Being Part of the Progress

Visit the Remember Them monument in Oakland

It’s been a little over five weeks since the senseless death of George Floyd, reminding us that the treatment of the Black community -- and the racism that has existed in the world for so long -- continues to plague us. The widespread protests in the US since that terrible day in our history have brought our country together in ways we haven’t seen before. As of this writing, police reform bills are moving fast at the federal, state and local level and a slavery reparations bill, H.R. 40, is gaining steam in Congress.

Here at Matterport, we’ve had positive and intense weeks of employee introspection and company-wide discussions. We’ve done a lot of listening, and been inspired by how other companies have responded.

On Juneteeth, our CEO, RJ Pittman, summarized the collective action Matterport will take as a stand against injustice and discrimination with an even broader commitment to diversity and inclusion.

1. First, we refused to wait for the declaration of Juneteenth as a federal holiday. It is now an official one in all Matterport offices globally, giving everyone the opportunity to celebrate the cultural significance for the Black community and reflect on ways they can personally address social inequalities locally, nationally or globally. It also marks an important day for us to assess the company’s progress on a yearly basis.

2. Matterport has and will continue to donate to organizations known for the advancement of racial justice, civil rights and economic empowerment for minority-owned businesses around the world including the Black Lives Matter Global Network, Equal Justice Initiative, the NAACP, and the ACLU. We’ve also agreed to increase the cap of our employee matching program for the remainder of 2020, doubling the impact of their donations up to $50,000.

3. Over the course of the next month we will be launching the employee-driven Matterport Diversity Council to develop and promote a comprehensive, company-wide approach to diversity, inclusion, access and belonging.

4. We will launch mandatory training for all employees focused on Unconscious Bias in August. Training will start with the leadership team and roll out across our offices throughout 2020.

5. It’s clear that the way we traditionally recruit and hire employees is not helping our company be more diverse. In early 2021, we will launch a new apprenticeship program that seeks Black or marginalized candidates interested in a technology or photography career and offer them an accelerated pathway to realizing it. We will partner with local nonprofits and education partners to identify and train these candidates.

6. We believe that one of the unique ways we can contribute to society is by promoting models created with our platform to build empathy and bridge understanding. We will continue free access to 3D experiences that educate the world of our history - like the Fight for Civil Rights in the South exhibit in Dallas, Remember Them monument in Oakland, the Rosa Parks Bus in Michigan, and MLK’s Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. We are also looking for ways to engage our customers to capture and contribute to this library, and training the next generation of photographers in Black and marginalized communities. We can all learn from what our creative youth capture and share with us, plus it opens up a career opportunity for them.

Just like the communities around the world, we’re inspired by the steps we have taken together in such a short amount of time. They are the beginning of a long-term commitment to build culture and a world where everyone belongs. 

This is a time of action and change, and we look forward to reporting our progress over the coming months.