Like many of you, I read about the inhumane murder of George Floyd and Amy Cooper’s abuse of privilege last week. With this latest injustice coming on the heels of the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and so many others over the years, my emotions have ranged from anger to sadness to depression. In the same week we were able to send two astronauts on a reusable rocket into outer space, we also witnessed some of the worst behavior of our humanity, juxtaposing two ends of our human capabilities.
This is not a usual post, and I still don’t think I’ve found quite the right words to express my thoughts. But here goes.
To all of those hurting, especially those in the Black community, know that we at DoorDash stand with you and support your right to be seen and heard. I won’t pretend to fully understand or even speculate what you’re going through, including the injustice you may face daily.
Instead, as the leader of a company whose mission is to empower local economies, I believe that DoorDash also has a responsibility to take action toward creating what we want to see realized in the communities around us. Silence and inaction equal consent, so we commit to speaking up and taking action to fight injustice, inequality, and discrimination. But I also know how important it is to listen and learn when people with lived experiences are speaking. We must do both in order to truly do the work to make this week, and every week that comes after it, better.
While long term action is needed, we are announcing the following steps today – developed in partnership with our Black@DoorDash Employee Resource Group (ERG):
We will use our platforms, both DoorDash and Caviar, to highlight and support Black-owned businesses and Black entrepreneurs.
We are donating $1 million, with $500,000 going to Black Lives Matter and $500,000 to create a fund to be directed by the Black@DoorDash ERG towards state and local organizations.
We are creating formal structures to ensure we are hearing from our community, starting with the Dashers of Color Council. This group will be formed in the coming weeks and will advise our company on issues facing Black Dashers, including safety and access.
We are reaffirming our commitment to combat racism and discrimination within our company, on our platform, and in our communities. We will also use our voice to support policies that are proven to reduce police violence.
We will be collaborating with experts to identify ways to combat implicit or explicit bias on our platform and to design strategies to change the written and unwritten rules in our industry that affect Black communities the most and have the greatest potential to advance justice and inclusion.
We will continue to hold ourselves accountable to increasing diversity in our leadership teams – inclusive of underrepresented people of color – by tying progress to job performance and promotions, and by rejecting hire requests that have not interviewed a diverse slate of candidates. We will expand this to all managers and employees in the future.
Justice is not a relative term. There is no grey area. We will continue to use our voice and platform to make progress together.
With respect and love,
Tony Xu
CEO/Co-founder, DoorDash
