I've spent a lot of time thinking about how I can lead by example through change. Racism is so big and honestly feels impossible to make any real change in as a single person, but as Edward Everette Hale said, "I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything; but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do."

 

So here is what you can expect from BURST Event Co moving forward in our company's journey to being an anti-racism ally.

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1. I'll be implementing a requirement for any of our team members to undergo Anti-Racism training every month. I'm still working out what this looks like and I'm sure it will evolve over time, but my team, including myself, will be given various exercises each month to complete in order to grow in our capacity to be true allies.⠀⠀⠀

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2. I'll be reviewing my vendor partnerships. Vendor partners can expect to get an email from me asking specifically what action steps they are taking to ensure that they are working towards becoming better allies with the black community. I will also be the first to admit, that I have very few relationships with wedding pros that are not white & the reality is that as a Wedding Planner, I refer out hundreds of thousands of dollars of business every year and it is unacceptable that very little of those referrals go to non-white business owners. I'll be making intentional efforts to develop relationships with black and POC in the wedding industry. Silent vendors will no longer receive referrals from LRE.⠀⠀

 

3. The racial wage gap is real. And frankly, if your wage is less, then your cost of living should also be less, but between discriminatory housing and lending, POC often have even higher costs of living. So as of today, in an effort to redistribute power & wealth, POC will pay less with us. As part of our Love in Action campaign, any POC will receive a 10% discount on their planning package with us.

 

4. We're going to give. Our Love in Action campaign started in 2018 where we donated 10% of all of our contracts to a non-profit of our couples' choice, but moving forward LRE will be re-engaging our Love in Action campaign to donate 10% of all of our contracts to the Grass Roots Law Project.⠀⠀⠀

 

Frankly, this all feels like not enough, but it's a start.

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