Dear Fellow Community Members,

Like many of you, all of us at NESS are deeply saddened, upset, and angered by the death of George Floyd and others at the hands of a very few law enforcement personnel and private citizens. This has, once again, revealed the deep scars of systemic racism in our country that have been allowed to fester for decades. Although the vast majority of protests and rallies have been peaceful, we are also troubled by the violent unrest that this incident has generated across the United States and the world. NESS stands in solidarity against injustice, racism, discrimination, and violence of any kind. Black lives matter.

NESS’s beliefs are captured in our four Core Values of Inclusiveness, Experiential Learning, Personal Growth, and Stewardship. While all of these are extremely important, it was a passionate belief in the importance of Inclusiveness that first created NESS. It is at the core of what NESS does—everyone is welcome regardless of background or ability. We believe one ocean inspires learning for all.

We at NESS realize that, as individuals and as an organization, we are far from perfect. As a learning community, we want you to know we work hard to practice inclusiveness in everything we do. We are listening and continually learning. Over the past 18 months the NESS Team has been working on a formal diversity, equity, and inclusion plan with specific action steps that advances all our Core Values. Taking these steps will make us better educators. This includes training our staff on issues around diversity, equity, and inclusion. Realizing we do not have all the answers, we have hired a well-known facilitator to help us recognize our own personal biases to help us understand, learn, and grow as team. Our goal is to improve ourselves as well as acquire the tools to spread that knowledge in order to help guide our community in a positive direction. Along with your support, we can make our corner of the community stronger, safer, more just, and more inclusive—one student at a time.

Thank you for listening. Collectively, we can make a difference on these critical issues fostering a positive change in our global community.

Sincerely,

The NESS Team