GMR Statement on Black Lives Matter

GMR recognizes that we have responsibilities beyond serving the needs of our clients and driving profits. We have a responsibility to our employees and our industry to address the legacy of racial injustice, and to use our power and influence to dismantle racial inequity in our own agency and communities.

We believe that Black Lives Matter. We believe that racism is both systemic and cultural, and that systems and culture are powered—and can be changed—by the people who comprise them. Therefore, it is our responsibility, both as an organization and as people, to work to drive change within our walls, within our industry and through the work we create.

We believe that to do this, we must start at home, and that GMR is responsible for:

Examining our role in perpetuating bias and inequity in all that we do
Listening to, valuing and elevating Black voices (and other underrepresented groups) both inside and outside our agency
Transparency, humility and openness to critique
Taking concrete action, such as broadening our candidate pool to increase diversity
Holding ourselves accountable to measurable change

To deepen the dialogue and understanding within our agency, we have added additional racism-focused programming, including:

Employee Roundtables to make space for honest conversation around race and privilege
Guest Speakers from America’s Black Holocaust Museum, TBWA, Porter Novelli and Advocate Aurora Health to explore the modern legacy of racism in the United States and the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on communities of color
Race Talk series to further delve into the complexities of racism in small group settings and foster deeper dialogue between employees
21 Day Racial Equity Challenge led by executive leadership to model and encourage daily learning, action and growth
Executive White Fragility Book Club to engage our top leaders in challenging racism and understanding its scope and complexity

This list is just a snapshot of recent programming developed for GMR employees—and it is just part of the work to be done. We must continue to hold ourselves, and each other, accountable to build understanding, empathy and equity at all levels and in all aspects of agency life. Learn more about GMR’s ongoing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion work.

DEI AT GMR