June 2020
A Message From The Walsh Family
To all the members of The Walsh Group Family,
We want to take a moment to address the events that have enveloped our nation this week. This year has already been painful and tough, and the last few days have only made things more difficult. But for many of our fellow Black Americans and people of color, life has been difficult for much, much longer.
Acts of injustice against Black Americans - including George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Christian Cooper, and countless others - remind us again and again that all people are created equal, but all are not treated equally. We must acknowledge that systemic racism exists. We must listen with humility to those whose voices have all too often been ignored or silenced. And we must accept our duty to end racial oppression. Otherwise, these tragedies will continue to bring us suffering and drive us apart.
To all of our employees and customers of color whom we serve, we know that we don't fully understand your experiences, and we can only imagine your feelings of pain and fatigue over the aggressions, injustices, and inequities you face every day. The color of your skin should never impact how you are treated or imperil your safety - but we see unequivocally that it does. Please know that we stand with you in mourning lives lost, protesting oppression, and working to make things better.
As a company with values based in the ideals of Family and Citizenship:
- We are committed to listening and then doing more, stepping up, and challenging the status quo;
- We are committed to fostering an inclusive culture and breaking down barriers for all members of The Walsh Group Family, especially those of color;
- We are committed to ACTIVELY CARING for each other and making genuine efforts to understand and connect with people of differing experiences and cultures to create a safer, more inclusive, and more satisfying place to work for everyone; and
- We are committed to ensuring that The Walsh Group contributes to dismantling systemic racism by becoming a truly diverse, equitable, and inclusive company - and an instrument of change in our industry.
In that spirit, we are investing in tangible and sustainable steps. In 2018, we created a Diversity and Inclusion working group tasked with elevating important issues. We are engaging our communities through monthly lunch and learn sessions. We have increased recruiting of interns and young professionals from historically black colleges and universities. We have instituted a craft training program for black men and women in Chicago. We are making direct connections to high schools and trade schools to help open doors to prospective construction professionals of color. These are small steps along a path that we are committed to following.
The Walsh Group has always taken a family approach to business. Our corporate family welcomes and accepts all people, and we will continue to improve our culture of actively caring for one another. We've heard all too often that these are "unprecedented times," but for millions of Americans these times are all too familiar. It is time for change.
Thank you,
The Walsh Family