President & CEO Siskin Children’s Institute
The first half of 2020 has been a difficult year. The murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor add to a long list of black Americans who lost their life based on their skin color. In between bouts of anger and sadness, I’ve spent a considerable amount of time in the last week pondering “how have these deaths affected our staff and those we serve at SCI?”
Displaying empathy, being inclusive, listening, and understanding are all key attributes of our culture at Siskin Children’s Institute. It’s part of the rich legacy of our founders Mose and Garrison Siskin. As a mission driven organization that serves children and families from diverse backgrounds, we must acknowledge that systematic racism exists. Racism affects our employees, our communities, and the children and families we serve. Racism manifests itself in innumerable ways. Persons of color including our co-workers, friends, neighbors, brothers, and sisters need to hear unequivocally that we support them and stand by them in condemning racism. We also condemn antisemitism and discrimination in all forms. You matter, you are valued by me and by Siskin Children’s Institute.
In the coming weeks I will work closely with our staff and those we serve by reaffirming our commitment to diversity and addressing any cultural blind spots we may have. We will have hard conversations; we will listen and learn from each other. Our commitment is to constructively address disparities, foster an inclusive culture, and take a firm stand against racism.
Please join me as we work to be part of the solution.
Yours Truly,
Derek Bullard
To hear how the pediatrics community is responding to this crisis visit AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics)
