6.16.20 A Letter about LZ_HG_8PM

“A dream I always held for The Handel Method was for it to grow and, the truth is, now it’s become bigger than me. My pride in the company and its people is deep and infinite, but I have always practiced living true to a dream, and it’s no longer my dream to run this company.”Lauren Zander, the creator of The Handel Method, is stepping down as Chairwoman of the company she Co-Founded, Handel Group. This was a mutual decision and is effective immediately to make room for other executives to lead the company in the next stage of its development.While Handel Group has used our coaching methodology and tools to unite and mobilize to serve our community in the best way possible, a number of recent events have also illuminated divisions among our team at the executive level. This meant that we failed to immediately stand for Black Lives Matter and to take a clear and decisive stand for human rights and social justice.Over the past few months all humans, worldwide, have faced unprecedented times. This period has forced us all to really deal with, on individual, family, and organizational scales, what our dreams are and what it means for us to truly be in Personal Integrity.The truth is, the majority of the executive team has bold ambitions for Handel Group's actions in response to the Black Lives Matter movement.Lauren agrees that Handel Group has a responsibility to care for the issues of justice and equality, but the differences in opinion on how and when to communicate our stance on those issues has resulted in us taking our separate paths earlier than anticipated.We part with deep love and gratitude for one another.Like all businesses, we have work to do. Handel Group is a predominantly white company and the majority of our client base is similar. To date we have not been in proactive actions to change that. We acknowledge that we have a responsibility to educate ourselves and our clients as to where we are blind to our own bias.So, as we, too, practice what we teach, we are making the following promises to diversity in our business:

• Diversity training within our own company. 

• Diversify the types of workshops we offer our clients and audiences.

• Increasing workplace diversity through recruitment systems and practices.

• Employing HR staff, best practices, and protocols at the executive level to be accountable for ensuring these actions are followed through on.

• And much more to come. 

Handel Group is a company with zero tolerance for racism, discrimination, hate, insensitive behavior, or violence of any kind. Anyone is welcome to contact Linda Colletta at [email protected] for further details regarding the actions we are already taking, and have planned for the future, to fulfill the above promises.Shir Nir will continue as CEO and Beth Weissenberger as President of HG Corporate. Linda Colletta has been promoted to Chief Operating Officer. Shir, Beth, and Linda will lead the company and the day-to-day operations. Tyreek Moore has accepted the role as our first ever President of Diversity. Head Coach Laurie Gerber, along with Beth, will take on additional coaching and spokesperson responsibilities. We will keep our community updated on our actions in commitment to diversity as they progress. We pledge to implement these actions and more for Handel Group and the communities we serve long into the future.Handel Group also vows to continue to teach The Handel Method with grace and wisdom for as long as humans need to learn how to “human” better.Please click 'Read More' for a list of Promised Actions to be in place by September 2020.

With Love and Promise, Shir, Beth, and Linda