The Board of Directors of Impact100 Sonoma shares in the grief and anger that has erupted in the aftermath of the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and too many other Black people and people of color in our country. We join with the chorus of people and organizations proclaiming that Black Lives Matter, now and always.

We believe that injustice, inequality and structural racism exist everywhere, including in Sonoma Valley. We believe, though, that these social problems are solvable if we invest in solutions and equip ourselves to dismantle the systems and structures that allow them to thrive.

It is not enough to not be racist, we must be actively anti-racist.

The first step to becoming anti-racist is to be educated in the history and persistence of racism and our complicity in the perpetuation of injustice. To that end, the Board of Directors of Impact100 Sonoma will undergo training this summer in implicit bias and diversity, equity and inclusion. We will make this training available to all of our members at a future date. And our hope is to find a way to make training available to nonprofit boards of directors within Sonoma Valley. These are steps that affirm our commitment as an organization to being part of the solution.

As members of Impact100 Sonoma, we join together to leverage our collective impact against racism because we believe that alone we can do good, but together we can do better. Let’s do better.

Impact100 Sonoma is a member of the national women’s collective giving network Philanos, which has assembled a variety of resources for members to learn more about anti-racism. Click here to access those resources.

The Board of Directors of Impact100 Sonoma

Kathy Bloch

Sarah Carroll

Vianette Contreras

Sandee Crisp

Margaret Grandy

Lynne Lancaster

Robin Layton

Marney Malik

Cam McKinley

Debbe Noto

Tracy Reynes

Chelsie Runnings

Angela Ryan

Dana Simpson-Stokes

Claudia Sims

Mary Jane Stolte

Nancy Wever

Gera Vaz