The Vashon Island Chamber of Commerce stands in solidarity with BIPOC and marginalized communities. The founding mission of the Vashon-Maury Island Chamber of Commerce is to cultivate a vital environment for commerce and create opportunities for Island businesses and organizations to prosper while enriching the unique quality of Island life: we cannot truly prosper and grow as a community if we allow hate, violence, and discrimination to persist.

We recognize that historic violence against and oppression of individuals and communities lives on today in structural, systemic, and individual harms. It is our individual and collective responsibility to address and alleviate these harms. The struggles that Black and Indigenous People of Color face, including mistreatment from the police, over-representation among low-wage and essential workers, and the disproportionate impact from the health and economic effects of public health crises are all serious human rights violations that must be addressed.

We stand in solidarity to effect change. We respect and embrace the right of individuals and communities to gather and protest to demand reform. We believe that Black Lives Matter. We work individually and collectively to recognize and publicly and privately denounce racism in every form.

We acknowledge that harms to BIPOC individuals and communities do not encompass the totality of harms to individuals and communities in our country. We seek to understand and address discrimination against LGBQTIA+ communities, differently abled, socioeconomically disadvantaged, undocumented, and all individuals and communities who are unable to fully participate in society because of systemic and social inequities.

The Vashon Island Chamber of Commerce acknowledges that we are located on and do business on the homelands of the sx̌ʷəbabš, the Swiftwater People, who have resided here since time immemorial. We also acknowledge the Coast Salish peoples of the region, which touches the shared waters of all tribes and bands within the Duwamish, Puyallup, Suquamish, Tulalip and Muckleshoot nations.

We acknowledge that Indigenous lands were taken by coercive and violent acts and the disregard of treaties. For that, we extend our deepest apologies. We owe our profound gratitude to the Native peoples of this region and maintain our commitment towards reconciliation. We express our respect for and gratitude to the original and current caretakers of the region. We acknowledge our responsibility to establish and maintain relationships with these tribes and Native peoples.