An open letter to our employees dated June 2, 2020

As we suspect you did, we watched the video of George Floyd’s death in horror. While he repeatedly said that he could not breathe, a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes, leading to his death. In the past month, Ahmaud Arbery was shot and killed while jogging in Atlanta and Breonna Taylor, a decorated EMT, was shot and killed by police in her apartment in Louisville. Incidents like these are all too common as our country continues to struggle to effectively address racism, criminal justice, discrimination, bigotry and real disparities in health, violence and incarceration that plague our communities. These deaths remain shocking and upsetting for all of us, yet they seem to happen over and over again. For many of our friends and colleagues, these events are also deeply personal.

The buildup and expression of anger and frustration around racial injustice is real and it is justified.

There are sadly far too many examples of systemic racism, bias and inequality in our society, and there are no fast or easy answers to dismantling hundreds of years of racism. We do not condone violence against people or property, which seems to be emanating principally from criminal and other elements, rather than from peaceful protestors who are demanding change. We CAN stand together as allies, stand against racism when we see it, and take deliberate actions to encourage and promote diversity, equity and inclusion within and beyond our own homes, networks, and communities to ensure that everyone feels like they belong.

To encourage these courageous conversations, the Ventas Diversity Network is sharing a list of resources you can use to educate yourself and others. This list is far from exhaustive – and if you know of other good resources, then please be sure to share them with us so that we can make them available.

We are committed to advancing our diversity and inclusion efforts and our commitment to mutual respect. We will work together to identify opportunities to engage our employees in continued dialogue so we can identify and overcome structural bias together.

Especially in this moment, standing up for racial justice is indeed the right thing to do. We welcome your feedback and ideas on how we can work together for a better future for one another.

RESOURCES

• National Museum of African American History & Culture’s Talking About Race Resource page
• NYT's Anti-Racist Reading List
• Talking to Your Kids About Racism

Debra A. Cafaro

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Tim Sanders

Senior Investment Officer, Research & Innovation
Diversity Network Sponsor