This week I attended my company’s employee resource group summit, which is also known as its diversity and inclusion summit. For two days I sat in a big room with about a hundred other folks that represented, among others, women, veterans, African-Americans, Latin-Americans and Asian-Americans. I was there representing LQBTQ+ employees and allies.
It was a very powerful and moving experience.
Besides getting to hear about how the company is supportive of a diverse workforce, and how the individual ERGs operate and what successes they’ve had, I got to meet so many tremendously amazing people.
These people are like me. Many of them have had a difficult journey in their lives and just want to help other folks be accepted and welcomed. They want to make sure that folks like them are given all the opportunities available to them to progress in their careers. They want to give back to their communities and help the marginalized as much as they can.
And we were met by the leaders of our company, all the way to the CEO, who told us, without equivocation, that they were behind us 100%. That was one of the most inspiring things I’ve ever heard.
Our CEO is the executive sponsor of the Pride & Allies group, of which I run my local chapter. He speaks of his sponsorship with such a visible passion. Sure, he says, it’s in the best interest of the company to support the LGBTQ+ community, but he also says that’s not why he does it. Instead, he says he does it because it’s the right thing to do, and because, by his sponsorship, he sends a clear message to others that intolerance will not be tolerated. His actions back his words. It’s clearly not just platitudes.
I left the conference invigorated and full of pride, with new friends and new ideas to implement. The voice for which I’ve been searching, and for which I started this blog, solidified a little more. I’ve been inspired through my journey to tell my story and find my voice, and now I’ve been empowered by my company to help others on their journey. It’s not an opportunity I’m going to waste.
—
I was not going to mention my company at first because I wanted to get across the inspiration and empowerment I received from the summit instead of feel like a corporate ad. I realize now that I’ve come to the end of the post that not only should I mention them, I should advocate for them as an employer because they are trying to be a safe place for marginalized people. Since finding a safe place to work as an LGBTQ+ person, especially for trans folk, is so important and difficult, I want you to know where I work.
I work at Stanley Black & Decker. Our CEO is Jim Loree. I am the Atlanta Chapter Lead of Pride & Allies.