Fighting Racism with FORTE: A Message from CloudMoyo Co-Founder & CEO, Manish Kedia

By Manish Kedia, Co-Founder & CEO CloudMoyo

Let’s begin the march to a better future together | #takecareofcommunity

Over the course of the last couple of weeks, the nation has risen in anger and sadness at the senseless deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor, as well as the ugly episode in Central Park.

These events have left bare the deeply ingrained, long-standing racial divisions and inequities in our society, and the injustices faced by the Black community in America under years of systemic racism that exist to this day.

Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” What rang true in 60 years ago still, sadly, reverberates today. And it is a reminder that, as both individuals and as an organization, we must stand up against acts of intolerance and racism, as well as behaviors that promote divisiveness.

United under our shared values – FORTE

We talk about our company values so often, they become a part of our DNA, an intuitive approach to how we act in the workplace, in our homes, and out in the communities. This is the time to reaffirm our commitment to our FORTE values, which stand for Fairness, Openness, Respect, Teamwork, and Execution.

Back in March, as we adjusted to a new normal in the midst of the growing COVID-19 pandemic, we redefined what FORTE looked like in times of crisis. What ended up resulting from these conversations was the 4 rings of responsibilities:

  1. Take care of self
  2. Take care of family
  3. Take care of community
  4. Take care of business

We knew that we needed to take the right steps to ensure that each of us was taking care of self and taking care of our families in a period of uncertainty and change. We’ve continued to reflect internally on this and improve how we’re applying FORTE in our personal lives to best support these 4 rings of responsibilities.

Fighting racism, taking care of community

I believe that we at CloudMoyo must do everything to live out our values of FORTE, even more so when it feels like we can’t afford them. In these days, we see more than ever that we must everything in our power to take care of community—including the Black communities in the U.S.

This is the critical first step to live by what we believe in. We must walk the walk! This is a crisis in our nation that we are not going to sit out.

We condemn racism and discrimination anywhere, in any fashion, and at any time. we are taking a stand again discrimination in any form, including discrimination based on race, gender, religion, origin, caste, or any identity. We reaffirm our commitment to cultivate a workplace that makes quality and equity, diversity and inclusion, and openness (one of our FORTE values) priorities—a workplace that sets an example for the greater community.

We don’t want to take these values for granted. Which is why we are reaffirming and recommitting to FORTE values, what they stand for, and how it translates into behaviors.

Time to act, now (Execution = Focus + Follow Thru + Follow up)

So as part of our third ring of responsibility—take care of community—we have outlined an action plan that will help us, as both an organization and as individuals, to fight these injustices in our communities. We are starting with the following first 2 steps:

  • Catch the match to fight racism

For every dollar that a CloudMoyo employee donates to an organization of their choice that fights racism, I will match the donation with a gift of up to $10,000 in the aggregate to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

  • A week for America

To make it easier for CloudMoyo employees to join the fight against racism in person, we will provide 5 days paid to leave this calendar year (2020) for them to volunteer, support help, give, and protest.

This is the time to listen, to educate, and to act. Let’s begin the march to a better future, together.

Here are some other organizations that we believe are making an impact, have a strong infrastructure and proven results in dismantling racism that I recommend supporting:

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