Dear Friends and Colleagues,

We can learn a lot from history, and Black history is American history.

During Black History Month, we celebrate the profound contributions Black Americans have made to society. During his Montgomery Bus Boycott speech in 1955, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  said, “we’ve got to come to the point that we are determined not to accept a lot of things that we have been accepting in the past.”

More than 50 years after the Civil Rights Movement, which challenged structural inequalities, African Americans continue to be underrepresented in the most influential fields and high-wage industries—while millions of jobs remain unfilled.

Black History Month shouldn’t just commemorate Black Americans’ contributions to American society; it should also serve as a time of reflection and recommitment to the progress that still needs to be made to ensure African Americans have the same opportunities in life as all Americans.

At Genesys Works, we believe that all young people deserve an equal opportunity to reach their full potential regardless of gender, ethnicity, zip code, or race. The ecosystem of support created through our partnerships with school systems and companies to close the opportunity gap is a vehicle for creating meaningful change to the very systems that have historically served as barriers to upward mobility for so many.

There is no question that the critical work we do today to advance racial, social, and economic justice profoundly impacts the young adults who will become the leaders of tomorrow.

We are all a part of Black History in the making. 

Onward,

Jeffrey Artis