Thanks For The Music

As a company, we at Ryman Hospitality Properties have been processing, listening, and having candid conversations about our role in addressing racism and discrimination in our communities and especially racism and discrimination against the black members of our communities.

While our company has a strong stance and track record on fair employment practices as well as supporting educational programs aimed at closing opportunity gaps for underrepresented youth in our communities, we acknowledge there is more work for us to do on these important topics that directly affect diversity in our own organization.

We want all our stakeholders to know some of the specific commitments we have made as we re-examine our organization’s diversity and inclusion practices, work to be a stronger community partner and affirm our commitment to being an agent for change.

We commit to creating educational partnerships that not only encourage black and minority candidates to pursue careers in the hospitality and entertainment industries but also create direct paths to a career in leadership within our organization. We commit to increasing our efforts to identify and showcase diverse talent on our Ryman Auditorium, Grand Ole Opry and Ole Red stages, as well as to using our marketing platforms to amplify their contributions to country music. We commit to holding all levels of leadership accountable for our efforts to foster an inclusive environment through specific annual performance goals related to training, leadership development and talent review processes. We commit to increasing our efforts to advocate for inclusive policies at the state, local and federal level and will actively lobby against discriminatory legislation. We commit to sharing our progress with you.

Racism is real. It is unacceptable. And it has no place at our company, in our hotels or on our stages. Colin Reed