A Message from the Cypress Creek Executive Team

As an organization, we acknowledge the pain, anger and uncertainty permeating our country. The killing of George Floyd at the hands of those sworn to protect all citizens lays bare the systematic racism that exists in our country. Recent history is fraught with too many examples of institutionalized racism and violence for us not to say and do something. Racism has no place in our society. As a country, a company and individuals we need to do better. We are here today to make a pledge; gradual progress is not enough. We support a fundamental and transformational change in our society to achieve justice for all. 

As individuals and as the leadership at Cypress Creek, we support the hundreds of protests across the country as an important tool for change. It pains us to see some take advantage of these protests and distort their meaning by committing acts of vandalism and theft. We must not let those who seek to derail the purpose of these protests dull the meaning or importance of the need for protests. 

We are using our voice to speak out against racism and systematic injustice, because we believe silence is complicity. We stand with our colleagues of color, and we recognize the distinct challenges our colleagues face. There is no doubt that many of us, our Black colleagues in particular, are feeling overwhelmed, angry, fearful, anxious and exhausted and we would like you to know that we see and hear your concerns and pain. We encourage you to continue to reach out to discuss your feelings on any of these topics. 

Last fall, we announced our company’s mission and values. We stand by our mission and those values more today than ever. These are not corporate talking points; they represent who we are and who we strive to be. Our mission – to power a sustainable future, one project at a time – means we are dedicated to issues that are bigger than ourselves including fighting systemic racism. Our values require that we care for our people of diverse backgrounds and experiences, collaborate across communities and different points of view and have the courage to speak up and constantly improve. 

While we do not have all the answers now, we commit to listening and holding each other accountable so that we can be more active participants in much needed change. Immediately, we will make contributions and match our people’s contributions through the end of June to National Urban League, Southern Poverty Law Center and NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund to further the work for equal justice. Internally, we will take concrete steps in consultation with One Cypress, our diversity and inclusion committee. These will include improving our recruiting and hiring processes to eliminate bias, conducting implicit bias training and sharing anti-racism resources for team members. And, we will hold ourselves accountable by regularly sharing our progress with the company. – Becky Cranna, Brian Matthay, Cassidy DeLine, Darren Devine, Geoff Fallon, Jerome O’Brien, Kevin Donegan, Kim Oster, Marc Fioravanti, Noah Hyte, Sam Hockaday, Sarah Slusser