To our valued Pillar community,
Pillar is an important community organization and folks are naturally passionate about and protective of our organization and our team. The Pillar Board understands and appreciates that, and we share that same passion and commitment. The Board leads with the values of the organization at the forefront and we are always open to feedback from members, including in this situation.
This kind of change can be surprising, disappointing and difficult, and will naturally result in stakeholder questions and concerns. The Board intends to be as transparent as we can be, while respecting the confidentiality and privacy of the individual involved. As part of the process, we are continuing to adhere to employment laws and follow the expert advice of our legal and human resources counsel, who have been part of this process from the beginning.
We understand that for some, including our leadership and staff teams, the news may have come as an abrupt development. We can assure you that many subject matter experts, including our external legal and human resources teams, were consulted in a thorough and exhaustive process. We acknowledge that there were immediate communication needs that were not fulfilled and that the initial vacuum of information may have damaged trust for some staff members and stakeholders. Please know that our priority on communication was balanced with genuine care and respect for confidentiality and privacy, which caused a regrettable delay in initial communications. Moving forward, we are committed to continuing to communicate with as many stakeholders as possible. Specifically, we are committed to ongoing accountability to our community, our staff and to each other.
Maintaining confidentiality and privacy in these situations is paramount, both from a legal perspective but also, importantly, to respect and protect the individual involved. There are legal and fiduciary protocols in these situations, which the Board followed and continues to follow strictly, with the intention to protect both the individual and the organization. We understand that the confidentiality and privacy we exercised seems like a lack of transparency, but we can assure you we are following these important protocols.
We are aware of questions regarding the Board’s commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion. It is important to note that the Board is a unified group and the most racially diverse in the history of the organization, having members with significant lived experience, education, and expertise in many areas, especially those of equity, accessibility, and inclusion. In particular our Board is Chaired by an Indigenous woman for the first time in its history, and co-chaired by a Black man, also a first for Pillar. Both Chair and co-chair have critical lived experience, and deep awareness of the need for representation and social justice. Decisions made by the Board follow a shared leadership approach, according to our values and weighing each individual voice equally and without pressure or prejudice.
We are a board deeply dedicated to Pillar’s mission, vision, values and strategic plan. Staff, partners, members and funders can be assured that the organization will continue to fulfill our mission by fostering connected networks that spark collaboration and the opportunity to lean on each other to help build an engaged, inclusive and vibrant community.
While challenging, we will get through this transition period together because we all believe in Pillar and our collective work to support positive change in London. Under the co-interim leadership of Tanja Kueneman and Rachel Berdan and the dedicated Pillar staff and board teams, you can expect us to continue to fulfill our commitments to each other, our members, our clients and our community.
We thank all Pillar staff for working together through this difficult time. We believe we have the team, at all levels of the organization, to continue to deliver Pillar’s mission, vision, and strategic plan and the values those demonstrate.
We are ready for the next steps, which we will take together, with our community, with our stakeholders and with one another. We have already begun the process of engaging with folks who have reached out directly, and look forward to sharing more opportunities for engagement in the coming days and weeks.
If you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to reach out to Board Chair, Mary Alikakos at malikakos@pillarnonprofit.ca.