Over the last few weeks, there has been continued momentum and progress within Deluxe and in companies large and small to foster inclusion and diversity. I am incredibly proud of the work done by Deluxers across the company to stand up our Inclusion and Diversity Task Force, creating vision and mission statements and asking the hard questions that will help us be a better company in the long run.

Most importantly, I am moved by the conversations we are all having today. We are sharing the hard stories, the difficult truths and we are all the better for it. We have a commitment to each other to be part of the solution, to help shape a new future. To that end I am pleased to announce that on behalf of Deluxe I have signed on to the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion™ coalition, pledging our commitment to advance equity in the workplace and building on the work we’ve previously announced, including establishing the Task Force, giving all Deluxers an extra two days of VTO, and pledging $1 million to the Deluxe Foundation for social justice causes.

More than 1,000 CEOs have signed on to the CEO Action coalition to date, looking to cultivate workplaces that support open dialogue on complex and difficult conversations about equality and inclusivity. The goal of the coalition is to create and maintain environments, platforms and forums where all employees feel comfortable reaching out to colleagues to gain greater awareness of each other’s perspectives and experiences. And we are committing to helping other companies by sharing our successes and challenges as they occur.

I’m proud to represent Deluxe in this important initiative that will help foster real change in how we grow and mentor our people, how we look at supplier opportunities and how we talk about inclusion and diversity.