Working for Change: Black Lives Matter

Our CEO sent the following letter to our entire team in the wake of recent events. We are committed to making sure that everyone on our team and anyone reading this knows where we stand—Black Lives Matter.

To the Banyan family—our team, our customers, our suppliers, and our communities, local, national, and global,

It is with great sadness, humility, and hope that I write this message. Sadness for the murder of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis Police Department, sadness for the many precious black lives lost due to racism, and sadness for the lack of justice. I stand with my brothers and sisters of color in the face of discrimination, injustice, and senseless violence. I am hopeful that recent events have awakened our nation and our world even more to the urgent need to listen, learn, and take appropriate action.

Banyan’s mission is to help people achieve and maintain health and well-being through the wisdom of Ayurveda. One can only be healthy in body, mind, and spirit to the extent one can live in harmony with one’s environment. Harmony is not possible without justice. Peace is not possible without justice.

In support of justice, and on behalf of the company, I donated my salary from the month of May to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. This is only a beginning—we as a company need to do more. In the days ahead we will be meeting as a team to identify how best we can support this movement and affirm that Black Lives Matter.

The inequity in our social structures is undeniable and unacceptable. I am newly committed to ensuring that we prioritize diversity amongst our staff and collaborators. My salary for the month of June has been redirected towards training for myself and our team on unconscious racial bias and to establishing programs to bring more racial diversity to our pool of employment applications and by extension the make-up of our staff. We seek to improve in this area and will continue to look for other ways to support equality and inclusiveness within the company.

As a company, our team is outraged and broken-hearted at what we have witnessed. In alignment with our collective value for respect and dignity for all, Banyan has made donations to several organizations working for justice and equality, including Campaign Zero, The Bail Project, and National Black Justice Coalition.

May this be the tipping point toward a new and more just world. May we all come to know truth, justice, and peace.

Kevin Casey
Co-Founder and CEO