A Message from Chris Norton, President of The Washington Center

June 5, 2020 The Washington Center

Over the past few weeks, we have witnessed painful images of injustice unfolding around the country, following the senseless and tragic deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor. Sadly, these incidents have become all too familiar now, and expose our nation’s failure to create an equitable society, where all Americans are treated with dignity and respect. 

Diversity and inclusion are core values of The Washington Center’s mission. We stand in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and all members of oppressed communities who have suffered the effects of systemic racism their entire lives, just like generations before them.

As I reflect on this moment in our country, my deepest hope is that out of all of this, we are able to build a more just, equitable and united country for this and for future generations. But true change must happen from within each and every one of us. 

As a nonprofit organization whose mission is to do good, I have had to take an honest look inward at our own operation. This past week, in particular, has brought to light the difficult realization that our organization still has work to do to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in our workplace.

Over the next week, I will be leading the development of a plan that will help TWC align our promise to become better with concrete actions, both internally at our workplace and externally for the multiple stakeholders we serve. I commit to any necessary changes to help this organization live up to the core values of its mission.

We all can and will do better.

About the Author

The Washington Center

The Washington Center is the largest and most established student internship program in Washington, D.C. Since our founding, we've helped more than 60,000 individuals from across the U.S. and around the globe expand their academic pursuits into rewarding jobs and careers. We use our scale and expertise to deliver solutions that open career pathways for learners, solve recruitment challenges for employers, while helping create greater access, equity, advancement and representation.

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