Statement about Racism and Discrimination

For more than a week, we’ve been witnessing the events that led to the tragic and unjust death of George Floyd. And sadly, black racism goes deeper—for decades and centuries.Racial inequality and inequity concern and affect all of us. We must band together as a society, and accept and embrace the black community—all communities.

We denounce racism—in all its forms—as a horrendous and unacceptable act, and which has no place in our community. Racism and discrimination are not part of CIMMO’s fundamental beliefs, and we support the action to dismantle and eradicate it.

CIMMO represents marketers locally and internationally. As always, we will continue to live our mission to make the world a better place, through marketing. In earnest, we will—as we have since inception— continue our commitment to working hard with our members, volunteers and partners to promote—and live—a culture of unity, inclusivity, acceptance and respect for ALL people. But there’s much work to do: For starters, we must find ways to better represent the black community in our profession; and we will do our part to effect change in this regard.

We will be listening to our community members and partners, working with them to see real change happen—all, for a better world today, and for future generations to never again, have to experience racism, discrimination and prejudice.

Dr. Youssef A. Youssef

President and Vice-Chair