June 4, 2020

My fellow Gas South team members:

We are all dealing with a lot of emotions right now brought upon by the senseless killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor. While these tragedies served as the catalyst for the protests we’ve seen over the last week in Atlanta and throughout our country, the demonstrations also reflect deep frustrations with systemic problems we face in our country: failings in our criminal justice system, persistent inequality, and racial profiling. People of color continue to experience racism and discrimination. The pervasive persecution and inequity faced by black people in America needs to end, and Gas South has a responsibility to step up and lead.

Being a Fuel for Good means being an advocate for social justice and equal opportunity and being an active opponent of bigotry, racism, and intolerance. As a purpose-driven company, we have a solid foundation for community and employee engagement. We also know that we need to do more. Businesses like Gas South need to be bolder and more intentional in demonstrating that black lives do matter – through our community investments, our policy advocacy, and how we conduct our own business.

I’d like to share with you some things that we are currently doing. These initiatives are where we start. We will continue to do more.

• We will be making a $70,000 contribution to three organizations that are on the front lines in fighting racism and advocating for human rights: The ACLU, the Partnership for Southern Equity, and Color of Change
• We will take a public stand in favor of enacting hate crimes legislation in Georgia during this legislative session and will lobby for its passage with like-minded businesses.
• We will be convening Community Conversations, led by Carolyn Collins (Thorne), where team members from all across our company can come together via MS Teams to talk about our feelings and emotions, and listen to and learn from each other, in a supportive environment. Through these forums, we also hope to hear from you about what our company can be doing to be a force for positive change.
• We are speaking out on social media, repudiating racism and advocating for meaningful reform.

In addition to what the company is doing, I wanted you all to know that I have made some personal commitments. There are conversations underway about forming a group of Atlanta-area business and civic leaders that will advocate for bold change, that goes beyond incrementalism, to combat racism and discrimination. This AJC op-ed piece from my friend Ernest Greer of Greenberg Traurig sets the tone and goals, and I am looking forward to being part of this effort. In addition, there is a national organization called CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion that I joined a few months ago. It has established a CEO Task Force to reimagine how we drive change in our communities and workplaces, and I am seeking to be part of that as well.

Finally, we must fortify our own house. We need to work together, diligently and intentionally, to ensure we have an environment where our team members can be their authentic selves, have important conversations, and be seen and heard as individuals, so that everyone feels like they are supported and belong. We must work towards eliminating bias and ensure inclusivity for everyone at Gas South.

Thank you for being a part of our team and for being my colleague. I truly appreciate each of you.

Kevin Greiner

President & CEO
Gas South