Dear Logan,
It is with a swell of emotions that we write to you and our innovation community right now – in what is a moment of grief, desperation, outrage, and action – and in recognition that what we’re feeling collectively in this moment is just a taste of the daily life of our Black American neighbors, dating back centuries.
We want to express our sadness, our solidarity, and our commitment to listening and to acting – towards the betterment of our communities of color, towards our vision of inclusion, and towards an environment where everyone can feel safe, heard, and understood.
We’re proud to call Chicago home. We’re proud of the diversity of our neighborhoods, our leaders, our entrepreneurs, and our educators. We’re proud of our history of building together. But it’s clear that we are not all afforded the same rights, the same safety, the same access, the same opportunity. So together, we must continue building. Chicago is not a sidelines city. There is a spirit here of driving social change, and everyone in our community has a role.
There is so much listening to do. There is so much work to do. And there is so much power in a unified community.
At the heart of innovation is problem-solving. There are many problems to solve here. Over the coming months and years beyond, we intend to proactively find ways to harness the power of our Chicago Innovation community to be part of the solution.
With you in sadness, in grief, in hope, and in action,
Tom Kuczmarski, Luke Tanen, & the Chicago Innovation team