the girl & the fig statement

the girl & the fig prides itself in creating an inclusive, diverse and welcoming environment for our staff and our guests since we began 23 years ago. We thought we understood the Black Lives Matter movement and were being appropriately supportive. The events of this past week have demonstrated that we have more learning and listening to do to deepen awareness of the right ways to be the best advocate we can be for the Black community. We sincerely apologize to our employees, patrons and the Sonoma County community for any missteps we have taken in introducing and communicating the reasoning for our face mask policy. We have been changed forever by this situation. We are committing significant resources to be better educated and ensure we demonstrate our intended sincerity and support for Black Lives Matter and the Black community. They include:

• Instituting a mandatory all-staff diversity and inclusion training to ensure every member of our staff and ownership team are as educated as possible on how to combat racism and bias in the workplace;

• Compensating our employees with standard wages they would have earned this week to help mitigate the damage of having to close the restaurant again;

• Contributing immediately to the 15 Percent Pledge – an effort that has called on major retailers to dedicate 15 percent of their shelf space to Black-owned businesses;

• Continuing to be an active Sonoma Strong advocate, using our resources to support the vibrant hospitality industry recover from several difficult years of devastating wildfires and pandemic conditions.

We are Sonoma Strong. We know that with compassion and a commitment to learning we will be the proud community partner and leader we seek to be.