All of us at Praxis Mutual Funds®, a fund family of Everence Financial®, are distraught by the systemic racism and police violence plaguing our country. We join in mourning the loss of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and Rayshard Brooks – the latest in a string of horrific acts against Black and Brown people that stretches back centuries. The national grief, outrage and upheaval is inescapable, across this country and beyond. This pattern of injustice and discrimination cannot be allowed to continue. And we must all be part of the solution. Praxis echoes Everence CEO Ken Hochstetler’s recently posted “message of lament” where he states:
“The events of this last week prompt us to acknowledge the systemic biases that impact people of color and other marginalized communities, whether manifested in violence and weaponized racism or in unequal access to resources such as financial services, education, employment, housing and health care.”
We commit ourselves to using the many tools at our disposal as investors – screening, shareholder engagement, proxy voting, positive impact bonds, community investing and more to address the inequity and systemic racism that infect our lives in so many ways. We can do more. We can do better ... and we must.
