. The proceeds from this endeavor were donated directly to the Navajo Nation COVID-19 Relief Fund. In addition to suffering injustices for generations, the Navajo Nation has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and this fund was established to help deliver crucial supplies for medical staff and the community as a whole.
Management One was honored to provide this donation with the help of our retail community. If you would like to offer additional assistance, please visit: nndoh.org/donate.
Moving Forward for Change
These changes are long overdue. Though we realize that our efforts won’t change the world overnight, we firmly believe that our long-term commitment to address these challenging issues will ripple across the vast retail community we have worked so hard to build over these last 30+years. It is our hope that these effects will serve as a catalyst for change that extends beyond our reach to create a better world for the generations that follow.
Looking to add to the conversation?
We are here to listen.
Please email us at info@management-one.com and provide your suggestions.