Racism is antithetical to Stripe’s mission. Our founding purpose is the broader, fairer distribution of opportunity—opportunity accessible to and inclusive of everyone, everywhere.

While no person’s or company’s statement will change society by itself, that limitation shouldn’t paralyze. Social change requires coordinated, broad participation.

We share the deep sadness that so many are currently feeling and the upset at the injustices that lie at the root. Too many innocent people have lost their lives. Too many sickening murders, most recently that of George Floyd, attest to brutal and unjustified treatment. Too many Stripe employees have themselves been the victims of unfair treatment, discrimination, harassment, and bigotry. And while the US is the current focal point, we are a global company, and issues around race persist as problems in every part of the world.

While it’ll take us time to identify the highest-impact actions, we don’t want to wait to do anything. In the immediate term, we are going to waive $1M of fees to nonprofits that are raising money to combat systemic racism, with a particular bias towards those relevant to the current moment. We will also contribute $100,000 each to five organizations working on reforming US policing practices or the criminal justice system.

Inside Stripe, the fraction of US employees who are Black is substantially lower than that of the American population. We wish it were otherwise and are going to increase our efforts to hire and develop Black employees in all teams and at all levels. Our goal is to meaningfully grow representation over the coming year.

Stripe won’t solve these problems alone. But we share the concern motivating so many others and would like to make crystal clear our support for building a society that solves these challenges, and where safety, security, and access to opportunity are properly accessible to all.