July 2020

Open Field stands with Americans and citizens across the world who protest racism and oppression and the systems that uphold them. As an organization that primarily serves youth who identify as Black, Indigenous, and/or Persons of Color (BIPOC), we stand with our youth against racism and oppression to say enough is enough! We believe Black lives matter.

We acknowledge pervasive inequity in our world. We acknowledge that sport can be utilized as a unique platform for positive social change. With this in mind, we recognize we can do more to address inequity and create change through our programming, leadership, and organizational management. We take pride in listening to, engaging, and following the leadership of BIPOC stakeholders in the communities where we work; however, we are aware that we can do more. We realize fighting against systemic racism requires intention and sustained effort.

For us, this means improving our organizational culture to attract BIPOC to our board of directors and coach mentor staff. It means modifying our training workshops for staff and volunteers to include conversations about race, privilege, and power. It means inviting members of the communities where we work to share their experience and perspectives. And it means creating Sport for Good programming to bridge the gap between white and BIPOC in an authentic way.

The board and staff of Open Field are committed to learning and un-learning. We are committed to making meaningful change in our programming, operations, and management to become an anti-racist organization. We are commited to creating this change with and for our partners, donors, advocates, and especially our youth and their families.