Bruce Marable: ‘Ultimately, we all want to know that our lives matter’

Editor’s note: This guest post is adapted from a letter Employee Cycle cofounder and CEO Bruce Marable emailed to company stakeholders. It is reprinted here with permission and appears as part of a series of short guest posts from local leaders on how they are addressing the issue of systemic racism with their organizations.

Team members, investors, and advisors of Employee Cycle:

I hope you and your families are doing well and are safe.

Due to all the recent events, it felt necessary to include everyone who is internally and externally supporting our mission, and helping us create the world we want to see exist.

We all know 2020 started off as a hectic year dealing with a global health pandemic and economic meltdown, and now due to police brutality we are experiencing a national backlash expressed through both peaceful protests and civil unrest, primarily stemming from a high-profile display of racial injustice.

If any one of these issues were happening by itself, it would be enough to create lots of stress and anxiety, but all of these combined have created an explosive and alarming amount of tension, frustration, and anger.

Where do I stand?

As a Black man it pains me to know that we still live in a country where the decision of you living or dying can come down to your skin color. It pains me to know that equality is still not a basic right. It pains me to know that race is still being weaponized, putting people of color on high alert even during the most basic day-to-day situations.

But during this time, I hope people from different backgrounds can come together to constructively discuss these issues, and not back away from them, digging further into our biases. I’m hopeful that through discussion and action, we can continue to better understand the root causes of the issues, and come out of it with real solutions to stop what’s fueling this vicious cycle. I also hope that if anyone does not clearly understand why all of this is happening, they do not pass judgment on those who are trying to make a change, but instead, reach out to those who may be most impacted to see how you can help.

Where does Employee Cycle stand?

I’ve always known that building a company does not mean everyone will have the same view as each other, or believe the same views as me for that matter. That goes for team members, investors, advisors, customers, and any other stakeholders of our company. But what I do know is that we all want to feel safe and protected. We all want to believe that those with power and influence are doing work, and creating policies that have our best interests in mind. Ultimately, we all want to know that our lives matter.

Although this is what we all want, unfortunately this is not the reality for many people in this country. This is why Employee Cycle will speak up and have a voice to support the efforts of those trying to change the system. Collaborate with organizations that are fighting for justice. Through our product, we’ll continue to find ways to help companies leverage employee data to create a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workforce.

There will be more to say and more to do over the following weeks and months, but it is really important to keep this dialogue going in real time.

I thank all of you for taking time to read this important letter, and am open to any questions or comments you may have and want to discuss.