As a white-led business with a majority-white staff in an industry that has marginalized Black and Brown voices, we acknowledge that Filter owns no particular moral high ground from which to hold forth on racial injustice in America.
So instead of speaking out, we’ve been focused on listening, learning, and reflecting on how we, as a brand and as an organization, can improve diversity and combat racism. Our aim has been to act before we talk, so that our words add up to more than empty, pandering slogans.
In other words: if we’re not doing the work – to actively fight implicit bias, microaggressions, stereotyping, and other manifestations of racism – how could we possibly make any meaningful, authentic statements about Filter’s commitment to our Black colleagues and community?
We’re speaking out now because we’re taking action.
To get our own house in order and improve the diversity and equality of our workforce – with a particular focus on BIPOC representation – we’re working in alignment with our parent company, Merkle (and with the Dentsu Aegis Network of which we are a part) to dismantle the systemic structures that have allowed inequality to persist in our business, our industry, and in our society. Together, our ambition and promise is to intentionally foster equality in recruiting, developing, and retaining an ethnically diverse workforce by creating educational opportunities, raising awareness, and promoting advocacy outreach at our business and across our community.
To that end, we have commenced on this critical journey with the development of a guiding framework for our actions. A key goal for this framework is to help us be very specific in our focus; to begin to show progress on a few things before expanding the effort, and to avoid confusing activity with progress.
There are five key areas of focus around which this framework is designed:
- Transparency and Accountability
- Understanding and Awareness
- Education and Continuous Learning
- Representation and Sponsorship
- Community and Client Impact
We are now working to further define the actions and initiatives within this plan, decide how we can best implement them, and set priorities and timelines. It will remain a “living document” for us, and we expect to make additions and refinements as we move forward. We aim to speak here in the future about our progress and results.
The road ahead is long, challenging, and difficult. But we believe in the destination.
We stand in unified support with the Black community. We’re committed to doing better – to do more than better: fight back. Make an impact. Create real and lasting change.
While Filter, Merkle, and Dentsu alone cannot solve racism, we have a responsibility to work toward eradicating it in our workplace. We believe that every person, without exception, deserves respect and the right to be treated fairly and with dignity. No manner of racism, intolerance, or discrimination whatsoever will ever be tolerated at our company. And there are no differences resulting from ethnicity, gender, sexuality, ability, or any other point of individuality each of us possesses.
We commit to do the work we need to do to achieve the change we want to see so that we can create a more equitable workplace within our walls and beyond.
BE PART OF THE CHANGE
Learn About African American and Black History
1619 — audio series on how slavery has transformed America starting from the arrival of the first slave ships through the lasting impacts through modern times
Made in America — podcast focused on the developments that built American slavery and how they are inseparable from the construction of Whiteness as we know it today
Reconstruction — documentary about America after the Civil War
We Need to Talk About an Injustice — Ted Talk about the hard truths about America’s justice system, which are wrapped up in America’s unexamined history
How to Be an Anti-Racist
Anti-Racism Starter Kit — a blueprint to navigating your next steps after answering the call to become anti-racist
Tips for Creating Effective White Caucus (Discussion) Groups — White Caucuses are an important mechanism for people who identify as white and/or have white skin privilege to authentically and critically engage in whiteness, white privilege, and hold each other accountable for change
Activism at Work — podcast about how organizational activism can be a key lever for systematic change
Anti-racist Checklist for White People — Ted Talk about the hard truths about America’s justice system, which are wrapped up in America’s unexamined history
Join the Poor People’s Campaign — a national call for moral revival with digital gatherings taking place in June
Resources for Raising Anti-Racist Children
Raising Race Conscious Children — a resource to support adults who are trying to talk about race with young children
Raising Free People — podcast centering Black people, Indigenous people, and People of Color in liberatory living and learning practices
Kids Aren’t Too Young to Talk About Race — resources to help you start
Children’s Books — supporting conversations on race, racism, and resistance
Where to Donate
Black Lives Matter — support of the movement and ongoing fight to end state-sanctioned violence, liberate Black people, and end white supremacy forever
The Action PAC — building an unstoppable political organizing force to combat the rising tide of racism and bigotry in this country
The Bail Project — national fund to help pay bail for people in need (including protesters)
The George Floyd Memorial Fund — established to cover funeral and burial expenses, mental and grief counseling, lodging and travel for all court proceedings, and to assist families in the coming days to seek justice for George. A portion of these funds will also go to the Estate of George Floyd for the benefit and care of his children and their educational fund
