A Letter From The CEO

June 5, 2020

Dear Class Community,

In the wake of the murder of George Floyd and other horrific killings, what I have woken up to is how institutional racism is rooted in our systems, our homes, our places of work, and in The Class.

While we at The Class have always believed that all are welcome, what we have come to understand is that through ignorance and insufficient action, many have felt hurt and unwelcomed. As the leader of the organization, this responsibility falls on me and for that, I hold myself accountable and I am deeply sorry.

Apologies mean nothing unless we change our behavior. We commit to progress, action, and accountability. We commit to becoming a company that is actively anti-racist.

We have been taking this week to learn, listen, and educate ourselves about what systemic racism really is, how to be anti-racist, and how The Class can take action that leads to ever-lasting change. Here are the steps we are taking. You have my word, this is just the beginning.

These are the goals we wish to achieve:

• Proactively diversify the organization across three distinct human areas: Teachers of The Class, employees who work corporately for The Class both full- and part-time, and students/customers/followers.

• Proactively diversify the products and the presentation of the brand in marketing, advertising, and other media to include the faces of the underrepresented audiences we seek and not just the audiences we have.

• Demonstrate meaningful change and support of the Black Lives Matter movement to dismantle systemic racism.

• Come to serve as a leader and create a new model for the wellness industry on how to achieve lasting, systemic diversity and inclusion as a wellness company. 

These are the ways we think we need to approach this change:

• Focus on long-term change that will alter the DNA of the organization as opposed to viewing our effort as one with a beginning, a middle, and an end. This is not a “campaign.” There is no end.

• Accept and acknowledge that we will make mistakes along the way. We will welcome the powerful accountability of our community to hold us to the task. In order for this to work, however, we will need to present our efforts transparently. 

These are the things we’ve completed or that are in motion for the community:

• Paused Classes on Tuesday to take that time to immerse ourselves in education and contemplation.

• From June 2 - 9, we closed our e-commerce store in order to direct attention to four like-minded organizations we wish to highlight for donations.

• Made donations to Campaign Zero, Color of Change, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and The Bail Project. We will continue to research and evaluate the organizations we can engage in and support.

• Joined the #BlackoutTuesday and #amplifymelanatedvoices movements and ceased brand or promotional posts on social media in service of giving voice to the Black Lives Matter movement.

• Created a free Class in support of Black Lives Matter; the first in a series to share the practice with new and diverse audiences.

• Created an external resource guide for a consolidated list of materials we feel our community can learn from.

• We will continue to share the current state of our transformation on this page.

• A [email protected] email address has been shared to encourage anyone to offer advice, feedback, or criticism of our approach to change. 

• We will continue the work we began last fall to bring The Class to school P.E. programs in under-served communities. In conjunction with Wellness in the Schools, we piloted a program at West Prep Academy, a public school in Harlem that accepts children who have been turned away from other public schools and helps to alter the students’ behavioral challenges.

These are the things we’ve completed or that are in motion for our employees:

• Met with and will hire diversity and inclusion consultants. We believe an investment in expert help is necessary and appropriate to set ourselves on the right path for lasting internal change.

• Held daily town hall meetings this week to bring together those who wished to join the conversation and workshop the issues and solutions that face us as a company and community. These will continue weekly.

• Mandated immediate online diversity and inclusion training for our team.

• Created a dedicated Slack channel and email for internal ideas and transparent, extemporaneous communication around how we can improve.

• Collaborated and shared an internal guide for books, podcasts, articles, voices, and other resources designed to expand our understanding of systemic racism and what it takes to be an effective anti-racist.

While our study has revealed to us a steep mountain we need to ascend, we are committed to change. As you know, the work we do on the mat is about facing our own discomfort and this will be perhaps The Class’ greatest opportunity and challenge to use that confrontation to serve our community and our culture. We know we have to keep the conversation going. And we will. We are eager to drop in and take action. 

With Humility, Respect, and Commitment,