Dear Hill House Community,
The past few weeks have made it more clear than ever that systemic racism is an intractable part of the society where we live and work. Racial injustice is an undeniable and brutal force in our workplaces, in our communities and in our country at large. As a team and as a brand, we are dedicating ourselves to doing the work to fight systemic racism. We commit to taking the necessary steps to build an anti-racist company. We stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, and we pledge to stay committed to fight racial injustice. It should not have taken us until 2020 to get here.
Since May 31st, we have used our social channels to amplify Black voices, businesses and nonprofits. Additionally, we have committed 20% of our Bed & Bath Sales to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund for the Month of June.
Today, we’d like to take our commitment one step further and report the immediate actions we are taking to ensure our work will continue long after the news cycle ends.
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By the end of 2020, we pledge to donate a minimum of $100,000 to non-profits focused on Racial Justice and Equity, including the Women’s Prison Association, The Loveland Foundation, Black Mamas Matter Alliance and the NAACP LDF. We will stay accountable and transparent by updating our Giving Report annually on our website and on our social feeds. Our first Giving Report will be released in early January 2021.
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We recognize the need for strong Black and non-Black POC representation on our team, and we commit to a minimum goal of population parity representation at all levels of the company. We are a small team today, and we know that our work has just begun. We commit to maintaining these representation goals as the company scales, and to ensuring fair and equitable representation and compensation from entry-level up. It is crucially important for us to set, monitor and report these goals today to ensure fair and equitable representation tomorrow, particularly at the Leadership and Executive levels.
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To achieve and maintain these hiring goals, we will create a Diversity & Inclusion Committee to set standards for recruiting, hiring, retaining and promoting BIPOC talent as we grow our team. This Committee will be made up of internal advocates and external experts. We will also apply these best practices to our factories, as we work to ensure fair treatment of employees at all stages of the supply chain. We will hold ourselves accountable via a Diversity & Inclusion Report we will publish annually, beginning in 2021.
Our existing team makeup is listed below:
Hill House Home Employees as of June 2020:
Identify as Black - 13%
Identify as Non-Black POC - 25%
Identify as White - 62%
Identify as Women - 100%
We do not currently have a Board of Directors or an Executive Leadership Team.
Paid Models and Influencers for the past 12 months (June 2019 - June 2020):
Identify as Black - 53%
Identify as Non-Black POC - 21%
Identify as White - 26%
Identify as Women - 95%
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We commit to listening to, learning from, and sharing with our community. We will continue to foster an open dialogue, to educate ourselves internally about anti-racism, to share resources, and to amplify Black voices across our channels. We also want to engage with you directly, and we invite you to share your thoughts and suggestions with us at hello@hillhousehome.com.
Without intentional, deliberate and hard-fought change, systemic racism will continue to thrive. Over the past several weeks I have personally examined the uncomfortable truths of my own prejudices and privileges. As a leader, I am ready and willing to do the work to use my platform, capital and access to help dismantle the systems that have for far too long been an intractable part of our society. I know that confronting systemic racism requires far more than a single donation, D&I report or email. I know that proclaiming solidarity on Instagram is an empty promise if I do not actively work for change. This is where we begin, and we encourage our community to hold us accountable to action in the coming months and years. Black Lives Matter. There is much more work for us to do. We thank you for your support and look forward to keeping you updated on this important work.
Sincerely,
Nell Diamond
Founder & CEO