ClassDojo’s Commitments to Fighting Discrimination and Racial Injustice

Last Monday, I sent a note to our team about the moment we’re in, and the long history of racial injustice that precedes it. We came together to make commitments to help fight systemic discrimination, and promote racial justice. I’m sharing some of these actions here; not because they are enough, but because they are a start. If we can all do more as we learn more, I’m hopeful we can help make this a turning point for real change.

Team,

In my note earlier this week, I shared feeling heartbroken by George Floyd’s senseless killing — as well as those of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, and countless others, through a long history of racial injustice. The pain of these ongoing injustices is compounding on the pain of a difficult year: facing the pandemic has been hard for many, but in both health outcomes and financial hardship, the Black community is already disproportionately affected. To witness all of this at once is a stark reminder of how much work there is to do to fight deeply rooted discrimination and systemic racism in our society.

Justifiably, people are hurting, angry and scared, and are raising their voices in protest. Seeing the public response, I am hopeful this may be a turning point for societal change. We support this change. Central to our mission is our belief in bringing communities together; discrimination and racism runs entirely counter to this belief. We see, honor and stand in solidarity with the Black children, teachers and families we serve, and with the Black community as a whole. This community matters; their lives matter, and their rights matter.

What we do at ClassDojo every day is directly relevant: achieving our vision to help every child grow up with an education they love is key to a more equitable society. Our vision is fundamentally inclusive; ensuring we achieve it is one of the most potent contributions we can make to systematically fighting discrimination, and promoting racial justice. We are committed to this.

And there is more to do. As I noted at All-Hands, our culture is not defined by our beliefs; it is defined by our actions. We look to sustained action; not just this week or this month, but always. Over the last week, I’ve been inspired to see us commit to action — individually and collectively, internal and external to ClassDojo — to help make this a turning point for real change.

Here are the actions we are committing to today:

• We value diversity, and have strived to build a culture that is equitable and inclusive for all; we commit to pushing for more progress here. We are updating our educational resources and recommended readings, and we are expanding our investments in training. We’ll continue to report diversity measures at each stage in our hiring process for all roles at weekly All Hands. Building on last year’s diversity, equity and inclusion circles, we are forming a resource group that will meet regularly to ensure sustained action.
• Led by our co-founder Liam, we are working on a mentorship program for young people from the Black community, and other communities of color. With the help of local community leaders, we will reach out to and mentor coding bootcamp graduates from these communities. We will work on projects together, use our knowledge and resources to clear their path to a job in technology, and use our networks to help them build relationships for real inclusion in the tech community.
• Many team members are donating to organizations including the Equal Justice Initiative and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. This month, ClassDojo will match all team contributions to any organizations promoting racial and social justice.
• We are reaching out to ClassDojo’s global community of teachers, children and families, to hear their voices, and understand what they need during this time. We will listen to them, share their voices and support them in the ways they need most.
• As we did for Growth Mindset with Stanford, Empathy with Harvard, and Mindfulness with Yale, we will work to create a Big Ideas series to help children understand these issues. This will be made freely available to all teachers, children and families on ClassDojo.
• We’re working on launching the ClassDojo Community Fund. This fund will make grants available to underserved school communities, to help with initiatives to reach and include every child in their community.

I am hopeful that this is just a start: as we learn more, we will do more.

I feel inspired by your commitment to creating a better and more equitable future for every child. As ever, I am grateful for your hard work and passionate efforts to serve our diverse communities all over the world. Discrimination has no place in them.

- Sam