Marching towards justice: Why participating in our democracy matters

Last week, our government once again changed hands, ending a chapter — and starting another — of great uncertainty and tension for America. Since the election, there have been countless protests across the country, with millions of Americans struggling to deal with the new challenges unfolding before them.

As the largest progressive bank in the country, we are recommitting ourselves to helping preserve and uphold our democracy, and to making sure that all Americans — regardless of who they are, who they love, where they worship, their gender or their race — are able to access the American Dream. This is the dream that envisions hard working Americans being able to support their families with a living wage, women being able to access the reproductive health care they need, young families being able to purchase an affordable home and pay for college, and ultimately, all Americans feeling like their voices matter.

Over the past several months, we’ve learned our democracy only works when we show up, when we speak out, and when we exercise the awesome responsibility of our citizenship. This is why we supported the Women’s March that took place in Washington, D.C. and various cities around the country on Saturday. As the president of a bank, I’d be the first to tell you that numbers matter — numbers like the millions of women and progressive allies who turned out on Saturday to support forward-thinking and pro-equality policy for women’s health and reproductive rights, employment equality and more.

During her time as First Lady, Secretary Clinton once said, “women’s rights are human rights and human rights are women’s rights.” It was the first time anyone had uttered that phrase — equating the rights of women with human rights. Since then we have watched as women have made incredible strides in the work place, with access to healthcare and more. But there is still much work to be done. While women are in the workforce in large numbers, they still don’t receive equal pay for equal work. States have begun to roll back access to abortion so much so that there is only one clinic is available in some states, and childcare needs are dramatically underserved.

We must turn the momentum of this vital march into a movement that protects and values the lives of all women across the country. Like all Americans that found themselves shaken when they awoke to a new reality on November 9, we are dedicated to using our platform to advance the greater good. We want to provide our customers not only with the best banking services possible, but with a bank that shares their values and allows them to bank for a purpose.

Now more than ever, we all need to put our resources to work for the greater good. There are always actions to be taken to exercise our rights and support initiatives and businesses that share our values. As Senator Booker said just recently, “The arc of the moral universe does not just naturally curve toward justice; we must bend it.”