Dear Community, Partners and Citizens of The World,

The present uprising in the United States around racism is revealing the depth of dis-ease we are and have been living with for a very long time; a system of oppression and inequity. The Co-Active Training Institute is joining the movement to continue to expose and dismantle systematic racism. We stand in solidarity with the black community.

BLACK LIVES MATTER.

Depending on where you live and what context you’re in, the experience of racism may be presenting itself differently, but we know this is a social construct that exists all over the world. We are all waking up to this reality in a new way and must come together to take responsibility now.

If the past ten days has revealed anything to us as people, leaders of this organization, and stewards of the work of Co-Active, it’s that we are white people coming from a white experience and that we have work to do personally and collectively in order to better serve our world. We are grateful for the advice and counsel we received in the process of creating this message and this stand, from people who walk the work of anti-racism. We have already learned so much in a lot of ways, are still lost and confused, and we are completely committed to being transformed by this conversation. We commit to keep listening, digging in and exposing ourselves to the uncomfortable reality of this process. We will stay.

In our awakening, we see that the truth is CTI has been given ample opportunities over the last several years to take action and be allies in this movement. We have failed to lean in all the way and embrace them. We can see that our delayed response has not only created harm to some of you, it has also contributed to the larger illusion that all people have equal access to life’s opportunities or life itself. For this we are deeply regretful and sorry.

Our industry also has some waking up to do. When we look around at who we predominantly serve we need to admit that we are not serving everyone equally. We regret playing into this industry standard. We are committed to confronting this, and we can’t do it alone. If, as an industry, we believe that coaching and leadership are tools for social change, human relationship, and healing, then we need to come together in service of creating a new way of doing our work that is more inclusive and holds the truth of this greater social context.

CTI wants to show up and be powerful allies. We will continue to be an unequivocal voice in the stand against racism and inequity, starting with a deep looking within. We will back that voice with devoted action and energy. This movement will last lifetimes and so we will need to build a strategy that allows us to maintain the resources and stamina to stay the course. We are aware that without this our words, our voice, our stand is empty and immaterial.

We also admit that we don’t know how to do this, we have more questions than answers and we will need help. But, we will begin now. Here is what we will do:

  • Invest in a BIPOC led organization for an equity audit, which will lead to embodied or process oriented anti-oppression training and transformation. From this audit we will commit to building a strategic plan that will instill diversity, equity and inclusion into the fabric of our organization. The planning and resourcing for this is underway and will continue through this year and beyond.
  • Invite fellow leaders of coach training and leadership development organizations to the table to discover what only we can do together to affect change in and beyond our training, certification and the marketing of our work.

As we move through time we promise to be transparent about what we are learning, what we are doing to integrate that learning and the progress we are making. We request that you hold us accountable to this work and let us know how we are doing, because you are the ones to determine the impact we are having on you and our world. In the upcoming weeks we will share with you a starting place for us to be in this two way conversation.

We know that we won’t get it all right and we will fail as we get into action. The foundations of Co-Active may be tested and we are committed to allow our presences and impact in the world to be shaped by this movement. May we all allow this awakening to be the time we collectively said yes to sacrificing what only serves very few and become something that serves everyone.

With love, humility and in solidarity,

Carey and Carlo
CTI Co-Presidents