Black Lives Matter

Mike Rossi -

Every company has a core set of beliefs and values - the things that they stand by through thick and thin. It’s how they make big choices and small choices, and decide what and who to invest in.

Here at Smile, we have always been dedicated to finding the most qualified individuals for every role. It doesn’t matter if you’re a marketer local to our HQ in Canada, a software developer in Brazil, a designer in Spain, or an accountant from the Philippines.

But no matter what we’ve done in the past, we know we can always do better.

We can listen better. We can learn better. We can take action, better.

Black, indigenous, and people of color matter.
Police brutality has to end.
Systemic racism must be extinguished.

We must be better allies

We are adding our voice to the global call of dissent in 5 key ways:

1. The Smile blog was silent last week and (apart from this post) will continue to be silent this week in solidarity with #blackouttuesday

2. We have kicked off an ongoing, open discussion with the Smile team about what is happening, how we're individually feeling, and how we can educate ourselves and support one another moving forward.

3. Smile has made a donation to the Black Lives Matter chapter leading the charge towards real racial equality local to our headquarters in Kitchener, Canada.

4. Our Human Resources department is devoting resources to initiatives dedicated to increasing workplace diversity and amplifying the voices of every one of our employees, partners, and customers that identify as a visible minority.

5. Smile is providing a financial credit to all our employees to make purchases that support any Black-Owned businesses during the month of June

Get educated

For many, the number one thing that can be done to make a long-term difference is to self-educate.

To help with that, here is a (far from exhaustive) list that has been compiled and shared internally here at Smile:

What to Read

What to Watch

Where to Donate

Local

• BLM Waterloo Region - https://www.gofundme.com/f/b5sv9-black-lives-matter

Canada

International

Other Resources

Listen. Learn. Donate. Participate.

#blacklivesmatter