Dear HQI Community, We write today to affirm the Harvard Quantum Initiative’s commitment to diversity, inclusion, and belonging and share with you our approach to advancing this effort in quantum science and engineering (QSE). Black Lives Matter. HQI condemns racism, racial injustice, racially-targeted violence and discrimination. We celebrate the common bonds that unite us in our exploration of the world, and are committed to developing an environment of respect and opportunity. We will work to develop programs that will deepen our commitment and advance diversity and inclusion in quantum science and engineering. We believe that substantial, enduring change is possible only when our community engages in sustained reflection, discussion, and action. We invite you, our community members, to share your ideas of how we can make change by responding to this message, or emailing hqidirectors@gmail.com<mailto:hqidirectors@gmail.com>. In order to align our programming with our goal of recruiting a larger cohort of talented under-represented minority students into the field of QSE, HQI proposes the creation of a one-year post-baccalaureate program focused on targeting underrepresented minority students in Physics, Applied Physics, Computer Science and Engineering fields related to quantum research. This program will accomplish two goals at once, bringing students that will pursue a PhD to a scholarship level so they can “hit the ground running” and also make them competitive in the admissions process by demonstrating skill and interest in research and providing an additional evaluative letter from a well-known professor in the field. It will also provide mentoring experiences that will benefit both the students in the program and our current graduate students in QSE, who will be invited to serve as mentors. In launching this program, we will learn from best practices from similar programs and work with the HQI community to solicit ideas and support to ensure the program’s success. We invite you to read the draft program outline and share your suggestions here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1viXlg_UB9v2qfhBUrEcBKpKjVYlNxps23ed4eHj…. We look forward to hearing your feedback on the proposed plan, and on how we might work together to strengthen our commitment going forward. Thank you, John Doyle Evelyn Hu Mikhail Lukin HQI Co-Directors