The horrifying killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and so many other Black Americans reflect a long history of systemic and overt racism in our country. Their deaths underscore a running stream of inequities in our justice, education, and health care systems, which have been highlighted most recently by the starkly disproportionate health impacts of COVID-19.

I am distraught and deeply pained by the recurring images in my mind of these deaths, and quickly turn to the action I can take as an ally to support efforts for lasting change.

As Interim CEO of the Packard Foundation, I am committed to the belief that our work must, in its own way, contribute to lasting change. Approaching our grantmaking with a lens of equity, ingraining and continuing a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, and holding conversations on institutional racism are important steps toward progress.

I continue to be inspired by the work of our grantee partners to support equitable solutions—from those working in our local area to secure access to resources like food and shelter for all families so they can thrive, to those working in the U.S. South and nationwide to ensure access to quality reproductive health care, to those ensuring that every child grows up healthy, confident, and ready to learn.

My heart weighs heavy with the pain felt across the nation today, but our partners and their ongoing work give me hope. We must continue to support efforts like these across our nation, so that together, we can acknowledge, address, and stop the systemic inequities across our country.