Prudential set a gender diversity target of 30% females in senior management by the end of 2021

80% of Prudential’s non-employee directors are diverse:
• 3 director nominees have worked outside the United States
• 2 director nominees are African-American
• 1 director nominee is Asian-American
• 2 director nominees are Hispanic
• 3 director nominees are Women
• 1 director nominee is LGBT

In 2018, Prudential’s long-standing commitment to developing its talent was evidenced in the seamless succession process for the CEO and key executive leadership roles that brought together accomplished individuals with different experiences and a breadth and depth of knowledge and skills.

Prudential also established a process that aligned strategy, capability and talent as a part of the Chairman’s Review of Talent. Each business and corporate function leader identified the critical capabilities and roles necessary for their strategy and in concert followed a disciplined review of their top talent. This was further bolstered by the talent development strategy, Philosophy and Career Principles documents that now serve as a consistent enterprise framework for talent decisions and career advice to all employees.

These results are anchored in the Human Resource strategy and commitments. They are:

1. Prudential has world-class talent in our critical roles.
2. Prudential’s businesses have the organizational capabilities to win.
3. We are a standout company for inclusion and diversity.
4. We have a unique and compelling culture that drives competitive advantage.

Employee Engagement Research confirms that an engaged workforce leads to higher productivity, higher profitability, higher customer satisfaction, and lower employee turnover and absenteeism. Given the importance of employee engagement to business outcomes, Prudential is committed to listening to employees through ongoing surveys and other feedback channels.

Prudential’s engagement approach includes an employee engagement measurement strategy that involves a model that touches nearly every employee every year. In 2018, over 50 employee surveys and focus groups collected feedback throughout the employee lifecycle—from onboarding to exits—to understand experiences, behaviors, attitudes and perceptions of leadership, culture, and key organizational issues at any given time.

In addition, the reach of our Employee Engagement Survey will be broadened—the EQ. The EQ, which was introduced in 2017, provides insights that help leaders better understand and influence engagement. In 2018, it was established that the EQ will be done across Prudential’s international offices and has been working across regions to bring the implementation of its first global survey in 2019.

Prudential also held its first ever Culture Jam, a three-day online discussion forum. This innovative platform engaged employees with chat rooms, live polls, Q&As with leaders to foster conversations and collect ideas for creating a stronger more inclusive culture. More than half of employees in the United States registered for the Jam, with nearly 12,000 posts sharing stories, ideas, and suggestions for enhancing the employee experience, how to better serve customers, how we tell the company’s story, and how to remain committed to the company’s purpose.

For Prudential’s high-potential diverse leaders, the company launched two new enterprise executive development programs with 48 leaders participating in the first year. Senior executives were deeply involved in the design discussions, aligning the programs with business strategy and the key skills and attributes needed to execute on that strategy.

An intensive three-year high-potential experience graduated its second cohort in 2018. Prudential created an 18-month leadership development program that will launch in 2019. These experiences, which feature internal executives leading components of the programs, are focused on accelerating leaders’ development to prepare them for growing responsibilities and to lead Prudential into the future.

Senior Leader Accountability: Long-term incentive compensation for all executives at the senior vice president level and above is subject to a performance objective intended to improve the representation of diversity among senior management.

Progressive

Leadership Development

As we continue to develop and promote our own, we’ll continue to make progress diversifying our leadership. We recognize this as an opportunity and we’re investing in development programs and on-the-job experiences to accelerate our progress.

One very successful example of these efforts is our Multicultural Leadership Development Program. More than 80% of graduates of this 18-month program have been promoted into new positions and are advancing their Progressive careers.

Equal Pay

Our commitment to pay equity is straightforward—we demand it of ourselves. We’re proud to report that for Progressive employees with similar performance, experience, and job responsibilities, women earn one dollar for every dollar earned by men, and people of color earn one dollar for every dollar earned by their white coworkers.

We recognize that our commitment to pay equity requires our constant attention and we take regular steps to ensure that our people’s compensation reflects their performance, experience, and job responsibilities, and nothing else. We’ll report our pay equity measures annually.

In evaluating pay equity companywide, we use a regression model that considers the following components of compensation: annual salary, cash bonus (Gainsharing), and stock awards. These are point-in-time measures (as of January 2019) that include all Progressive employees other than our CEO and the executives reporting directly to her, whose compensation is approved by the Board’s Compensation Committee. For information on executive compensation, please refer to our proxy statement.

Talent Mobility

At Progressive, employee mobility is a top priority: each employee is empowered to achieve their professional goals and contribute to the company in meaningful ways. One way it does this is giving employees the latitude to move around within the company throughout their careers. Progressive reports that out of its 37,000-person workforce across the country, more than 5,000 employees change levels or positions each year.

AIG

AIG launched its Global Inclusion and Cultural Agility (GICA) initiative in 2016 with a focus on five work streams. The goal for the GICA initiative is to integrate diversity and inclusion into our core businesses and human capital processes. Two senior executives led each work stream. Nearly forty employees from multiple countries volunteered to work with the executives over several months to develop specific recommendations to broaden and accelerate diversity and inclusion at AIG. Five goals were established to provide the overarching framework for the inclusion efforts:

Business Alignment: Acquire deeper understanding of the needs of our current and potential diverse customers and use those insights to create additional market value.

Community and Brand: Build our reputation in the market and improve our attractiveness to diverse clients and potential employees.

Diverse Talent Pipeline: Attract and engage emerging generations to develop a sustainable pipeline to feed leadership succession.

Equity and Measurement: Strengthen our focus on fairness to ensure that we deliver equity of opportunity.

Global Mindset: Understand how to bridge cultural differences to leverage the diversity of thought that comes
from all people and places.

The Hartford

The Hartford understands that companies must provide an experience that meets an employee’s unique needs in order to maximize their potential and motivate them to achieve business goals. This is particularly important for
talent that’s demographically underrepresented in the insurance industry. We will continue to invest in talent strategies that support our goal toward the 75th percentile, including:
• Evaluating our talent management systems, including succession planning, executive recruitment, as well as development and retention strategies.
• Measuring progress with a Diversity Talent Mobility Scorecard, reviewed quarterly by the CEO and executive leadership team.
• Measuring ERG Value: 3% higher rates of engagement for ERG members than The Hartford’s workforce overall, and 3.2% higher retention rates among ERG members than The Hartford’s workforce overall
• Providing D&I training: 90+% of employees and managers completed “Appreciating Differences & Managing Inclusion” training to: understand the importance of diversity in the workplace, motivate them to actively promote workplace inclusion.

USAA

To promote inclusion and maximize organizational and individual potential, USAA:
• Provides diversity and inclusion skill building and training
• Celebrates cultural heritage month events recognizing our rich diversity
• Offers multiple career development and mentoring resources and tools
• Leverages multiple feedback channels for employee ideas
• Maintains an innovation lab and interactive tools and resources to foster inclusion and innovation
• Conducts engagement surveys of all employees
• Utilizes Diversity Business Groups (DBG’s) to assist in creating an inclusive environment and turning diversity into measurable value for the association

Aetna

Aetna’s diversity strategy ”ICE”(integration, communication and education) is a unique marriage of diversity values and business strategy. The major components of “ICE” include: New-hire orientation with an overview of the
diversity strategy, an internal diversity web site that houses information and resources related to diversity and inclusion along with Aetna’s mission and strategy, regularly published articles on diversity topics on their intranet, a speaker series about diversity programs available to all employees via live webcast, and transparency of diversity initiatives and data at quarterly managers’ meeting and at all-employee meetings. To keep these initiatives effective, metrics are used to assess the business impact of its diversity initiatives.

Allianz

Allianz’s global target for women in Boards of Management is 25% and 40% in talent pools by the end of 2021. At Allianz SE, the group‘s headquarter, and Allianz Germany, its biggest entity, the company has committed to achieve at least 20% in the first and 30% in the second tiers below the Boards of Management by the end of 2021.

Comerica

Step 1: Create Reporting and Metrics for the Organization and Executive Leadership

• Comerica tracks metrics and creates accountability through a Diversity Involvement Scorecard for every
senior leader, including the CEO. The scorecard measures the following areas under each leader’s control:
• Workforce diversity
• Business outreach
• Volunteerism
• Supplier diversity

Within each category, Comerica defined specific metrics for each leader. For example, workforce diversity focuses on hiring, promotions, and retention. Within hiring, the metrics track the application pool for age,
gender, and minority/nonminority compared with the employees hired. The same process and metrics applies to promotions and retention to provide an extensive review of D&I in all business units. By using a workforce
analytics tool, leaders and the diversity team know exactly where each leader is in relation to the goals.

For example, if the technology department promotes fewer women than men to the senior and manager levels, then the technology leader develops a specific goal to help solve the issue. The goal may be requiring
that 50 percent of the applicant pool for all senior officers be female. The hiring decision can’t be made until the application pool meets the criteria.

Step 2: Hold Leaders Accountable for Achieving D&I Objectives

At the beginning of the year, leaders set goals for each area, and HR tracks results against these metrics throughout the year. The diversity team, the leader’s HR business partner, the CEO, and Comerica’s Executive Diversity Council review the goals.

Each leader knows exactly to which metrics he or she will be held accountable and the numbers needed to achieve the goal. The Diversity Involvement Scorecard results determine his or her end-of-the-year
compensation.

Step 3: Create Benchmarks for Realistic and Business-Focused Plans

Comerica leaders meet with their HR business partner each quarter to review their progress. They discuss the trends based on the metrics, opportunities to improve, and changes to make. Common outcomes from the meetings include organizational changes and training in areas such as unconscious bias. After the meeting, the diversity team also discusses how to support the leader as he or she works to create organizational changes.

Step 4: Evaluate Alignment of D&I Initiatives with Organizational Strategies, Objectives, and Culture

Comerica weaves diversity programs and awareness through all aspects of the organization. Through market segmentation teams, employees focus on understanding the needs of specific multicultural markets and improving both products and sales methods for the community.

Volvo

For years, Volvo Cars’ manufacturing plant in Sweden, had around 15-20% female employees. To achieve a better gender balance at all levels, they set clear goals and tracked progress monthly. One focus was on hiring, so they requested the recruiting agencies to ensure at least 50% female candidates for any interview and held them accountable to deliver. Where needed, supporting measures where implemented, e.g. a cooperation was set up with the Swedish Labor Office that started a fork lift education program specifically for women. Internally, the gender balance initiative was supported using various communication channels, including their internal website and magazines, town hall meetings, leadership training, and introduction programs for new employees. Between January 2015 and July 2017, the share of female employees increased from 20% to 31%, for leaders their share increased from 19% to 24%.

Pinterest

In 2013, Tracy Chou (a female Asian-American programmer) disclosed to the world the lack of diversity at her organization. In an effort to fix the problem, Pinterest brought in more applicants from nontraditional backgrounds yet the diversity numbers did not improve. CEO Ben Silbermann and cofounder Evan Sharp realized they had to give their employees a reason to care about diversifying and prove that diversity was about the bottom line. By sharing D&I goals publicly, Pinterest is held to a higher degree of accountability.

Here Are Pinterest’s D&I Goals:

• Increase hiring rates for full-time engineering roles to 30% female.
• Increase hiring rates for full-time engineers to 8% underrepresented ethnic backgrounds.
• Increase hiring rates for non-engineering roles to 12% underrepresented ethnic backgrounds.
• Implement a Rooney Rule-type requirement where at least one person from an underrepresented background and one female candidate is interviewed for every open leadership position.

Walmart

Walmart established a range of diversity and inclusion goals. Here are a few examples:
• Increase sourcing from Women-Owned Businesses
• Empower 1 million women through training
• Promote diversity and inclusion representation within merchandising and professional services suppliers
• Veterans Welcome Home Commitment will guarantee a job offer to any eligible U.S. veteran honorably discharged from active duty
• Hire 100,000 veterans by 2018, increasing the projection to 250,000 veterans by the end of 2020

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Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, companies have called upon their ERGs to assist in engagement in a new virtual work environment, as a resource and connection point to employees dealing with mental health concerns and isolation, and as source of insight for issues related to xenophobia and other types of discrimination that have emerged during the pandemic.

Following the death of George Floyd, many companies are ramping up their D&I strategies and committing to increased representation of Black employees and other URGs. Companies are leaning heavily on ERGs to host panels on race, vet company statements, allocate donations to
racial justice nonprofits, and shepherd new diversity initiatives.

These responses are increasing the work of many ERG leaders and their members—who are largely voluntary positions—with disproportionate responsibilities that are not recognized or rewarded.

This is turning the work of ERGs into a heavy obligation that competes with the demands of normal job duties, without additional time or pay. For the most part, ERG members are the ones doing the heavy lifting to improve the conditions, and more notably, the image, of their companies. The increase in interest for ERGs means more work, and more often than not,
without pay.

From Our 2020 DBP Inclusion Index:

• 91% of companies provide learning and/or talent development programs for ERG leaders
• 90% of companies say holding an ERG leadership position is considered during the individual’s annual performance review
• 42% of companies factor an employee holding an ERG leadership position into the succession planning process

That said, it has been challenging to uncover specific examples of how companies are embedding ERG leadership and contributions in performance reviews and succession planning processes. This is a significant missed opportunity to tap into a network of diverse talent already excelling in the organization.

An i4cp report finds ERGs are an effective leadership development tool.

The full report is only available to i4cp members, but there are some key takeaways:

• High-performance organizations—which i4cp defines as those that consistently outperform their competitors in the marketplace—view ERGs as strategic leadership development incubators
• High-performance organizations are 2.5x more likely to describe their ERGs as experiential career advancement and leadership development vehicles
• Leaders of ERGs in high-performance organizations are 3x more likely to cite the ability to strategically impact business results as a key benefit of serving as leader of an ERG and 2x more likely to cite exposure to senior leaders and increased opportunity to build
  external reputation
• The study found that leading an ERG sets talent up for growth and advancement in their organizations
• 63% of high-performance organizations expect executive sponsors to serve as coaches/mentors to ERG leaders
• These same companies are also 5x more likely to make observing and sourcing ERG members for leadership potential part of the executive sponsor role
• In fact, high-performance organizations are twice as likely to view the executive sponsor role as a leadership development opportunity in and of itself

Here Are Some Examples of What a Few Companies Are Doing:

Twitter

In the past year, Twitter has incorporated group leadership into performance reviews, which is tied to compensation.

Justworks Compensates ERG Leaders and Creates a Leadership Track

The company stated it would begin compensating the employees who lead its seven employee resource groups and write its diversity and inclusion newsletter. That compensation comes in the form of cash, equity and career development opportunities. This program, which is being piloted for one year, is a way of acknowledging employees’ contributions that are “equally as important as their day jobs.” The program also includes a mentorship program. ERGs are partnered with members of the leadership team who provide executive coaching over the course of six months to help in career growth and development. The company has also made
ERG work part of the annual performance review. This has helped bolster manager support of employees that are participating in and leading ERGs. Managers recognize that senior leaders value and take these roles seriously. This link provides more detailed information on the effort.

Cigna aligns ERG development plans with company development programs
Development plans for ERG leaders at many companies focus almost exclusively on their ERG responsibilities. Only a small percentage of ERGs have formalized development plans for their leaders. Those that do are not always aligned with a company’s organization wide leader development and talent management programs.

Cigna Appoints the Leaders of Its Colleague Resource Groups

One of the considerations for the appointment process was to ensure that the ERGs did not establish development processes that had a competing infrastructure. By appointing ERG leaders, Cigna aligned the development
of ERG leaders to its talent review process. The company found it to be a more organized way to connect these groups with the wider talent planning process.

The company believes the effectiveness of an ERG in developing leaders should be assessed and reviewed periodically and ultimately should weigh heavily in any decision related to the ERG leadership selection process. Cigna also found the appointed leaders tend to serve as magnets for other high performers. When employees see ERGs being run by those deemed to be of high potential and with a history of high performance, the ERGs are perceived in a more positive light. Because the ERGs are held in high regard, more employees want to be involved.

GE Invests Extensive Time and Money in ERG Leadership Growth and Development

Unlike most other companies, GE picks its ERG leaders only from the top 600 people in the company. ERG leaders are people who have been chosen in the ERG succession planning process and are believed to have leadership potential and runway. ERGs at GE are directly aligned with the company’s business objectives, so ERG leaders have the ability to make a real business impact.Each ERG is assigned one full-time leader. Charged with overseeing hundreds of chapters and thousands of participants across the globe, ERG leaders have full agendas. But they also have an incredible opportunity. GE also presents female employees specifically with promising opportunities. The Women’s Affinity Network is linked to the company’s corporate succession planning process, so that talented, high-performing women can be identified early and groomed for future roles. This process has led to a dramatic increase in representation of
women in leadership and executive levels at GE.

Bristol-Myers Squibb

Recognizing a rapidly changing global business environment, Bristol-Myers Squibb evolved its U.S.-based Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) to form global People & Business Resource Groups (PBRGs) as a new transformational business model to drive positive business outcomes. The company’s Global Diversity & Inclusion Council established the newly
evolved groups as strategic business partners aligned with company goals and objectives. In support of the PBRGs, full-time, dedicated leadership development positions were initially established for two groups, BOLD and B-NOW. While many Fortune 500 companies utilize employee volunteers to manage resource groups, these individuals also maintain other
responsibilities within their companies. At Bristol-Myers Squibb, PBRG leaders can be a fulltime dedicated resource; they are high performing employees who are selected through a rigorous and open process, with the executive sponsor and hiring manager, making the final
decision. As a result, the PBRGs are focused on leveraging business insights of members to drive innovation, supporting talent acquisition goals, providing career development opportunities for members, and enhancing corporate reputation and trust among key stakeholder groups.
With more than 8,000 members in 45 countries, PBRG membership continues to expand across the company’s global workforce. The groups focus on the global diversity and inclusion priorities of workforce, workplace and marketplace to drive business results and foster a culture of
inclusion, strong employee engagement, and higher levels of productivity. PBRGs have created three-year business plans aligned to Bristol-Myers Squibb business priorities and have direct performance accountability to the Global Diversity and Inclusion Council.

Prudential Sees ERGs as a Vital Resource for Feeding Its Leadership Pipeline

Prudential offers a dedicated place for ERG members to try out emerging competencies. The company allows employees to take on leadership roles within ERGs and enables risk-taking that is critical for developing new competencies that are eventually taken back into functional business lines. In addition to providing this safe space to develop leadership skills, Prudential also brings together all of its ERGs members at an ERG Professional Development Conference. The annual conference provides ERG members a dedicated platform for exchanging ideas, gathering intelligence, and sharing insights on how ERGs can improve business results.

Lockheed Martin’s ERG Leader Fundamentals Program

The program is designed for ERG leaders with the goal of providing them with the necessary tools to develop key leadership qualities consistent with Lockheed Martin Full Spectrum Leadership Imperatives, including communication, problem-solving, project management skills, and acquiring the business acumen necessary to succeed in leadership roles. The program grooms ERG leaders for other leadership roles in the company and ties them to the succession planning process. Participation in the program provides ERG leaders the opportunity to be identified for future training and developmental opportunities and to be nominated for other recognition programs within the Corporation. The Certificate of Completion will add value to the participants’ portfolios.

Phase 1 Training: Tools for Emerging Leaders (TEL); Basics of Finance; Building & Leading Teams; Leading Teams: Dealing with Conflict; Delivering a Presentation; Managing Meetings

Phase 2 Coaching: DISC Assessment and Debrief; Masterful Conversations; Team Coaching Debrief and Sharing Learning

Phase 3 Team Projects: Develop, plan, and execute strategy as part of the program; Brief executives on their ERG Strategy; Collaborate and work in teams on real challenges and opportunities, applying their learned skills to leading their ERGs

The post Linking ERG Roles to the Talent Development Process appeared first on Seramount.

• Leveraging existing HR information and data analytics can generate important insights about the workforce and help identify high-potential women and employees of color as leadership candidates.
• Developing the internal pipeline is not solely about the talent process. Workplace programs and efforts such as work-life integration and pay equity are also important factors to consider in strategies to develop the pipeline of talent in the industry.
• Consider that workplace flexibility and fair pay are two frequently cited reasons employees join and stay with a company.
• Opportunities for individual coaching, affinity -based leadership development, executive sponsorship, and mentoring are also essential components of the leadership development continuum—particularly for women and diverse employees who may lack access to training and advancement options.
• Stretch assignments are also effective interventions to develop new skills and perspectives, and including diverse high-potential employees in networking events with company and industry leaders is another strategy to build competencies and forge new relationships.

Organizational Self Assessment

Consider the following organizational assessment questions:
• How often do we review the talent sets of underrepresented employees in our internal pipeline? What percentage of these employees are getting visibility, new job experiences, and stretch assignments? Who has access to opportunities for mentorship and sponsorship?
• Are women and other underrepresented talent being promoted at the same rates as the majority? How much are women and employees of color paid in comparison to men and white counterparts in similar positions?
• What are we doing to identify, develop and support high potential diverse talent? Do women and employees of color have equal access to the right channels that will help them know how to get ahead? Are they aware of career paths and roles open to them, and how they should be preparing to advance?
• Do our succession plans include measurable targets for women and diverse populations? If not, how will we determine success?
• Are there targeted employee development plans in place to put women and employees of color on the path to advancement? How are those plans measured in terms of progress, timeliness, mobility, and advancement?
• Do we know what factors in our organization prevent underrepresented employee groups from reaching their full potential? Are we auditing for bias at every step of the talent development and advancement process?
• Are leaders held accountable for performance related to the advancement of women and minorities in the workforce?

Develop Individualized Career Tracks

• Actively engage potential diverse employees. Identify and invest in high-performing diverse talent with the capacity and inclination to lead, and give them the skills, training, and confidence to do so.
• Treat leadership as a tangible skill. Clarify the most valued and respected attributes of leaders in the organization—strategic thinking, for example—and provide training opportunities and confidence building for diverse employees who wish to hone their skills.
• Establish relationships and networks. Actively connect junior-level employees with diverse senior leader mentors/ sponsors and create networking opportunities regardless of level.
• Enhance the visibility of role models. Highlight diverse senior leaders.
• Chart the path to leadership. Articulate clear steps for career development, starting with employees in their twenties or earliest stages of their careers.
• Combine “soft” and “hard” rewards. Reinforce and validate diverse talent performance and confidence with clear and consistent personal feedback, together with the more conventional rewards of raises and promotions.

Targeted Development Opportunities for URG

Air Products Leadership Development Program for Diverse Talent is designed to increase exposure for participants and help them develop strategies and skills to enhance and accelerate professional development. The program is focused on meeting the unique needs of talented, professional women and minorities by
leveraging world-class leadership development materials, provided by the Lean In Foundation, and leveraging the experiences of both participants and facilitators through discussion, coaching, and mentoring by using a “learning circle” format. Design includes a Women’s Circle format and a Multicultural Circle format.

Participants are diverse individuals in the early stages of their leadership journey. They are selected by their businesses and functions during the Talent Review process based on performance, potential, and desire to progress. Facilitators are senior leaders in the organization and are selected based on their own development plans, their commitment to employee development, diversity, and their ability to coach and develop others. The ultimate goal of the program is to support the continued development of women and minorities in leadership roles.

Following its launch, Air Products tracked the progression of the first 70 participants over the next two years. Over that two-year period, there was a 55 percent promotion rate among participants. In addition, by midway through the program, 64 percent of participants reported there were behaviors/actions they stopped doing as a result of learnings from Circle participation, and 94 percent of participants reported there are activities they started doing as a result of learnings from Circle participation.

Texas Instruments focuses on Advancing women in P&L roles. The company launched a women’s leadership program focused on providing women and women of color training and skills development to prepare them for C-suite and executive level roles. A central objective of the program is to provide participants with P&L
experience and exposure at the executive level. The Women in P&L Roles Initiative brings the 14 percent of leaders who fit that description (and those in the pipeline) into close contact with senior executives and board members, who help them move further into the C-suite.

The company’s Make It Personal speaker sessions—facilitated by its nationwide women’s network—cover a wide variety of personal and professional topics that are germane to working women, from financial matters and career decisions to eldercare and work life balance. The Coffee Talks series is carried out by female
executives sharing their wisdom with junior women at campuses across the country. The company’s commitment to the advancement of women starts at the top: 50 percent of direct reports to the CEO and 42 percent of board members are women.

Allstate established its Enterprise Talent Management (ETM) talent share program to support the development and advancement of its internal employee pipeline. The program reduces the costs associated with hiring and onboarding an external candidate, enables growth opportunity and exposure to other parts of the business, and preserves the cumulative knowledge and maturity of the employee.
When a position opens in any department across the company, it is openly posted and any employee in good standing can apply. If hired, the employee serves in the new role for six to nine months, providing an immersion experience that fast tracks new skills development. The employee’s manager allows them to be ‘loaned’ for the duration of the assignment, but gets to keep them as a budget item. Once the assignment is complete, the employee returns to their original position.

In the first two years of ETM, internal placement rates doubled. There’s an added bonus for employees who participate in the talent share program in the company’s inclusive diversity department: the company receives a new D&I champion that will go back to their department and make D&I a priority.

ADP’s Leadership Programs for Multicultural Employees accelerates advancement opportunities for diverse talent. A review of talent data at ADP, including mobility analysis, succession planning, associate engagement survey and talent acquisition identified areas of opportunity. A combination of strategies were deployed, including diverse slates for executive openings; reporting on diversity metrics monthly to executive committee; expanding the role and number of employee resource groups to include business outcomes; implementing “the business case for diversity” in executive and leadership programs; expanding unconscious bias training for leaders; establishing 3-year diversity goals for women and minorities in executive leadership and introducing accountability scorecards by business area.

One of ADP’s programs, “Cultivate Your Career” was focused on advancing women of color. ADP became the title sponsor for the Black Enterprise Women of Power Summit and sponsored approximately 45 high potential women of color across multiple disciplines. In addition, the company sponsored quarterly development programs targeting these high potential women covering topics like executive presence and business acumen.

Another program, Multicultural Leadership Development, offers high potential men and women of color a one- year leadership seminar focused on leading self, leading others and leading the business. ADP also initiated key partnerships with non-profit organizations focused on gender and ethnic diversity to support its talent pipeline. The company has achieved a 5-point improvement in the representation of both women and minorities in executive roles. Engagement for women and minorities improved over the same period.

In 2016, JPMorgan Chase launched a board- and CEO-supported Advancing Black Leaders strategy—staffed and managed separately from other D&I initiatives—focused on filling the firm’s pipeline with Black talent and retaining and promoting those workers. Advancing Black Leaders opens pathways that connect Black
employees with access to top executives and a community of networking and support. The program has strengthened its focus on recruiting, retaining, developing, and advancing African American talent and creating a pipeline to the officer level. Moreover, JPMorgan Chase has ensured that diversity—including African American talent—has been infused into each element of the succession-planning process as well as the participation of high-potential African American executives in its top leadership and development programs.

According to JPMorgan Chase, Advancing Black Leaders has had an “impact” in its first full year. The firm was proud to welcome new black talent at all levels and create mobility opportunities for black executives. Since 2016, JPMorgan Chase has increased the number of Black Managing Directors by 41 percent and Black
Executive Directors by 53 percent. The firm will build on the success of the program by expanding career leadership pathways for Black talent, including its Director Advisory Service to help develop and recommend more Black executives for clients’ Boards of Directors.

Getting Started

1. Enlist senior leadership support. In order to mobilize the organization and signal the importance of the program as a strategic initiative, engage and enlist senior leadership to sponsor and support the program. Senior leadership involvement will signal to the organization that developing diverse talent is a high priority. It will also signal to the participants that they are highly-valued and considered high-potential by the organization.
2. Establish clear objectives and measures of success. Decide exactly what you want your program to cover and what you want to accomplish. Do you want to focus on career development or leadership development? Do you want to focus on building skills, knowledge, or business acumen? Do you want to help participants build relationships across the business and visibility with upper management? Do you want to empower individual career development, foster mobility, improve retention rates, or increase promotion rates? Your answer may be some or all of the above. Once you’ve decided on your objectives, determine the appropriate measures of success.
3. Design the right selection process. Design the best process to select program participants given your objectives. You might consider a nomination process, an application process, or a process tied to your talent review system. A nomination process ensures that participants have the support of their management, which will be an important element if you are using promotions as your measure of success. An application process leads to identifying motivated individuals who may not be recognized by their management. Clear application requirements will help narrow the applicant pool to your desired demographic. A process tied to your talent review system will be as good as the underlying system. If there is systemic or individual bias, or other deficiencies in your system, then the selection of participants will reflect this. I suggest designing a selection process that has several elements working together to increase the probability of identifying the right people for your program and its objectives. For example, you might use a nomination system that allows people to nominate themselves or others. Consider your organization’s culture and dynamics to put together the best process.
4. Design a curriculum for addressing real challenges, and create a safe space for discussion. Identify the real challenges faced by your people and then create a safe space to address them. Don’t shy away from tough conversations. Adopt a constructive mindset – focus on what each individual can do and then help them develop the skills and relationships that will help them succeed. Include individual coaching to help each individual address their unique circumstances and challenges.
5. Provide ongoing support. Assign a strong program manager to oversee the program, monitor and measure participants’ progress, and provide ongoing support. Developing diverse talent is a long-term commitment. The challenges continue well past the program end date. Reorganizations and management changes can be particularly hard on people of color and women as they need to continually prove themselves to new people. A strong program manager can provide support through these challenges and help keep the organization focused on these high potentials.

Targeted Development Opportunities for URG

Wells Fargo’s Latin Connection Team Member Network has more than 40 chapters throughout the U.S. The network piloted a group mentoring program for 35 mid-level Latino team members called the Emerging Leaders League, which is intended to broaden participants’ understanding of career development and what it takes to succeed at Wells Fargo. The Latino Leaders Program offers a
unique learning experience that focuses on leadership and professional development from a culturally relevant perspective. Participants explore similarities and help them bridge the gap while retaining their differences and values.

Deloitte’s Emerging Leaders Development Program (ELDP) is a comprehensive, multidisciplinary professional development program designed primarily for high-performing minority managers and senior managers to help prepare them for the next stage in their careers. ELDP uses skill-building sessions, self-assessments, 360-degree feedback, and one-on-one coaching with an external professional coach to help equip promising leaders for greater responsibility. Through the intensive learning curriculum, participants explore a variety of topics, including effective development strategies, risk-taking, building professional networks, and dealing effectively with potential biases in corporate America. In addition, each participant is assigned a partner, principal, or director sponsor who commits to at least two years to help their protégées drive their own careers by helping them understand how to navigate the organization.

ERGs as Talent Feeders

Tap Into ERGs as a Talent Pipeline

From our 2020 DBP Inclusion Index:
• 91% of companies provide learning and/or talent development programs for ERG leaders
• 90% of companies say holding an ERG leadership position is considered during the individual’s annual performance review
• 42% of companies factor an employee holding an ERG leadership position into the succession planning process
This is a significant missed opportunity to tap into a network of diverse talent already excelling in the organization.
A i4cp report finds ERGs are an effective leadership development tool
The full report is only available to i4cp members, but there are some key takeaways:
• High-performance organizations—which i4cp defines as those that consistently outperform their competitors in the marketplace—view ERGs as strategic leadership development incubators
• High-performance organizations are 2.5x more likely to describe their ERGs as experiential career advancement and leadership development vehicles
• Leaders of ERGs in high-performance organizations are 3x more likely to cite the ability to strategically impact business results as a key benefit of serving as leader of an ERG and 2x more likely to cite exposure to senior leaders and increased opportunity to build external reputation
• The study found that leading an ERG sets talent up for growth and advancement in their organizations
• 63% of high-performance organizations expect executive sponsors to serve as coaches/mentors to ERG leaders
• These same companies are also 5x more likely to make observing and sourcing ERG members for leadership potential part of the executive sponsor role
• In fact, high-performance organizations are twice as likely to view the executive sponsor role as a leadership development opportunity in and of itself

Lockheed Martin’s ERG Leader Fundamentals Program

The program is designed for ERG leaders with the goal of providing them with the necessary tools to develop key leadership qualities consistent with Lockheed Martin Full Spectrum Leadership Imperatives, including communication, problem-solving, project management skills, and acquiring the business acumen necessary to succeed in leadership roles. The program grooms ERG leaders for other leadership roles in the company and ties them to the succession planning process. Participation in the program provides ERG leaders the opportunity to be identified for future training and developmental opportunities and to be nominated for other recognition programs within the Corporation. The Certificate of Completion will add value to the participants’ portfolios.

• Phase 1 Training: Tools for Emerging Leaders (TEL); Basics of Finance; Building & Leading Teams; Leading
Teams: Dealing with Conflict; Delivering a Presentation; Managing Meetings
• Phase 2 Coaching: DISC Assessment and Debrief; Masterful Conversations; Team Coaching Debrief and Sharing Learning
• Phase 3 Team Projects: Develop, plan, and execute strategy as part of the program; Brief executives on their ERG Strategy; Collaborate and work in teams on real challenges and opportunities, applying their learned skills to leading their ERGs

GE invests extensive time and money in ERG leadership growth and development.

Unlike most other companies, GE picks its ERG leaders only from the top 600 people in the company. ERG leaders are people who have been chosen in the ERG succession planning process and are believed to have leadership potential and runway. ERGs at GE are directly aligned with the company’s business objectives, so ERG leaders have the ability to make a real business impact.Each ERG is assigned one full-time leader. Charged with overseeing hundreds of chapters and thousands of participants across the globe, ERG leaders have full agendas. But they also have an incredible opportunity.

GE also presents female employees specifically with promising opportunities. The Women’s Affinity Network is linked to the company’s corporate succession planning process, so that talented, high-performing women can be identified early and groomed for future roles. This process has led to a dramatic increase in representation of women in leadership and executive levels at GE.

Prudential sees ERGs as a vital resource for feeding its leadership pipeline.

Prudential offers a dedicated place for ERG members to try out emerging competencies. The company allows employees to take on leadership roles within ERGs and enables risk-taking that is critical for developing new competencies that are eventually taken back into functional business lines.

In addition to providing this safe space to develop leadership skills, Prudential also brings together all of its ERGs members at an ERG Professional Development Conference. The annual conference provides ERG members a dedicated platform for exchanging ideas, gathering intelligence, and sharing insights on how ERGs
can improve business results.

Sponsorship and Mentoring

Sponsorship

Sponsorship is focused on advancement and predicated on power. Harvard Business Review describes sponsorship as active support by someone appropriately placed in the organization who has significant influence on decision-making processes or structures and who is advocating for, protecting, and fighting for the career advancement of an individual.

At its core, sponsorship is about trust. The sponsor must trust that the protégé will do a good job and make the most of the opportunities opened up to them. Likewise, a protégé must trust that sponsors have his or her best interests and career goals in mind when suggesting particular opportunities.

Sponsors are able to identify weak spots in job performance and help find remedies, expand career vision, elevate ambition and advocate vigorously for specific promotions.

Successful sponsorship creates and builds reputational capital for the protégé and the sponsor. By selecting a protégé who goes on to make a greater impact in and for the organization, the sponsor enhances his or her own reputational capital as a discerning leader invested in talent sustainability and a powerful contributor to organizations’ success and bottom line.

Sponsorships

EY leverages mentoring and sponsorships to develop a pipeline of women leaders. From their first days on the job, EY employees are encouraged to become “sponsor ready” through their client assignments and mentoring programs. Through successful mentoring relationships, high performers become aligned with influential executives who can serve as sponsors and provide ongoing guidance and support.

To ensure accountability, EY regularly monitors sponsorship programs using quantitative and qualitative measures such as promotion rates, representation of women at the partner level, engagement survey scores, and feedback from professional networks. As a result, EY has successfully built a pipeline of women leaders, ensured greater engagement and retention of women leaders, improved its processes for recruiting women leaders, and sustainably maintained and increased the number of women partners.

Deutsche Bank discovered that much of its female talent was leaving. On investigation, the bank found that many women who had left were not unhappy with their working conditions, but they had landed more senior roles in competitor companies. The kind of positions that Deutsche Bank had made unavailable to them, preferring a different candidate.

Deutsche Bank has now taken action to assign more women in more critical posts using a comprehensive sponsorship program. Now, mentees are mentored by executive committee members. This ensures they gain visibility where it matters and that they are not overlooked when promotions are handed out as they have
someone fighting for them at the highest level. Deutsche Bank reports that one third more women are now in larger roles with another third deemed ready to take on more responsibility.

Mentoring

Mentoring is a proven method for training and development. But where it often falls short is providing an equal mentoring experience for employees of different backgrounds.

Women and minorities have difficulty in finding mentors of the same race or gender because of underrepresentation in the upper levels of management. For people whose differences may not be visible (LGBTQ people, people with disabilities, veterans), finding a mentor who “gets” them is even more difficult.

A national study by Harvard Business review found that mentoring programs on average boost the representation of Black, Hispanic, and Asian women by nine percent, and Hispanic and Asian men by 24 percent. Involving managers as mentors involves them in the diversity initiative and helps address issues
related to bias. While white employees are more likely to find mentors on their own, women and minorities often need assistance through more formal mechanisms. The study found that while white male managers and executives weren’t comfortable reaching out to women and minorities as a potential mentor, most engage fully when the opportunity is presented to them.

EcoLab’s Leadership Development Exchange (LDE) is a six-month mentoring program that connects high potential employees with senior leaders at the firm’s corporate headquarters. The program started in E3, Ecolab’s women’s employee resource group, and has been adopted by the Global Talent and Organizational
Development team.

LDE is open to all Ecolab associates (women and men) around the globe, however, the sessions are all held in person and the travel can be challenging for some participants. For this reason, the E3 ERG also offers two local options, One-to-One Mentoring and Mentoring Circles, available at an increasing number of the 14 E3 local chapters located throughout the globe.

The 12-month One-to-One Mentoring program pairs mentees with internal senior leaders at least two organizational levels above the mentees, and is completely customized to meet the individual goals of the mentee.

Mentoring Circles is also a 12- month program, which pairs a diverse group of mentees with a set of two different ‘power mentors’ each quarter. There are four groups of power mentors who are experts on specific topics. Mentees learn about the topic during the first month of the quarter, gaining direct experience from the
mentors during the second month, and finally reviewing what was learned and deciding how they will use that knowledge in practice during the third month. The cycle repeats for the following quarter.

The programs have doubled in size, with more than 250 participants in total and a significant increase in executive-level participation as mentors. The programs have improved engagement scores, increased career velocity, and resulted in a higher retention rate in participants compared with non-participants.

KPMG’s Network of Women (KNOW) has been helping foster women’s networking, mentoring, and leadership opportunity in nearly half of KPMG’s offices. More than 8,500 partners and employees have attended KNOW-sponsored events. The KNOW network has recognized and celebrated the contributions and successes of female employees; increased networking opportunities for women; developed
mentoring relationships; highlighted career and professional development opportunities; provided a forum for women and men to share experiences and support each other in personal and professional pursuits, and enhanced competitive position and client outreach for female employees.

The company’s leadership survey found:
• 70% of working women feel a personal obligation to help more women advance in the workplace, but only 33% have learned to leverage and support other female employees.
• 70% of women ages 18-64 claim, “I am more likely to talk to other women about the challenges around career advancement rather than the opportunities.”
• 82% percent of professional working women believe access to and networking with female leaders will help them advance in their career.
• 76% of working women plan to personally take active steps to help other women advance in their careers.

Diverse Slates: Recruitment, Hiring, and Succession Planning

Link D&I Goals to Recruitment and Hiring

One of the simplest and most effective ways to increase diversity hiring is to require that diverse candidate slates that include a proportionate number of both women and diverse candidates are presented for interviewing. Diverse candidate slates can minimize discrimination and unconscious bias in hiring, promotion, and job assignments.

Typically, diverse slates indicate a mix of job candidates that align with established diversity targets. This doesn’t mean the company has to disclose department-by-department diversity targets. It is sufficient to require broad diversity targets—i.e. 30% of candidates should be from minority populations or 40% of candidates should be women. These targets will move over time as the company realizes its diversity goals and should be assessed and adjusted accordingly.

Suggested Strategies:

Spend time to explain your goals for a position to recruiters and hiring managers, and how those goals link to the organization’s overall business objectives. This will help assure that all parties involved in the hiring process will consider the company’s current demographic profile and diversity representation goals. Your point for improvement should always be visible in the candidate funnel.

Develop guidance and provide training to reinforce policies and practices, and hold recruiters and hiring managers accountable for adhering to those policies and practices. For example, a hiring target might be established around finding one qualified female candidate for every two qualified male candidates.

If the targets aren’t met, require a suitable explanation why.

Diverse Candidate Slates

What is the right ratio for diverse candidate slates?

Research by Harvard Business Review found that when the final candidate pool has only one minority candidate, he or she has virtually no chances of being hired. If there are at least two female candidates in the final candidate pool, the odds of hiring a female candidate are 79 times greater. If there are least two minority candidates in the final candidate pool, the odds of hiring a minority candidate are 194 times greater. This methodology is referred to as the “two in the pool effect.” The challenge is that there is no “one size fits all” on this. Definitions of diversity vary from organization to organization and person to person, but most often diverse interview slates refer to a pool of candidates that contains a certain number or percentage of women and/or minorities.

Here’s a few examples:

Goldman Sachs requires two diverse candidates be part of the slate for all open roles, and encourages leaders to consider progress against diversity goals when evaluating Senior Managers for pay and promotion. Diverse candidate slates will be key to achieving the bank’s diversity targets, which include achieving 50 percent women, 11% Black, and 14% Hispanic hires in its 2021 class of incoming Analysts and Associates, which comprise 70% of the company’s annual hiring.

Lincoln Financial introduced a balanced slate process which requires hiring managers to include at least one woman and one person of color on each officer-level candidate slate. A woman of color does not count for both.

The diversity scorecard at Sodexo holds recruiters and hiring managers accountable by reporting hiring performance compared to diversity targets each
quarter in three diversity areas: hiring, promotion and retention. After a brief delay, in partnership with recruiters, Sodexo surveys top women and diverse applicants who drop out of the recruiting process and who reject offers in order to find out why.

At GlaxoSmithKline, VPs in R&D established a diversity hiring protocol to review all hiring decisions with hiring managers to ensure unconscious bias was not at play, particularly if diverse candidates were presented and not hired.

Building Accountability in Hiring

Sample metrics to build hiring manager accountability:
• Information about candidate ratios, hiring and non-hire ratios
• Outcomes for gender, racial, age and other patterns and disparities
• Conversion rates for diverse groups compared to other candidate pools
• Data cut by lines of business to identify trends and patterns
• Attrition rates and retention rates of new hires and the timing of the attrition

Tip: Train recruiters and hiring managers in unconscious bias. Most individuals don’t think of themselves as biased. However, unconscious biases are hard-wired into human nature and overcoming them can be challenging. Provide recruiters and hiring personnel unconscious bias training to create self-awareness around any preconceived biases that they may be bringing to the process and help them strategize around how to mitigate them. Consider asking recruiters and hiring personnel to take an implicit association test to check for and raise awareness about hidden racial and gender biases.

Ensure Diverse Hiring Panels

If increasing the diverse candidate pool is a goal, ensure your interview panels include diverse people and viewpoints. A diverse mix of interviewers will bring important perspectives to hiring decisions and help candidates see how they fit
into the organization. Assess who is involved in hiring decisions to ensure they are reflective of the candidate pool you are trying to attract. Don’t limit this to gender and race. It is important to remember that diversity can extend to religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, language, abilities/disabilities, socioeconomic status, geographic region, or other defining characteristics. Ensure all dimensions of diversity in the workforce are reflected in your hiring process.

It can also help to establish a list of challenging questions for the interview panel that can be used to assess candidates collectively. The right questions will create awareness around any potential bias held by individuals, and help uncover systemic biases that have become codified in the cultural norms of the organization.

For example:
• Can this candidate bring an alternative perspective? In what ways will the alternative perspective be a benefit to our team?
• What is our basis for determining whether or not a candidate is a “cultural fit” or “not a cultural fit”?
• If the candidate is missing a job experience or credential, can it be taught or acquired on the job? Skills are teachable; does the candidate bring a thirst for knowledge and curiosity? A proven ability to learn quickly?

First Horizon Leverages Data and Accountability

Data analytics and accountability are key to First Horizon’s D&I strategy. Throughout the year, First Horizon leaders receive diversity staffing maps and review talent pipeline reports to examine team diversity by various categories and levels. These color-coded maps provide fact-based data and insights to help leaders prioritize staffing decisions for their teams. Leaders discuss and review the maps with their direct reports to ensure understanding, determine if any gaps are present, and identify any obstacles. One of the gaps identified pointed to the underrepresentation of women at the leadership level, particularly in P&L roles.

To address the gap, First Horizon now requires diverse slates and makes sure high potential women have opportunities to develop skills, demonstrate leadership, and build relationships with executives. A report is also sent to the CEO stating who is being considered, interviewed and hired. The department leader’s name is included on that report, adding a layer of accountability and bringing more attention, awareness, and motivation to act on their plans.

These efforts have paid off. Diversity representation in leadership roles began outpacing industry averages in most categories: in 2018, women represented 32 percent of the Executive Management Committee, 37 percent in the top three direct report levels in the organization, and 75 percent of manager roles.

Diverse Candidate Slates

Airbnb used data science to improve diversity at the company, an approach they detailed in this 2016 Medium post. The company analyzed its hiring data and found that women made up only 10% of their newest class of data scientists, and typically, 30% of their applicants were women.

To increase the number of women they reached at the top-of-funnel, Airbnb created a series of panels to highlight women in data science, as well as published articles showcasing experiences of women in the field. In addition to increasing the number of applicants, Airbnb also analyzed and tweaked their interview process. The company began requiring that women made up half of the interview panel for female candidates.

The steps Airbnb took increased the representation of female data scientists on the team from 15% to 30%.

Don’t Forget Diverse Slates in Succession Planning

Diverse teams are built through a well-formulated and actionable succession planning process that continually identifies high potential talent, and then sets them on a deliberate course toward leadership roles.

• Start by assessing your organization’s demographic and age profile to identify when employees in mission critical positions will retire, and better understand what knowledge and skills will be lost.
• Establish baselines and set targets for increasing diversity in those roles. Set goals. To achieve diversity, even at the highest levels, there must be reasonable but aggressive goals on changing workforce demographics, e.g. at least 30
percent of succession slates are diverse.
• Identify high-performing professionals early in their careers and start them on the leadership path as soon as possible. Many companies will consider the top 10% of talent when developing a succession plan. To cast your net wider, consider the top 10% of diverse candidates as well.
• Create diverse talent development plans. Identify what experiences and development opportunities will be needed to advance high potential talent to middle and senior management roles. Monitor and measure progress, outcomes, and the time it takes to execute plans to ensure parity.
• Dedicate roles and responsibilities. Hold someone responsible for achieving succession planning goals.
• Make sure your succession plan includes specific metrics and timelines to track progress and ensure goals are met.

What is your company doing to prepare diverse talent and succession pipelines? Do you have succession plans targeted to diverse populations? Or set percentage goals? If not, how will you move the needle, and what will determine success?

Succession Planning Best Practices

Diverse teams are built through a well-formulated and actionable succession planning process that continually identifies high potential talent, and then sets them on a deliberate course toward leadership roles.

• Assess your organization’s demographic and age profile to identify when employees in mission critical positions will retire, and better understand what knowledge and skills will be lost.
• Establish baselines and set targets for increasing diversity in those roles. Set goals. To achieve diversity, even at the highest levels, there must be reasonable but aggressive goals on changing workforce demographics, e.g. at least 30
percent of succession slates are diverse.
• Identify high-performing professionals early in their careers and start them on the leadership path as soon as possible. Many companies will consider the top 10% of talent when developing a succession plan. To cast your net wider, consider the top 10% of diverse candidates as well.
• Create diverse talent development plans. Identify what experiences and development opportunities will be needed to advance high potential talent to middle and senior management roles. Monitor and measure progress, outcomes, and the time it takes to execute plans to ensure parity.
• Dedicate roles and responsibilities. Hold someone responsible for achieving succession planning goals.
• Make sure your succession plan includes specific metrics and timelines to track progress and ensure goals are met.

What is your company doing to prepare diverse talent and succession pipelines? Do you have succession plans targeted to diverse populations? Or set percentage goals? If not, how will you move the needle, and what will determine success?

• Succession planning for leadership and senior management roles is a C-Suite responsibility. Build leadership accountability for setting diversity goals, providing needed investments in talent development, and achieving measurable outcomes.
• Senior executives can also demonstrate their support by sponsoring and mentoring high potential women and employees from other underrepresented groups.
• Dedicate roles and responsibilities to ensure succession planning is ongoing and actionable. Hold someone responsible for carrying out the planning process.
• Continually review and challenge assumptions of what a leader should look like and what skills and competencies are needed.
• Set goals. To achieve diversity, even at the highest levels, there must be reasonable but aggressive goals on changing workforce demographics, e.g. at least 30 percent of succession slates are diverse.
• Create diverse talent development plans. Monitor and measure progress, outcomes, and the time it takes to execute plans to ensure parity.
• Establish clear criteria for advancement. Define and communicate the criteria, process and expectations for upward mobility. Review them with candidates.
• Ensure stretch assignments, job rotations and other leadership development experiences are properly supported, for example, access to mentorship and coaching.

Start With a Talent Assessment

• What color/gender is the company’s pipeline and why?
• What percentage of women and diverse employees are needed in the pipeline to create a difference over the next three to five years?
• Are there succession plans targeted to women and diverse employees?
• How will the company determine success of those plans? What metrics and measures are needed?
• How often does the company review and identify women already in the internal pipeline?
• What employees are getting visibility, new job experiences, and stretch assignments? Who has access to opportunities for mentorship and sponsorship?
• Are individualized employee development plans in place to put female employees of color on the path to advancement? How are those plans measured in terms of progress, timeliness, mobility and advancement?
• Does the organization know what roles in the organization yield the highest promotable successors? What is the velocity of movement (promotion rate) of employees involved in sponsorship programs?
• How does it compare to similar employees who are not in the program?
• Does the company require that external slates for hiring and internal slates for promotion are diverse?

Retention Strategies

Link D&I to Retention

There are a number of metrics that can be established to assess diversity and inclusion in the workforce. These metrics should be sliced by as many dimensions of diversity that are available to best understand the experience of different
employee groups.

Below are a few metrics companies use to understand diversity and inclusion shortfalls and areas for improvement:
• Attrition rates
• Promotion rates
• Internal mobility rates
• Stay Interview data
• Tenure rates/length of stay
• % of professionals development plans, completion rates of development plans, and velocity rates of completion (how long to fully execute plans)
• Employee referral rates/Employee Net Promoter scores (would they refer/advocate for the org)
• Turnover costs (ensure that the dollar impact of diversity turnover is credibly calculated, work with finance to help determine the best way to measure). Understanding turnover costs will help support a stronger business case to
support retention efforts.

Performance of leaders and managers can be tied to performance against these metrics.

Avoid Common Pitfalls

Merely having data is not enough to deliver meaningful changes that create a more diverse and inclusive workplace. Here are the five common data mistakes CDOs must avoid.
• Measuring diversity as a blanket number. Comparing your organization with the industry by tracking Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and other data is a good place to start, but this doesn’t always reveal the root causes of issues hampering progress. A better analysis, for example, would look at how the proportion of females changes across leadership levels, so you can zone in on the biggest problems, such as hiring or retention issues.
• Prioritizing reports over insights. Compliance reports filled with general quota numbers aren’t useful for decision-making. To start, these reports are generally only seen by the person generating them and the agency they’re being reported to. When data can be accessed in a way that facilitates exploration (without the need for a data science degree!), it can help organizations understand where to focus their talent efforts to achieve broader goals.
• Forgetting to look at post-hire data. How new hires from specific groups fare in the long term reveals important insights about recruitment practices. When all pre-hire and post-hire data systems are connected into one analytics platform, an organization can quickly—and regularly—analyze the performance of diverse employees and keep an eye on promotions they received (as well as when in their tenure they achieved these). These insights can help businesses identify high-quality employees who come from a variety of backgrounds.
• Not delving into the “why” of turnover problems. Retaining diverse talent is just as critical as hiring diverse talent. It’s important to not just measure turnover in certain groups but also uncover the why of the turnover problem. People from certain backgrounds may choose to leave the organization if they don’t feel welcome, but it also could just be a matter of job descriptions not meeting reality.

Remember, it is important to not only measure new hire retention and long-term retention of diverse employees but also dive into the data to understand why these people are leaving.

Pay Attention to Leaks in the Pipeline

Review your workforce attrition data to identify where the leaks in the bucket are occurring. Segment the data by gender, race and other dimensions of diversity to identify discrepancies in promotions, professional and leadership development, and other opportunities for advancement.

Conduct employee engagement surveys, focus groups and town halls to gather input and insight to better understand your culture and work environment. Use the results to pinpoint where bias, microaggressions, and other barriers that put diverse and underrepresented at risk of leaving are showing up.

Gather input and feedback from employees across diversity dimensions to ensure your benefits meet the needs and expectations of all employees. Benchmark against other organizations to understand the benefits and policies landscape, and where you meet, exceed and fall short.

Analyze how advances in technology and the growing skills gap are impacting your organization, and what jobs—and employee groups—are most at risk of displacement and disengagement.

The post Strategies and Benchmarks to Retain and Advance Diverse Talent appeared first on Seramount.

This public debate has collapsed two separate issues—productivity and physical presence—into one narrative. But the evidence tells a far clearer story.

Well-designed hybrid work consistently improves engagement, retention, and, in many cases, productivity itself. Employees report they are able to work more efficiently, protect focus time, and better manage their energy when given flexibility in where and when they work.

For HR leaders, this disconnect presents both a challenge and an opportunity. The debate isn’t really about where people sit; it’s about how organizations define, measure, and experience productivity. And no one is better positioned to lead that redefinition than HR leaders.

Hybrid Didn’t Create a Productivity Problem—It Revealed a Measurement One

Most anxiety surrounding hybrid work stems from measurement systems built for another era. As the research shows, many organizations still rely on legacy metrics—time in seat, output volume, visible activity—systems built for an in-office world that can’t capture how value is created in a distributed one.

When those signals stop working, leaders understandably look for the most visible cue to latch onto, usually attendance. But visibility is not value. And surveillance is not measurement. Monitoring keystrokes, scanning badge data, or tracking idle time won’t restore productivity; it will erode trust.

Research continues to show that cultures built on trust outperform cultures built on visibility. Stanford researchers found that hybrid employees not only maintained productivity but had one-third higher retention rates, a clear sign of what’s possible when autonomy and clarity reinforce one another. When employees feel trusted, engagement rises and teams bring more energy to their work. Strengthening productivity, in other words, comes from setting clearer expectations and building the alignment people need to do their best work.

This is where HR leadership becomes essential: making productivity transparent by defining clear outcomes and the behaviors that drive them, and doing so with employees at the table.

What HR Leaders Must Do Now to Redefine Productivity

Redefining productivity in a hybrid era starts with transparency—making expectations visible, shared, and grounded in how work actually gets done today. Research from Deloitte and RAND shows that sustainable performance comes from clear outcomes supported by engagement, autonomy, and well-being. To sustain excellence within flexible work arrangements, business leaders must redefine productivity through the following interconnected outcomes:

• Business impact measures the results, quality, and innovation that advance strategic goals.
• Collaboration captures how teams connect, share knowledge, and generate new ideas across locations.
• Engagement reflects the energy, focus, and well-being that enable long-term efficiency and effectiveness.

But transparency only works when it’s grounded in employee experience and input. In one mid-size organization we supported, the CEO wanted to make “Boosting Productivity” a top priority for 2026, driven by a lingering belief that performance had never fully recovered post-COVID, even with new tools, hybrid flexibility, and larger teams.

Before introducing any new expectations, leaders needed to understand how these norms would land and what was actually hindering productivity in the day-to-day. With Seramount’s support, they brought roughly 1,000 senior leaders together for an Employee Voice Session to pressure-test a draft of their new “Ways of Working That Strengthen Performance.” Leaders were asked directly: What feels clear? What feels unclear? And what won’t work, given the reality of how your teams operate today?

Instead of resistance, employees surfaced practical friction points—meeting overload, unclear priorities, inconsistent modeling—that would have quietly derailed the rollout. Their input allowed the company to refine expectations around impact, collaboration, and engagement so the standards were clear, usable, and culturally aligned.

This is the work HR must lead: co-creating outcome-based standards and the everyday behaviors that bring them to life. When employees help build the system, expectations gain credibility, trust strengthens, and productivity becomes something people can meaningfully achieve—not something measured through outdated proxies.

The Enablers of a Modern Productivity System

Once productivity standards are clear and co-created, HR leaders must ensure the rest of the system reinforces them.

Managers must lead with consistency, connection, and fairness.

In hybrid environments, proximity should not determine opportunity. Yet research shows remote employees remain less likely to be promoted or recognized. Managers must support their employees by communicating expectations, mitigating bias, and maintaining meaningful weekly conversations that anchor performance and well-being. These habits are what create equitable, high-performing hybrid teams—not physical visibility.

AI must be implemented in ways that protect human engagement.

AI can accelerate output, but research from Nature and the Harvard Business Review shows it can also dampen employees’ sense of ownership and connection if introduced without intention. HR leaders can guide organizations to adopt AI through structured experimentation, transparent communication, and the reinforcement that AI augments—not replaces—human judgment and creativity.

Well-being must be treated as a performance system, not a perk.

Burnout is one of the most expensive drains on productivity. Gallup estimates global burnout costs $8.9 trillion annually. Seramount research shows burned-out employees are 2.6 times more likely to leave. HR leaders can redesign work to sustain energy, protecting focus time, balancing workloads, and supporting caregivers and historically marginalized groups who benefit most from well-designed hybrid flexibility.

These are not “extras”—they are the conditions that enable people to meet the outcome standards business leaders set.

The Step Leaders Still Underestimate: Listening as Strategic Infrastructure

Even the best-defined standards will fail if employees don’t see their experiences reflected in them. What matters isn’t just listening—it’s structured listening that feeds directly into change management. When organizations gather real insight through voice sessions, focused dialogues, and ongoing feedback, then use those insights to shape decisions, productivity stays grounded in reality and employees trust the process.

Listening shows employees they are partners in shaping how work evolves. It reduces skepticism. It surfaces friction early. And it turns productivity from something policed to something co-owned.

Listening is the system that keeps transparency alive.

Redefining Productivity Is HR’s Leadership Mandate

The future of productivity will not be restored by mandates, monitoring, or nostalgia for pre-pandemic norms. It will be shaped by whether organizations define productivity with clarity, measure it transparently, and refine it continuously with their people.

HR leaders are uniquely positioned to lead that shift—not by choosing sides in the hybrid debate, but by establishing the frameworks that move the conversation beyond presence and toward performance.

Hybrid work can expose fractures or fuel transformation. The difference depends on whether HR leads the redefinition—or lets legacy assumptions write the next chapter.

The post The Productivity Strategy That Actually Boosts Performance: Build It with Your People appeared first on Seramount.

Seramount offers our members research and resources based on the combined expertise of more than 25 researchers and subject-matter experts on staff.  can help members bridge the gap that arises when doing their own research on DEI in the workspace. Seramount can offer clarity and solutions tailor-made for your specific organizational needs.

There are various business sources that are creating some confusion around HR and DEI topics, but Seramount offers tools to use the next time our members look through the headlines and see something that relates to an issue they need to solve in their organization.

The Challenge: Sorting Signal from the Noise

The writers of many articles are tasked to bring in readership with catchy titles and openings. However, they do HR and DEI professionals a disservice as they are frequently either articles that are filled with a single individual’s take on a topic or un-cited information provided through an interview with an individual or company about their limited experience with the topic.  

The notoriety of the individual or company tends to make the article appear seemingly as generalizable information and a reliable source for an HR or DEI professional to use and apply in their own organization. As a result of reading loads and loads of articles written in a similar way or using similar titles, they appear to follow a pattern and consequently grow to appear more “valid,” as our brains respond well to repetition. This gives us the confidence to believe that what these articles are saying is true and will work at our companies; however, when dissected, we realize that we merely have read multiple articles in which a single individual or single company described their experience with the topic or issue we’re trying to resolve, often discounting decades of research that both academic researchers and think tanks have been developing to resolve those very issues.  

There is research going back to the early 20th century citing the importance of psychological safety, transparency, and communication to employees to ensure engagement, motivation, and loyalty; however, current-day Forbes, Inc., and Medium articles describe how companies are struggling to keep their employees engaged and reduce turnover. A quick navigation to anonymous websites such as Glassdoor, Indeed, and Fishbowl and even the anonymous online sessions we run at here at Seramount with our Employee Voice Session technology show many employees feel left in the dark surrounding what is happening within their organizations. They don’t feel the current environment is psychologically safe to mention any type of dissent or confusion. Google’s Project Aristotle was a phenomenal real-world project displaying the power of psychological safety. It was guided by the well-respected Amy Edmonson, but when Project Aristotle was released to the public, corporate professionals were treating it like the newest and shiniest approach to helping their employees, when really the need for creating psychologically safe work environments had been around since the 1960s.

What Is Happening Here? 

Academic research is written in such a way that it caters to those who conduct research themselves. N’s, statistical power, effect sizes, Cohen’s d ratings, and Pearson coefficients are not easily decipherable terms for someone without a statistical background. The academic writing format required for journal submissions does not cater to a casual reader and at times can be a difficult content structure to interpret. Because of this, if you do not have a consulting team such as Seramount to help summarize these articles, you are left with relying on business article sources that may or may not provide citations that you can reference and easily verify yourself. Potentially, the writers themselves might not be able to fully synthesize the journal article, so miscommunication may occur within their article, or they may revert to interviewing/quoting an individual who is well regarded in the business world, presenting those quotations as sage advice. 

What Is the Solution? 

Seramount is here to provide HR professionals and DEI readers a few key rules to remember when reading through their article feed to determine if an article is a useful source of information: 

1. Look at the writer of the article and any background information they provide: 

Are they a dedicated writer with expertise on the topic? Did they interview x number of individuals for the article? 

2. Consider the amount of references: 

Are the statements being made in the article calling back to what a single individual said, or are they referencing a survey or study from a reputable source that collected data from a considerable amount of individuals? 

3. Look into the references: 

Are there links to the references being made in the article? If there are none, this is a red flag. If there are links, click through each of them until you get to the original source. At times, these articles simply reference themselves and don’t cite the original source until you dig deeply. Once you get to the original source, compare what the actual survey or academic article found to what the news article states. A lot can get lost in translation when references are “telephoned” from one article to the next.  

4. Don’t be afraid to ask for help: 

Some of these articles might lead you to a mound of academic references that are difficult to interpret. This is where you should reach out to anyone internally who has an academic background or to people within your network and start a conversation on the topic and see where their searches have led them. To take it a step further, when developing a plan of action, reaching out to agencies such as ours can be a great help, whether that outreach consists of paid services or simply looking through articles and reports published by institutions that are working through these topics as their business mission. 

5. Talk to your employees: 

Did you talk to your employees about this? Did you ask them for their reactions and feedback? What did they say? Step 5 is quite arguably the most important piece here. Even if you want to ignore the other steps, take whatever information or solution you believe you have found and speak to your employees about it. Ideally, this would be in an anonymous, safe space such as what we provide with our Employee Voice Session technology (EVS). Either way, bringing your ideas and solutions to your employees first and obtaining their reactions and input will give you the best course of action before sinking any time, money, and resources into something being done at another company or something that is working for them. Your employees are unique, and your work culture is different through its various nuances, processes, and geographies. Give your employees a chance to be heard, and the solutions will most certainly come to you.

In summary, if you are unsure of the truth behind what you see online, Seramount’s experts are here to help synthesize information and offer informed solutions to keep your organization and its employees psychologically safe and in line with your DEI goals. 

If you are interested in learning more about partnering with Seramount, please contact us.

The post From Noise to Knowledge: Deciphering the DEI Information Maze appeared first on Seramount.

The Black History Month 2023 theme, “Black Resistance,” honors the history of resisting historical and ongoing oppression throughout US history. To survive, Black people have organized insurrections against their enslavers, created community by offering sanctuary during times of crisis, and developed cultural centers to support the intellectual development of communities when public support was unobtainable. This month is a call to everyone to study the history of Black history in the United States and to celebrate and create spaces where Black life can be sustained, fortified, and respected.

There are many virtual offerings this year to celebrate Black History Month and other ways to engage employees throughout the month:

• A Black History Month Virtual Festival hosted by the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH)
• Engage in a popular Black History Month Virtual Team Building session where companies can engage in history lessons, trivia, and live tours of iconic Black meccas, such as the Shaw neighborhood in Washington, DC
• Host a virtual lunch and learn series that takes place each week throughout the month—the following topics can be examples for discussions:
  • Black history in space exploration
  • How Southern American food was shaped by Black history
  • Black inventors and ingenuity
• Host a virtual poetry reading with work from Black authors, such as those who can be found in this guide

Charitable donations to organizations promoting and advancing Black excellence is another option to show support throughout the month. Some organizations include:

• Black Girls Code
• Feed Black Futures
• Innocence Project
• NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund

Below, see what some DBP members are doing to celebrate and honor Black History Month in 2023.

Aramark

Aramark’s LEAD (Leaders & Employees of African Descent) employee resource group (ERG) is celebrating BHM with employees in several ways. Employees from across the company will gather at Aramark global headquarters in Philadelphia from February 22 to February 24, for the third annual LEAD Summit. This year’s theme is Leading the Way: Fostering Dynamic Leaders That Are Connected, Protected, and Respected. Through a partnership with Temple University, this year’s Summit allows participants to engage with organizational leaders, enrich their professional journeys, and develop their leadership competencies. In alignment with the Summit theme, the ERG will host a variety of events throughout the month that focus on empowerment, culture, history, and intersectionality, including these:

• Recognizing the end of Lunar New Year and the kickoff of BHM, LEAD will partner with the Amplify ERG to host a Soul x Seoul Food event. Attendees will get to watch a virtual cooking demonstration of a recipe that has roots in both cultures.
• Virtual book discussion on The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama: Employees will discuss insights from the book and ways to apply the themes of the book in their daily lives.
• Virtual Tour of Ghana’s Cape Coast Castle (known as the “Slave trade castle”): Attendees will have the chance to learn the history of the slave trade and its roots in West Africa.

Aramark is continuing the celebrating with some external events and partnerships as well, including these:

• A partnership with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF), which advances educational opportunities for students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, to launch the Aramark HBCU Emerging Leaders Program.
  • The program will offer 15 students from HBCUs a two-day immersion at Aramark’s headquarters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, focusing on career exploration and professional development. Students attending this immersion will be invited to engage in planned simulations, network with executive leadership, participate in recruitment activities, and take advantage of opportunities to find internships and full-time employment post-graduation.
• In celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Black History Month, LEAD partnered with Aramark Community Relations and the Aramark Young Professionals ERG on a book drive benefiting young readers in Chicago, Dallas, Denver, and Philadelphia. The book drive will culminate as a community service event during the Summit, where employees will be able to organize the books collected and create tote bags and bookmarks.

Bristol Myers Squibb

This year’s theme at Bristol Myers Squibb Black History Month Global Business Forum is “Be Educated. Be Empowered. Be BOLD!” It’s a call for shared responsibility to be educated and empowered so that the company can make bold decisions for patients and local communities, colleagues, and the business and industry:

• Be Educated about the contributions Black Americans have made to our nation and world.
• Be Empowered to act in our communities.
• Be BOLD on behalf of patients and communities everywhere.

During the month, BMS’s Black Organization for Leadership and Development (BOLD) People and Business Resource Group (BRG) will offer a variety of events and opportunities for colleagues to learn, celebrate, and act. The company started the celebration on MLK Jr. Day with a book drive and walk challenge. The official start of the Black History Month celebration begins with explaining the significance of the holiday, the theme above, support of the company’s community partners, and a discussion about BMS’s work in the Black community that goes beyond this month. Some events offered to employees include:

• Keynote with Dr. Chris Pernell and our Chief Diversity Officer and Vice President Pamela Fisher: Known as the Apostle of Public Health, Dr. Chris T. Pernell is a dynamic physician leader and social change agent.
• Improve your speaking skills! Join Nicole Leverett, Stefan Ade, and special guest Wendy Short Bartie for an interactive workshop to improve your speaking skills.
• A panel discussion that will explore the importance of psychological safety and authenticity in high-performing teams.

In support of the company’s commitment to expanding employee giving, the BMS Foundation is providing a 3 to 1 match for BMS employee donations to the following three organizations in honor of Black History Month:

• National Urban League
• Congressional Black Caucus Foundation
• Boys and Girls Clubs of America

Additionally, BMS is hosting a Book Drive to benefit the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. Employees can donate both new and used books. For new book donations, there is a curated list of books by Black authors sharing culturally impactful stories that has been shared with employees to consider.

Every Wednesday throughout February, BMS’s Innovators Podcast will be talking with the “Twin Doctors,” Drs. Jeremy and Jermaine Hogstrom, for a special series on inequities in health care.

EY

Throughout Black History Month, EY will celebrate the contributions and achievements of Black Americans who’ve impacted not just their communities, but the country and the world. The EY Black Professional Network (BPN) and Americas DEI team will co-host a firm-wide webcast open to all employees with the theme “Mobilizing for Impact” as a call to action to get connected locally, to become the change we seek. Building on the long legacy of informal civic engagement in the Black community, “Mobilizing for Impact” expands the conversation around volunteerism and engagement within and for Black communities. EY will be celebrating in the following ways:

• Producing a firm-wide Black History Month webcast to celebrate the contributions and achievements of Black Americans.
• Encouraging participation in EY Ripples, our corporate responsibility program, which gives employees opportunities to volunteer in the communities where they live and work.
• Requesting professionals volunteer in the letter-writing campaign with Words Alive focused on Black representation in literature intended to help others develop a commitment to reading, become lifelong learners, and advocate for their future.
• Promoting a Black History Month Challenge with actions our people can take to learn more about Black culture and contributions to increase connectivity and engagement between chapters on the local level.
• Educating through internal communication channels and social media about Black History Month.
• Continuing to pursue the Management Leadership for Tomorrow Black Equity at Work certification to raise awareness of our commitment to achieve Black equity internally and externally.
• The company’s leaders and people will participate in and contribute to Black History Month events across client organizations.

Gallagher

To celebrate Black History Month, Gallagher’s Global CHRO will be sending out an email message to all employees celebrating the month and outlining the company’s initiatives for the month. Additionally, the company will be spotlighting one Black-Owned Supplier Business to showcase our supplier diversity program efforts.

Gallagher will also curate resources about the Black and African American Community on the company’s intranet centered on Inclusion and Diversity, including a book featuring a Black author from the eLearn Library with supplemental discussion questions for divisions to leverage if they wish to host a discussion during the month.

Lastly, Gallagher will create a video to promote and educate employees about sponsorships and programs related to Black Heritage and History, specifically the company’s involvement as a Founding Year Sponsor of the Black Insurance Industry Collective.

On Gallagher’s social media platforms, the company will be curating a social media post celebrating the month and its importance as well as “My Company” posts on LinkedIn for colleagues to share on their own profiles. Gallagher also will be creating social media features recognizing three Black colleagues at different levels and from different regions in the company who have had a significant impact on Gallagher.

KPMG

Efforts to celebrate Black History Month are being led by KPMG’s African Ancestry (AA) business resource group (BRG), which came up with this year’s theme: VIBES or Visioning Inclusion, Building Equitable Solutions. The sub-theme is “Building a workplace culture conducive to the future of work.” To kick off the month, a fireside chat with Black leaders in the company will be held, followed by these events:

• Black History Month in Advisory
• Authenticity in the Workplace
• A leadership panel discussion
• Lunch & Learns
• Financial Literacy session
• National Trivia Competition

KPMG will also have a video featuring BRG members and allies sharing what type of workplace culture gives them ”good VIBES” and several communications will be distributed, including a ”Read, Watch, Join” list of curated educational content.

For external impact, KPMG will provide several virtual volunteer opportunities throughout the month in collaboration with the Community Impact team. The sessions include:

• Hosting a career networking event for students and recent graduates
• Providing professional guidance for job seekers in a virtual workforce workshop

The company’s training facility, KPMG Lakehouse, will host several campaigns, including:

• Trivia at Lakehouse
• Black Partner Montage displaying headshots of Black partners on the legacy banners throughout the facilities

KPMG’s CEO, Management Committee members, CDO, and other firm leaders will be publishing content in support of Black History Month. The company is also providing templates for employees to share to their social media platforms for celebration across the organization.

KPMG will also have several featured stories, including:

• Leading the way: highlighting AA BRG members who serve as Veteran BRG leaders and the work they are doing in their local community
• HBCU to KPMG: highlighting recent HBCU grads and why they picked KPMG as their employer of choice

PNC

PNC’s Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) History and Heritage Thought Leadership series offers programming for employees, clients, prospects, and community partners to learn more about the different traditions, backgrounds, and cultures of their peers. D&I regularly hosts enterprise-wide events through the “PNC The Thread” series in recognition of various History and Heritage Months, including Black History Month. Introduced in 2022, PNC The Thread is a focused event available internally and externally for employees, clients, and partners. These events feature a renowned external speaker and help to further PNC’s commitment to fostering a culture of inclusion.

This year’s event, “Understanding Black Identity in America,” takes place on February 9 and features award-winning journalist and founding director of The Race Card Project, Michele Norris, for a candid conversation about race, culture, and the modern civil rights movement in America. Employees are encouraged not only to register and attend the event but also to host in-person watch parties with their teams, employee business resource groups (EBRGs), and colleagues. These in-person watch parties promote engagement among employees and often lead to groups having more inclusive conversations with their peers. The following African American EBRG chapters will be hosting watch parties:

• Pittsburgh
• Detroit
• Washington, DC
• Kansas City
• Western Michigan
• New Jersey
• Philadelphia

In addition to attending the “PNC The Thread” event, several EBRGs and markets are planning and hosting local events to commemorate Black History Month:

• PNC’s Dallas D&I Council and PNC’s Multicultural EBRG will be the presenting sponsor of the Dallas Business Journal’s “Leaders in Diversity Awards” in February
• PNC’s North Texas Multicultural EBRG will be hosting a watch party to view the PNC The Thread Black History Month event on February 9. Afterward, their leadership team will be conducting a panel discussion based on the topic of Black Identity.
• PNC’s Central Indiana African American EBRG is hosting the following events/activities:
  • Membership Bowling Social for members of the EBRG
  • Black History Month Trivia Contest: This will be held weekly during February with various prizes for the correct answers.
  • PNC The Thread Black History Month Live Listening Session and Post-event Session: This event will host internal associates at PNC’s downtown office to listen to the Michele Norris conversation and host a discussion after the event both in person and virtually via Teams.  

“PNC The Thread” events are open for clients, prospects, and community partners to attend, and often employees who regularly engage with these external groups will invite them to the event, where external stakeholders can learn more about PNC’s overall commitment to D&I.

PNC is also proud to partner with the DuSable Museum of African American History to curate stories of our past and build a better future. For more than 10 years, PNC and the DuSable Museum have collaborated on numerous efforts, including Black History Month, Financial Education, and PNC Grow Up Great®, the organization’s early childhood education initiative. 

PNC will also be sharing two online videos featuring highlights on Azie Taylor Morton and Madam C.J. Walker via PNC’s social media platforms. PNC’s Social Media team will also release Print, Facebook, and Instagram ads, including banner highlights of partnerships and the impact of Morton and Walker. Learn more at PNC’s webpage dedicated to Black History Month here. 

Zimmer Biomet

Zimmer Biomet’s team members reflect the global communities the company serves. During the month of February 2023, members of the African and Black Leadership for Excellence (ABLE) ERG will take part in a CEO roundtable to hear Bryan Hanson’s thoughts on engagement efforts, investments, and expansion of ABLE-driven initiatives. The ABLE leadership team will share the 2023 ABLE Business Plan. During the roundtable discussion leaders will outline what ABLE needs to make our Employee Resource Group successful for 2023 and beyond. The ABLE ERG will also host an external speaker who will travel to corporate HQ to discuss authenticity. Attendees will take part in a catered lunch with a menu that has been specially created for the event.

ABLE plays an instrumental role with several community partnerships, including:

• Boys and Girls Club of Fort Wayne, IN with an ongoing partnership with employees who visit and speak. For the 2022 holiday season members sponsored three families with toys, requested household items.
• Zimmer Biomet’s Chief Operating Officer will lead a panel discussion at a Historically Black College and University focused on business.
• In January 2022 team members participated in community clean-up activities in Selma, AL after massive tornadoes destroyed a large portion of the city.
• Movement is Life and Nth Dimension are key corporate partnerships the company partners with all year round, including the month of February.

ABLE members will be featured throughout the month in team member spotlight posts in posts on LinkedIn. At the end of February, plans include a photo collage of how Zimmer Biomet team members highlighted and celebrated. The hashtags to be used in 2023 social media platforms are: #ThrivingatZB, #ZimmerBiomet

Beginning in 2023, it is the aim of ABLE to highlight the manners with which our team members celebrate heritage, culture, and their commitments throughout the entire year. ABLE leadership is adopting a Black 365 mentality aimed at ensuring team members are developed and feel connected. The ERG leaders are intentional in how the ABLE strategy we are driving help to deliver against the company’s strategic pillars.

The post DBP Members Celebrate Black History Month 2023 appeared first on Seramount.

As leaders of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) alike, it’s important to identify when action and communication are needed to help the workforce feel secure, heard, and that they matter. Additionally, some events may enter the room loudly, like the Roe v. Wade overturn, there are others that present themselves differently or to a smaller demographic but require the same attention, like the current droughts taking place in various corners of the country. Here are four critical moments when employee communication is vital for mental health.

Impactful Community Events

We all have been touched by mass shootings that have taken place across the country and events of police brutality. They create a ripple effect of despair within communities that leave long lasting impressions. For example, the murder of George Floyd caused an awakening across the globe, and as Seramount President, Subha Barry, stated “It is clear that this fight hasn’t been won just yet, so employers must keep listening to their talent, hold themselves accountable by being transparent about their progress in this area, and recognize that this commitment to DEI must remain strong, even during potential economic downturns.” Additionally, when Asian hate crimes began to spread during the pandemic, we saw significant mental health declines that caused unsettling distress. To help employers discuss both of these difficult events within their organization, Seramount created research titled the Pledge to Progress where we followed more than 100 companies pledges to improve racial representation and pay equity to bolster employment, health, and education in underserved communities. Additionally, we developed a communication guide to address the escalated violence against AAPI community, with the hope of helping leaders create dialogue both internally and externally for their employees and ERGs.

Natural Disasters

Hurricane Harvey hit Houston, TX in 2018 and was declared a “once in a lifetime” storm that permanently left its mark on the city. Dr. Asim Shah, professor and executive vice chair in the Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Baylor, stated that “The first month after Harvey, we saw a lot of anxiety and insomnia. Close to a year after Harvey, we are still seeing depression and anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder as well.”

Recently, the west coast has experienced wildfires, Missouri floods are at its peak and New York has issued orders to conserve water. Natural disasters can cause anxiety, depression, PTSD and other mental health factors that can impact work productivity levels. Swift communication that first empathizes with employees followed by solutions that provide resources and useful information can change the morale of an organization and the individuals within it.

Life-altering Political Decisions

The Supreme Court’s decision in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization left many employees shaken and distressed. Dedication to ensuring that each employee feels safe and can bring their authentic self to work continues, and standards for civil discourse to build understanding across diverse perspectives should endure. In an ever-changing political climate where lawmakers and government officials are becoming increasingly divided and sometimes divisive to individual lifestyles, mental health should prevail as companies figure out if they should speak up about abortion rights and how.

Personal Adversity

In an interview with Harper’s Bazaar, singer Lizzo stated that “Fame happens to you, and it’s more of an observation of you. People become famous, and it’s like—my DNA didn’t change. Nothing changed about me… my anxiety didn’t go away. My depression didn’t go away. The things that I love didn’t go away. I’m still myself. But the way y’all look at me and perceive me has changed. It’s a very weird, kind of formless thing.” It’s important to know that everyone’s mental health journey is different as well as how open someone is with what their current situation is. Consistent communication with direct reports ERGs and the organization as a whole can impact someone’s silent journey and potentially raise the level of trust between employee and employer.

The impact of the mental health and wellness of the nation’s labor force and society overall may be one of the longest lasting consequences of crisis situations. If you need help with communication in times of disruption, read our resource guide to support you as the world surrounding us continues to change and new crises arise.

Seramount

To learn more about Seramount’s powerful DEI solutions, contact us.

The post 4 Critical Moments When Employee Communication is Vital for Mental Health appeared first on Seramount.

The last two years have seen increased violence against AAPI individuals in the United States and globally. Now is the time not only to celebrate the contributions AAPI individuals have made but to deepen our learning of their lived experiences in order to be better allies and advocates. See Seramount’s guide on Addressing Escalating Violence Against Asian Americans in the Workplace as a start.

Additionally, there are many virtual offerings this year to celebrate AAPI Heritage Month. People can explore the following resources:

• The Virtual Asian American Art Museum
• The Museum of Chinese in America’s Virtual Exhibits
• Asia Society’s “Asian Americans Building America” video series
• PBS Documentaries on Asian Americans
• Netflix’s Celebrate Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Stories
• Podcasts that provide varied perspectives on the AAPI experience

Charitable donations to organizations promoting and advancing AAPI people is another option to show support. Some organizations include:

• Asian American Advocacy Fund
• National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum
• South Asian Americans Leading Together
• Stop AAPI Hate
• The Asian American Foundation

May is also Mental Health Awareness Month, which aims to raise awareness and educate the public about mental illnesses and reduce the stigma that surrounds mental illnesses. It has been observed in the United States since 1949.

There are various themes for this month based on the supporting organization. Mental Health America (MHA) is amplifying the message: “Back to Basics” to provide foundational knowledge about mental health and mental health conditions. The Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) is calling to #breakthestigma associated with mental health disorders by making an impact and sharing a personal story to inspire those facing similar challenges.

The importance of addressing mental health at this time cannot be underscored. At Seramount, we’ve added several questions on mental health to our 2022 Inclusion Index since it’s such an important topic because of racial trauma as well as pandemic trauma and Ukraine, economic, climate, and other issues. Questions including whether senior leadership is actively engaged in supporting employee mental health, whether companies offer specific programs to address racial trauma, and whether organizations provide education or training to all employees on mental health issues assess inclusive and supportive workplaces.

Below, see what some DBP members are doing to celebrate and honor Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and Mental Health Awareness Month in 2022:

Astellas Pharma US

Astellas Pharma US is hosting several events to honor APAHM:

• Signature AEIG Speaker event: Aisha Lee will share her story of “What’s it like to be a Chinese Muslim?” Hosted on May 3.
• Meet a Leader event: Eshwar Sankar, head of Credits and Pricing at Dividend Finance, and Naresh Koka, VP Microsoft Alliance, will share the details of their career journeys. Hosted on May 12.
• Awa Odori Japanese Dance: Astellas Japanese employees will provide an overview and virtual demonstration of the art of Awa Odori dance. Hosted on May 19.
• Virtual Team Building Cooking virtual event: Guest chef Archana Patel will be teaching employees how to make a popular Asian street food—Chana Masala and Naan bread. Attendees can join in the delicious fun and cook along with Archana from the comfort of their own kitchen. Hosted on May 20.
• COVID-19 and Mental Health event: A panel of Astellas employees and Japanese expats will share personal stories of their experiences and struggles with COVID-19 illness, how it impacted both their personal and professional lives, and the importance of speaking up. Hosted on May 24.
• Feed My Starving Children volunteer activity: Volunteer efforts during this event will help support the people of Ukraine during their national crisis. All are encouraged to join and bring the family. Hosted on May 16, 18, and 19; AM and PM sessions available.

They are also having two 2-hour sessions on May 10 and 12 focusing on the mental health of health care workers and patients.

Baxter Healthcare

This year, Baxter’s Asian Leadership Network is aligning with the Federal Asian Pacific American Council’s (FAPAC) 2022 theme of “Advancing Leadership Through Collaboration.” Collaboration is the art of bringing people together to leverage their skills, talents, and knowledge to achieve Baxter’s mission of “Saving and Sustaining Lives.”

Here is a list of their planned events:

• Yoga—An Integrated Approach to Wellness
• AANHPI Heritage Month Trivia Game—Employees can join ALN for a fun and interactive session to learn more about AANHPI culture, history, and contributions, and celebrate the community.
• GROOV3 Dance Fitness
• Moderated panel discussion with Baxter senior leaders on “Advancing Leaders Through Collaboration.”
• Manufacturing Spotlight Series—This video series will feature AANHPI Baxter leaders at various plants who play an integral role in manufacturing products. It will also shine a spotlight on how their plants support inclusion and diversity.
• Memorial Day—United States: ALN will collaborate with the BaxVET Business Resource Group to celebrate their veteran employees. This special spotlight will feature a veteran employee of AANHPI descent who will share what Memorial Day and their heritage mean to them.
• “People of Baxter” feature on three Asian Leadership Network BRG leaders (scheduled for release the second week in May).

Capgemini

Capgemini has a month full of events for employees hosted by the CREATE ERG.

Week 1: Spotlight on People

Event: CREATE x GOLD “Working Across Culture: Looking Through the Asian American Lens”

— Friday, May 6

Week 2: Spotlight on Community & Food

Event: CREATE x WomenLEAD Book Club Discussion “Red Thread of Fate”

— Thursday, May 12

Week 3: Spotlight on History & Culture

APAHM BIG EVENT: Tom Ikeda Keynote session, hosted by CREATE, moderated by David Yamashita, VP and CREATE Executive Sponsor. Guest speaker Tom Ikeda will speak on the topic “The World War II Japanese American Incarceration and Why it Matters Today.”

— Thursday, May 19

Week 4: Spotlight on Commerce

CREATE All-Hands Meeting: APAHM Celebration

— Wednesday, May 25

Capgemini is also posting several APAHM-themed banners via Microsoft Teams.

The Estée Lauder Companies

The Estée Lauder Companies is hosting four capstone events for this heritage month:

1. Glow from Within: Bobbi Brown and La Mer sponsor a fireside chat with an Asian beauty influencer on her relationship with identity, her path to success, and the inspiration behind her viral makeup trend. Hosted by Marc Reagan, Executive Director, Global Artistry & Consumer Experience at Bobbi Brown.
2. AAPI Champion in the Business: The brand cluster of Jane Hertzmark Hudis, Executive Group President, The Estée Lauder Companies, sponsors a discussion with an influential AAPI leader in the fashion/beauty industry.
3. Pacific Islander Wellness: AAG (ELC’s Employee Resource Group that aims to strengthen community and safety, promote wellness, combat stigma, and advocate for inclusivity on the topic of disability and mental health) and Kindred will cosponsor a wellness event with The Kū Project to share Hawaiian lifestyle tips on fitness, health, and nutrition.
4. Asian Beauty Representation from Around the World: An engaging conversation on the topic of “Asian Beauty & Representation” with speakers based in the North America and APAC regions who will discuss their views on beauty trends around the world. Sponsored by Travel Retail (TR) in partnership with AAG and TR ID&E.

The AAG ERG is also actively encouraging members to donate to these nonprofit partners:

• Asian Americans for Equality: Their aim is to advance racial, social, and economic justice for Asian Americans and other systematically disadvantaged communities, guided by Asian Americans’ experiences and commitment to civil rights.
• Welcome to Chinatown: a nonprofit organization that supports New York City’s Chinatown businesses and amplifies community voices that generate much-needed momentum to preserve one of NYC’s most vibrant neighborhoods.

Experian

Experian says they proudly embrace AAPI communities. Via their Asian American ERG, they are celebrating AAPI Heritage Month via region-wide communications and virtual events. They are excited to join their colleagues and celebrate the rich, diverse cultures of the AAPI communities.

Throughout the month of May and in recognition of the Year of the Tiger, the Asian American ERG is sponsoring three events for our employees:

• A fireside chat with MSNBC anchor, author, and filmmaker Richard Lui
• Ask Me Anything: Charting your own path virtual event
• Virtual volunteer event supporting Coalition for a Better Chinese American Community

Experian recently announced their enhanced partnerships with the National Association of Asian American Professionals (NAAAP) and Ascend—two nationally recognized organizations that support the AAPI communities. These partnerships and more can be viewed on their DEI website: www.experian.com/diversity.

Through these partnerships:

• Their employees will benefit from their personal and professional development opportunities
• They exemplify their commitment to the representation and development of their AAPI colleagues, internally and externally
• They further their mission of financial power to all through sponsorship of targeted financial inclusion and empowerment programs

Experian partners with the National Association of Asian American Professionals (NAAAP) and Ascend – two nationally recognized organizations that support AAPI communities. These partnerships and more can be viewed on their DEI website: www.experian.com/diversity

Experian’s social media teams are working closely with their Asian American ERG and North America DEI team on social media posts that showcase the company’s support for, and celebration of, their AAPI communities.

Experian thanks the greater AAPI community for their impact on society and gives special recognition to their Asian American ERG leaders for creating opportunities for their colleagues to celebrate their diverse communities. Please visit Experian’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion website (www.experian.com/diversity) to learn more about their work and see that work in action.

Intel

During AAPI Heritage Month, Intel will recognize the contributions, accomplishments, and heritage of Pacific Islanders and Asian Americans. This year’s theme is “The Tapestry of Connections: Weaving of Culture, Language, and Society,” recognizing the vast diversity within the Asian and Pacific Islander communities while amplifying inclusion and belonging.

Intel has many events planned, including:

• Internal speakers talking about career and being authentic
• A US Olympian speaking on connection between career and culture
• Panel discussions on ways to promote a healthy lifestyle and cultural intersectionality
• Workshops introducing mental health topics to the community, to help normalize a historically taboo subject, and meditation workshops
• Virtual cooking shows
• Internal and external social media and employee stories
• Community volunteer STEM opportunity
• Virtual music concert to end the month-long celebration

Intel’s AAPI Heritage Month planning committee is made up of representatives from several of Intel’s 44 Employee Resource Groups, specifically Asian Cultural Integration, Intel Bangladesh Association, Intel Chinese Employee Network, Intel Filipino Employee Network, Intel India Employee Group, Intel Nepalese Group, Intel Taiwan Network, Intel Vietnamese Group, and Pacific Islanders of Intel.

Merck & Co.

The Merck Asia Pacific Association (APA) employee resource group is celebrating their 15-year anniversary in 2022 as an organization that has driven and continue to deliver on their mission of developing future leaders, building a social community and being a valued business partner by effectively promoting and leveraging Asian diversity and providing business insights to drive Merck’s competitive advantage in the marketplace. For May Heritage Month, they are also celebrating with the theme of “Be Bold, Be Brave, Be You” to highlight and empower their community of diverse colleagues and allies to speak out and share their stories, experiences, and strengths.

They have put together a wide variety of programs and activities, leveraging internal and external partners, that highlight the unique journeys and perspectives that their leaders can bring to an organization, the challenges they have faced and have drawn upon throughout their careers to excel through adversity, and how developing a sense of community can allow for greater career fulfillment and development. Now more than ever, the group feels the need to raise the voices, thoughts, and collective experience of the Asian community and its allies to build a sense of belonging and inclusion to strive toward a brighter future.

Internal actions to celebrate APAHM at Merck include:

• SAFE Actions & Conversations—May Mental Health Awareness Month
• Professional Development Series (PDS) event to drive topics to help their community members in career advancement.
• Other specific May Heritage Month events/activities

During the first week of this month, Merck will kick off the May Heritage Month with a fireside chat with Indra Nooyi, ex-Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo and best-selling author of My Life in Full. Indra Nooyi will share about her life experiences on her journey touching on topics of our theme: “Be Bold, Be Brave, Be You” moderated by our Executive Sponsor, Vice President and Head of Manufacturing Strategy & Business Development, Moushmi Culver.

Merck will also roll out the second cohort of their global mentoring program with tailored resources and “curriculum” to support the unique mentor/mentee relationships of the APA community.

In the second week, there will be a virtual event with Sanat Chattopadhyay, Executive Vice President of Merck Manufacturing Division, moderated by one of our manufacturing plant managers, Amanda Taylor.

In the third week, Merck will host two events: the first event is a panel discussion on the topic of health disparities in the AAPI community with senior leaders and a second is a virtual panel event on “My Journey, My Culture, My Career,” in which Asian colleagues will share about their unique career journeys. 

In the final week, Merck will host an in-person panel discussion on tapping into digital innovation to drive corporate priorities with Ron Kim, Chief Technology Officer, and Sunil Patel, Senior Vice President of Business Development.

Externally, Merck is collaborating with Ascend and TAAF for May Heritage Month themes and activities. They are also hosting local volunteering activities by members during May.

Their ERG global lead will be a panelist on Seramount’s Asian Pacific American Month webinar to discuss the actions taken by Merck in response to Anti-Asian incidents to create a psychologically safe space at work for Asian employees.

Social media actions include:

• Three “Thought Leader Thursdays” blog posts from senior leaders of the organization reflecting on the theme of “Be Bold, Be Brave, Be You”
• Four Employee Spotlights and their AAPI stories
• An Infographic campaign on health disparity within AAPI community
• Internal social media campaign: #myAAPIstory & #myAPstory

Moody’s

Here are some activities Moody’s has lined up for Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and Mental Health Awareness Month:

• Employee Newsletter and Intranet article about AAPI Heritage Month
• Zoom backgrounds with quotes from influential/historic Asian leaders
• Employee communications workshop featuring external agency/experts, cosponsored by AAPI and Generational Business Resource Groups
• Mental Health Awareness event cosponsored by AAPI, Multicultural, Mental Health, and Women’s Business Resource Groups
• External speaker focusing on AAPI heritage and related topics

MIT Lincoln Lab

At MIT Lincoln Lab APAHM events and initiatives include:

• A speaker from Wellesley College commenting on her research (Smitha Radhakrishnan, virtual)
• Desserts and Crafts (in person)
• Anti-Asian hate report update, call for allies and action (virtual)
• Bulletin article: past and present initiatives, current events, encourage people to join the PALS Employee Resource Group

NASDAQ

NASDAQ is hosting a few activities:

• Fireside chat with Anna Mok and Right to Be about being an Asian leader
• Internal panel with Asian leaders at Nasdaq, including Roland Chai
• Partnering with nonprofits for a bell ceremony and a donation-giving campaign
• The social media team is doing a tower shot campaign in Times Square showcasing significant Asian leaders.
• The social media team will also be posting about significant leaders of Asian descent over the years.

New York Life

New York Life will be celebrating AAPI Heritage Month in the following ways:

• Panel discussion for professional development featuring experts from Ascend on the Model Minority Myth, moderated by their Head of Insurance and Agency HR and Head of Talent Acquisition. Employees will learn why the model minority myth assigned to Asian Americans can lead to stereotypes and anti-Asian bias, and how to combat this myth.
• A cultural celebration event of traditional Indian and Korean dances
• External actions, including donations to support the Stop AAPI Hate nonprofit organization through volunteering
• A storytelling event with a New York City teacher and activist on Asian American rights and activism
• A coffee chat discussion with two of New York Life’s senior executive leaders.  Employees will learn about various topics such as professional development, interest and hobbies and cultural traditions.
• Promoting ERGs, leaders and AAPI Heritage Month via social media. For example, this feature story on the newsroom section of their website highlights AAPI employees who have made many achievements at the company and have contributed to NYL’s rich history.

Paramount

To celebrate Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Paramount’s AMP (Asian American & Pacific Islander Media Professionals) ERG is planning a conversation to examine the impact and legacy of Vincent Chin, 40 years after his murder.

In addition, AMP is hosting a discussion with AAPI talent behind and in front of the camera, and also partnering with the MTV Entertainment Group and Simon & Schuster to have a conversation with authors who contributed to their new book My Life: Growing Up Asian in America.
 

In partnership with community media arts organization Visual Communications, Paramount’s AMP (Asian American & Pacific Islander Media Professionals) ERG is hosting a panel discussion with three Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander filmmakers screening at the annual Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. Their films are part of this year’s film festival, which amplifies stories and storytellers throughout the Pacific region.

Parsons

Parsons has a few activities planned for this heritage month, hosted by their AAPI EBRG, SOAR (Society of Oceanic and Asian Regions).

The theme is Amplifying Voices, Empowering Authenticity: Celebrating Asian-American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month.

Throughout May, the SOAR EBRG will educate employees on AAPI issues, celebrate influential members of the AAPI community both throughout history and at Parsons, and activate Parsons AAPI individuals and their allies in support of a stronger voice and a brighter future for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

• Week one will focus on AAPI education, which will include a note from the SOAR executive sponsor, posts about AAPI notable firsts, and AAPI history.
• Weeks two and three will focus on celebrating the AAPI community. Parsons will recognize some of their great coworkers, both early career professionals and seasoned Parsons vets. They will also share delicious recipes and discuss mindful meditation.

Week four will focus on activation and allyship. Whether someone is an AAPI individual or an AAPI ally, there will be plenty of information shared on what they can do to elevate AAPI voices and support AAPIs in society.

PNC

During May, PNC’s Voices of Inclusion Podcast will feature Emmyrich (“Richie”) Vicente, a member of PNC’s Asian American Pacific Islander Employee Business Resource Group (AAPI EBRG). Richie will discuss the work the AAPI EBRG does to increase awareness and encourage allyship year-round. 

PNC’s signature event for AAPI Heritage Month is “Brave, Not Perfect: A Conversation with Reshma Saujani” on May 18. This virtual event is part of PNC’s The Thread, a thought leadership program offered internally to employees and externally to the public. Saujani is an international bestselling author and founder of Girls Who Code. During the webinar, Reshma will discuss her cultural upbringing and career obstacles that have shaped who she is today and what she is trying to help influence. Additionally, Reshma will talk about her work as an activist for the economic empowerment of women and girls and her new book, Pay Up: The Future of Women and Work (and Why It’s Different Than You Think). Christine Shambach, head of Mergers & Acquisitions, will give opening comments. Anusha Gibson, head of PNC’s Diversity & Inclusion Marketplace, will moderate the discussion with Reshma, and Ganesh Krishnan, enterprise Chief Information Officer, will close the event. This event is open to all PNC employees as well as clients, prospects, and community members. 

Additionally, PNC’s EBRG chapters are participating in the following activities: 

• Cincinnati Multicultural EBRG chapter: Hosting a panel event on May 20 with employees in the market sharing their journeys (how they migrated to the US, what impact has been made on them, their cultural differences, what brought them to PNC, etc.). 
• Southeast Florida Multicultural EBRG chapter: Hosting a watch party for The Thread AAPI event with 30 total attendees. 
• West & Central Florida Multicultural, Military, and Women Connect EBRG chapters: Hosting a watch party for The Thread AAPI event. 
• Pittsburgh AAPI, PREP, and Women Connect EBRG chapters: Hosting an event on cultural diversity in May and a Lunch & Learn with Christine Shambach, Head of Mergers and Acquisitions. 
• AAPI Greater Washington EBRG chapter: Hosting an Asian Love town hall event on May 5 and an AAPI Roundtable discussion directly after The Thread AAPI event.  

PNC’s marketing campaign approach for this heritage month is intended to amplify PNC’s brand awareness, build loyalty, and demonstrate the company’s commitment to diversity and inclusion within the Asian community by celebrating their beautiful culture, traditions, and contributions across America. Their goal is to add to their current media channels (DCN, print, and organic social) and to provide their local markets who serve this community with access to marketing pieces that will continue to widely recognize the celebration of the AAPI Heritage Month.  

PNC’s media plan includes print publications and digital content network spots (including Chinese and Korean spots in certain branch locations, and English versions in all branch/solution center locations), and it anticipates organic social media engagement. They also plan to debut a new external landing page on their corporate website dedicated to the AAPI community, with statements from PNC’s Chief Diversity Officer, Gina Coleman, and the AAPI EBRG Executive Chair, Viju Verghis.  PNC’s social media efforts will recognize, celebrate, and acknowledge AAPI month, promote the May 18 event with Reshma Saujani, and share perspectives from PNC’s chief diversity officer and members of the AAPI Employee Business Resource Group.

Robert Half

Led by Robert Half’s employee network group (ENG) for Pan-Asian professionals, Asian Professionals for Excellence (APEX), Robert Half will celebrate through various internal programming and activities, including these: participating in a virtual bhangra dance and tai chi lesson, recommending AAPI restaurant options and curating an employee Pan-Asian recipe “Cookbook Collection,” and hosting an internal keynote speaker.

Externally, Robert Half, alongside APEX, will be raising funds for the National Asian American Pacific Islander Mental Health Association (NAAPIMHA), a nonprofit organization committed to promoting the mental health and well-being of the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, and participating in an allyship event with Ascend, the largest Pan-Asian business professional membership organization in North America.

Their social media actions include a blog post campaign, a series of posts to be featured on the Robert Half Blog; social media reel: “Who’s Your Hero? Asian Leaders in America”; #Trailblazing and #AAPIHeritageMonth on Robert Half Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter accounts; and a “Did You Know” campaign in partnership with Ascend.

Southern New Hampshire University

Southern New Hampshire University is hosting two discussion/conversation programs.

On May 16, a discussion around the prompt: Why is there more stigma among Asian American communities to seek mental health services than any other community in the US?

On May 19, a discussion around the prompt: May commemorates the legacy, traditions, and culture of Asians, Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders across the US. Attendees will talk about the people from these cultures that they admire. How have members of the AAPI community had an influence on attendees or the world around them, and what do attendees admire most about them?

Unilever North America

Unilever’s Asian BRG is hosting a celebratory luncheon in the office with traditional foods and engaging activities.

They are also hosting healing circles specifically for the AAPI community and inviting Fidelity to discuss trends and best practices in saving for retirement for the community.

Lastly, they are hosting a fireside chat with Amanda Nyguen, CEO and founder of the nonprofit Rise, to hear her incredible story and perspective.

Valley Bank

Valley’s ASIA (Asian Society for Innovation & Advancement) Associate Resource Group (ARG) is leading their celebration of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month by hosting four events that focus on the areas of Cultural Awareness, Financial Literacy, and Professional Development.

The first event will be an ASIA ARG Virtual Networking Event on May 12. This event offers an opportunity for Valley associates to network with one another, build relationships, and learn more about the ASIA Associate Resource Group.

The second event will be an Asian Food Truck Day at Valley Headquarters on May 18. This event’s aim is to share Asian cultural traditions through food.

For the third event, the ASIA ARG will be hosting the fourth installment of Valley’s ARG “Access to Capital: Financial Empowerment Roundtable Series” event on May 19. This event offers an opportunity for Valley associates and customers to learn how Valley partners with local community partners to provide financial literacy training, and how that training aids in improving mortgage approval rates for Asian communities. The panelists will include Valley customers from Asian communities who will share their perspectives and experiences.

The final AAPI Heritage Month event will be “A Conversation with Valley Board Member, Suresh Sani” on May 25. Suresh Sani will speak to his experiences and talk about his career path and what has led him to his success.

ABLE, Valley’s Associate Resource Group for the disability and caretaker community, will participate in the Lincoln Tunnel 5K Special Olympics, benefiting the NJ Special Olympics Organization, on May 1. Valley Bank is now an official team of the NJ Special Olympics Organization and secured first place as a fundraising team.

In partnership with the NDC, Valley Bank is sending selected ASIA ARG members to the Global Diversity Council’s 2022 Asian American Pacific Islander Leadership Summit on May 19. Valley associates are also encouraged to attend DBP’s APAHM webinar and the ASIA ARG will feature the event in their internal communications.

Valley recognizes how taxing the COVID-19 pandemic has been on its associates, and the importance of focusing on mental health. On May 2, Valley will host the second of two sessions on “Emerging from the Pandemic—Managing the Transition.” These sessions provide an opportunity to acknowledge the hardships of the pandemic, how it has changed everyone, and tips for moving forward in a positive way.

Valley is also launching its bank-wide series titled, “Widening the Lens: Sharing Our Perspectives.”
The first session of this series, “Combating Unconscious Bias in the Workplace,” will provide an understanding of unconscious bias and how it affects relationships at work, and tools to mitigate implicit bias. This session will be followed by an opportunity for associates to engage in Real Talk, small group conversations based on mutual respect.

As a part of Valley’s commitment to inclusion education, Valley sends every associate weekly microlessons to build inclusion acumen and personal and professional growth. This month will feature microlessons on AAPI Heritage Month, the contributions and experiences of Asian Americans, mental health awareness, bringing authenticity to work, and combatting implicit bias. Valley will also feature these in corporate communications throughout the bank.

Social media actions include:

• Instagram commemorative posts for Jewish American Heritage Month and Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
• A LinkedIn post highlighting three of Valley’s AAPI associates 
• LinkedIn recaps of the following AAPI Heritage Month events: ASIA Associate Resource Group’s Virtual Networking Event, Access to Capital: Financial Empowerment Event, Asian Food Truck Day, and A Conversation with Valley Board Member, Suresh Sani
• LinkedIn recap of Valley Bank’s first “Widening the Lens: Sharing our Perspectives” session

Weill Cornell Medicine

To honor AAPI Heritage Month, the Office of Staff Diversity & Inclusion at Weill Cornell Medicine will be sponsoring an employee-led panel discussion, “Exploring AAPI Heritage: Family, Identities, and Moving Forward,” on May 23. The panel will explore the complexity and richness of AAPI heritage through experiences and stories, share ideas of being a “model minority” and “fitting in,” and reflect on what it means to be Asian American. It will be moderated by Katie Mooney, Managing Director of Diversity Best Practices at Seramount. She will be joined by panelists Dr. Robert Min, Chairman of Radiology, President & CEO of the Physician Organization; Shefalika Gandhi, Licensed Clinical Social Worker; and Dr. Victor Ruthig from the Department of Urology.
 

The Office of Staff Diversity & Inclusion will also be hosting two events to celebrate Jewish American Heritage Month, including a virtual panel discussion and a virtual museum tour. The panel discussion will focus on topics of Jewish culture, identity, heritage, and community on May 26, led by Rabbi Levi Mastrangelo, NewYork-Presbyterian Chaplain; Stephen M. Cohen, Executive Vice Provost at WCM; Illan Palte, Jewish Students of Cornell President; and Sharon Meiri Fox, Director of Alumni Relations & Giving.

The museum tour will be co-hosted by the Tenement Museum, which was founded over thirty years ago and features unique tours that “tell the stories of working-class tenement residents” of the Lower East Side in New York. A historian will virtually lead attendees through the 1950s home of the Epsteins, a family of recent immigrants, and explore what home and daily life looked like to these Holocaust survivors through oral histories, historical documents, and visual media.

For Mental Health Awareness Month, the Staff Equity & Inclusion Council at Weill Cornell Medicine created a collaborative Kudo Board to collect and showcase ideas, perspectives, and insights of the WCM community on mental health.

WPP

WPP is hosting a few events to honor APAHM and Mental Health Awareness Month:

• Positive Psychology and Resiliency Workshop: which will help attendees learn effective ways of increasing their resiliency.  

• Healing from Collective Trauma Workshop: which will discuss the importance of giving yourself the time and tools to heal from collective trauma such as the trauma resulting from the pandemic and racial injustices. This workshop will give attendees a framework to follow, and the methods learned can also be used to heal from personal trauma.

• WPP Wellbeing Chat: Time to Manage Your Anxiety. The hosts will interview industry experts on the ways to heal from acute and long-term anxiety. The event will also explore the effectiveness of therapies, self-help tools and more.

• Stress Reduction Tools Webinar. Attendees will learn about tools that can help with identifying stressors and how to make a plan to reduce them.

• Mental Health Awareness/AAPI Heritage Panel: Intersectional Conversation on AAPI Mental Health with WPP Network senior leaders (in-person event).

There will be LinkedIn campaigns for all noted events.

The post How DBP Members Are Honoring Asian Pacific American Heritage Month 2022 appeared first on Seramount.

There are many virtual offerings this year to celebrate Black History Month. People can take virtual tours of historically significant sites, such as these:

• A walk through Harlem
• A virtual Freedom March from Selma to Montgomery
• The 2022 Black History Month Virtual Festival hosted by ASALH
• A tour of the National Museum of African American History and Culture
• A tour of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights

Making charitable donations to organizations promoting and advancing Black excellence is another way to show support throughout the month. Examples of organizations include:

• Black Girls Code
• Feed Black Futures
• Innocence Project
• NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund

AAA – The Auto Club Group

AAA – The Auto Club Group’s African American ERG is a supportive environment in which Black and African American employees can celebrate and showcase their diverse talents, develop professionally, and contribute to growing ACG through DEI. The African American ERG acts as an inclusive mechanism for disseminating career-related information, promoting targeted organizational growth, and showcasing success of African American employees and other diverse employees at ACG. The African American ERG will host the third annual Food, Soul & Conversation Virtual Forum to discuss ways to unite, lead, and continue to progress with an ACG Executive Leader Guest Panel.

Check out AAA – The Auto Club Group’s LinkedIn profile throughout the month for more updates!

Advance Auto Parts

In celebration of Black History Month, Advance Auto Parts is hosting a series of events throughout February. In partnership with the African American Leading Inclusion and Growth Network (ALIGN), the following events will be offered to team members:

• Advancing the Board Room with our Board Member Sherice Torres
• Advance the Talk, Lunch & Learn DEI Session
• Advancing Our Story main stage event
• Programming with our Women in Motion Network

Follow Advance Auto Parts on their social media pages with these hashtags: #AAP #LifeatAAP #DEI #BlackHistoryMonth.

Alight Solutions

Alight Solutions will be offering the following events to employees to celebrate and honor Black History Month 2022:

• Black History Month Keynote: Dr. Stacey Pearson-Wharton – For nearly 20 years, Dr. Stacey Pearson-Wharton has dedicated herself to helping people maximize their learning, health and wellness, and personal growth. She offers expertise and a positive approach for issues surrounding diversity, social justice, inclusion, and mental health to provide hope and healing in challenging times.
• Create Your Vision for 2022 with Pam Reaves – During both sessions, Pam will discuss the importance of vision boards and how to create one. Session 1 focuses on how to craft a vision manifesto, and Session 2 will walk employees through the process of putting their vision manifesto on a board. Expect to walk away with a guiding statement that will determine where employees need to grow and to help them achieve their goals this year.
• West African Dance Class with Stacy Letrice (dancer, choreographer, movement therapist). Come join Stacy as she teaches different traditional West African dances such as Goombey, a harvest dance; Lambaan, a dance of celebration; and Sunu, a wedding dance, along with many more! Participants are encouraged to wear their #BUILD shirts or anything representative of the African diaspora. Be prepared to have fun and break a sweat!
• Chef Series: In the Kitchen with Chef Zita – Join Chef Zita Smith as she reinvents some soul food family favorites with a healthy twist! In this hands-on class, employees will learn how to put the soul into soul food as employees work their way through the preparation of a classic Southern menu.

American Institute for Research (AIR)

American Institutes for Research’s (AIR) BLAAC Diaspora Network (BDN) Employee Resource Group (ERG) is hosting “Financial Freedom in the BLAAC Community: Past, Present, and Future.” Guest speakers will be focusing on financial literacy and the historical aspects of wealth and wealth building among the African American community, from racial economic disparities to the law, policies, and education. There will also be an expert in finances who will provide attendees with tips on how to build wealth in the family and community.

Bitly

Bit.ly is excited to bring employees, or Bitizens, together during Black History Month to honor, recognize, and most of all celebrate Black achievement in the world and within local communities. By doing so, Bit.ly hopes to engage on a variety of important topics that

will provide us with a stronger understanding and awareness of Black history and achievement in the United States as well as globally.

To celebrate, the company will be hosting the following events:

• Bit.ly will welcome guest speaker Adrian Miller, an American culinary historian, lawyer, and public policy advisor. Miller is the author of Soul Food, winner of the 2014 James Beard Foundation Book Award for Reference and Scholarship, as well as The President’s Kitchen Cabinet, which was nominated for a 2018 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work – Nonfiction. He also served as a White House advisor to U.S. President Bill Clinton.
• The Employee Resource Group, Bitizens Against Racism and Discrimination (B.A.R.D.), will be hosting an internal discussion on Black History Month to provide an opportunity for Bitizens to participate and share with one another.
• A “Movie Night & Discussion” will be hosted on Jewison’s In the Heat of the Night, a 1967 film about a Black police detective from Philadelphia who is arrested under suspicion of murder in a small town in Mississippi.
• All month long, Bit.ly will be sending out “Daily Insights” that will feature facts, influential people, and events from the Black community that have helped to shape U.S. and global history to the present day.

In addition to the internal events, Bit.ly will  join Seramount’s Black History Month webinar on February 24.

Boston Scientific

Boston Scientific’s BRIDGE (Developing a Community of Black Leaders) ERG is hosting four events covering the following topics:

• Storytelling
• Financial Literacy
• Carnival
• Lunch-n-Learn with a BSC Board Member

BRIDGE will also be sending weekly newsletters to BSC employees.

BRIDGE will be using the hashtags #blackhistorymonth and #bridgeerg throughout the month. They have encouraged their chapter leads to leverage BSC’s Yammer social platform to promote global and local events and start other dialogue around Black history. BSC has encouraged donations to the MLK Memorial Foundation and the National Urban League.

Capgemini

Capgemini, to celebrate and honor Black History Month 2022, will be hosting a volunteer campaign to teach digital literacy and tech skills to Black and African American youth in local communities. The company will also be posting updates on their events throughout the month to their social media platforms.

Capital Group

Capital’s BRG, Capital Associates of African Descent (CAAD), has planned a number of virtual events for associates to celebrate Black History Month around the theme “Cultivating Wellness: Mind, Body, Spirit.” The theme focuses on the importance of health and wellness and considers the activities, rituals, and initiatives that Black/African American communities have utilized for centuries. Virtual events include:

• Financial Planning for the Black Community – curated for CAAD with partner AYCO
• Same Storm, Different Boats: Mental Health in Communities of Color in partnership with Capital Women
• From the NBA to PWA, Health at Every Stage, featuring associate Koko Archibong
• Revolutionary Healing: Yoga & Mindfulness
• Sickle Cell Disease Learning Session
• Black History Month Living Museum
• The Evolution of Black Music and Its Impact on Your Life
• Virtual Documentary Screening: High on the Hog
• Black History Month Adventures in Africa Wellness Challenge

CCC Intelligent Solutions (CCCIS)

CCCIS is planning four weeks of communications and activities on the origins of Black History Month and trailblazers and spotlights of Black people who have shaped the United States. The company is planning interactive activities such as a crossword puzzle and a cooking class on foods with Black origins.

Colgate-Palmolive

February is Black Heritage Month in the United States, a time to reflect on the incredible history, culture, and contributions of Black and African Americans in our country. This year’s theme, Black Health and Wellness, pays homage to medical scholars and health care providers. To support this initiative, Colgate has focused our efforts on programs that create positive social impact in Black and African American communities. Our programs include scholarships to promote diversity in the dental, skincare, and veterinary fields. They include mentoring for high-potential students of color and oral care outreach for underrepresented children and families.

Below are a few examples of our recent efforts:

Advancing Education: Inspire Our Future scholarships

One key to unlocking a brighter future is to provide opportunities in education for Black and African Americans as well as other underserved and underrepresented communities. One way we do that is through scholarships. Just last week, our North America Division announced the new Inspire Our Future scholarship, which will award ten $10,000 scholarships to selected recipients pursuing degrees related to manufacturing, engineering, supply chain, sales, and marketing. This month we also added four scholarships to our existing offerings in partnership with UNCF, which the Company has supported since 1944.

• 2021 contribution to initiate the Harvard School of Dental Medicine Freeman, Grant, Franklin Scholarship
• Colgate/National Dental Association Foundation Trailblazers in Oral Health Research Scholars of African-American Heritage (TORCH) program
• “Audacity To Dream” scholarship program
   

Reimagining a Healthier Future

This year’s theme of health and well-being focuses on areas where we know Colgate-Palmolive can make a difference. We recently launched KnowYourOQ to educate and raise awareness about oral disease, which disproportionately affects Blacks and African Americans and other underrepresented communities, and to emphasize the importance of oral health to physical health and well-being.

We’re also thrilled that the Colgate Women’s Games are back on track for their 27th season. The games, featured recently in the Netflix film Sisters on Track, have provided an opportunity for girls in underrepresented minority groups to compete in track and field events to earn grants-in-aid to further their educational dreams. In a recent interview, Olympic athlete and meet director Cheryl Toussaint talked about her experiences and how the Colgate Women’s Games helped her to realize her own healthier future.

Celebrating Black and African American Leaders at Colgate-Palmolive

Our three Black Leadership Networks have shown great leadership throughout the month in creating robust programming for Colgate People on a wide range of topics. This includes events like the Piscataway BLN’s Virtual Networking Across Borders series, with more than 70 Colgate leaders hosting small, engaging networking sessions.

All three BLNs collaborated on a special edition of The Word (a BLN internal publication) to commemorate the month.

And on LinkedIn, we recognized the contributions of Black and African American Colgate People in the Building the F.I.R.E. series. We’re grateful for the leadership of the BLN Employee Resource Groups as well as the individual contributions of so many Black and African American leaders at Colgate.  

Element Fleet Management

Element Fleet Management will be celebrating and honoring Black History Month with their employees by featuring a new topic each week:

• Week 1: The Ethnic Structure of Black Well-Being, featuring a poet
• Week 2: Mental Health and the Black Community, featuring a documentary
• Week 3: Black Firsts, a fireside chat with a leading doctor
• Week 4: Black woman-owned small business panel

Check out their social media platforms throughout the month for more updates.

Eli Lilly and Company

The Black Employees at Lilly (BE@Lilly) employee resource group aims for Lilly to become the premier destination in pharma and biotech for Black employees to work, through both attraction and retention of industry talent, by 2023. With this mind, a comprehensive slate of external videos, imagery, and compelling stories was created with the goal of providing Lilly employees and external audiences with information, resources, and action items that they may use to positively impact their respective environments and communities. Throughout February, Lilly will publish on its website, LinkedIn, and Facebook channels several posts celebrating the stories of three of Lilly’s Black history pioneers and their lasting impact throughout the organization. Additionally, the company has continued the Powered by Purpose campaign, which shares the stories and contributions of current employees. In honor of Black History Month, the company is focused on the lives and work of Black employees as they help advance Lilly’s work to make life better for people around the world.

The 2022 BHM celebration, “Celebrating Black History – Understanding the Legacy, Flourishing in the Moment, and Committing to the Future,” will highlight the importance of health equity in the Black community and Lilly’s commitment to racial justice. During the monthlong celebration, Lilly will host external and internal health equity experts to discuss the complexities of health inequities and actions the company and community can take to ensure all people have access to quality healthcare.

• The first event, “Health Disparities and Health Equity Practices,” is a moderated session with Dr. Daniel Dawes, executive director of the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine. The session will define health inequity, common assumptions about inequities, and actions that can be implemented to help eliminate inequities within the Black community.
• The second event, “Raising the Bar on Health Inequity: Moving from Intention to Action,” will discuss best practices and ideas to close health inequity gaps and create lasting social impact in Black communities. Between the two sessions, an interactive virtual Lilly Black Heritage Hall is available for employees to learn more about Black history and specifically, Black history at Lilly. Virtual attendees will have access to videos, articles, and links to internal Lilly DEI resources and external DEI resources.

Celebrating Black history helps give visibility to Black employees and enables inclusion. The focus of this year is on health equity, and Black History Month will be the first ERG event to spotlight this important enterprise-wide priority. Health equity is a complex, multifactorial issue that requires leadership, long-term strategies across multiple dimensions, and external partnerships to solve. So why is Lilly focusing on health equity during Black History Month? The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the significant health inequities that have existed in American society for Blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans, and immigrants. Statistics on COVID-19 report disproportionately higher mortality rates in Black communities. Obesity, diabetes, cancer, and Alzheimer’s healthcare disparities are pervasive across race, gender, age, and income. For example, Black women have slightly lower incidence rates of breast cancer compared to White women, but Black women have a 40 percent higher mortality rate.

Emergent BioSolutions

Throughout Black History Month, Emergent’s BOLD (Black Originators Leaders and Doers) ERG will collaborate with the Global Communications and Public Affairs team to share both internally and externally information that highlights the contributions of the Black community. One example of this is the creation of a Spotify playlist to recognize the contributions of Black people in the music industry.

The company will also feature a series of weekly spotlights of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), highlighting their history and contributions in the advancement of science, technology, and mathematics. Each of the universities or colleges selected has programs dedicated to increase the number of Black doctors and public health professionals. The four schools spotlighted will be Howard University School of Medicine, Meharry Medical College, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, and Morehouse School of Medicine.

Equinix

For Black History Month, Equinix is hosting a variety of events and publications. Leading these initiatives is BlackConnect, an Equinix Employee Connection Network (EECN) founded on the pillars of empowering and elevating Black employees and allies. Internally, there will be several events, articles, and campaigns happening throughout the company to celebrate Black History Month. In addition to the community sharing both personal and #HiddenInPlainSight stories, BlackConnect is hosting some special events. Some of these events are in partnership with other Equinix Employee Connection Networks, such as a BlackConnect and interASIANconnect Lunar New Year social. BlackConnect is also promoting a Transcribe-a-Thon of the Colored Conventions on February 14 for Douglass Day, Frederick Douglass’s birthday. In their yearly signature event later this month, BlackConnect will host guest speakers Nicole Smith and Dr. Deena Buford for a learning opportunity and dialogue.

On February 4, Equinix published an article by Rosalyn Ford, Founding Member and Co-Lead for BlackConnect. This article describes this year’s theme of Black History Month, “Hidden in Plain Sight.” This theme is a way to honor the many contributions and innovations created by the members of the Black community by bringing pieces of Black history into the light. Please find the article here on the Equinix Interconnections company blog site. More details, initiatives, and achievements can be found within this publication. The article was highlighted on Instagram and LinkedIn as well. Throughout the month, the company’s Instagram page will continue to share stories to highlight BlackConnect leaders and members, as well as clips and Instagram “reels” to feature some internal events.

Experian

Experian’s Karibu Employee Resource Group (ERG) is hosting virtual events for employees to participate in! The events stem from the ”Black Health and Wellness” theme this year. The weekly programming will feature a variety of professionals from various disciplines who will share insights and information relevant not only to the Black community but beneficial for all communities.

For this year’s theme, each week of February has its own topic:

• Week 1: Mental Health in the Black Community
• Week 2: White Coats – Black Health
• Week 3: Healthy Habits 101
• Week 4: Fireside Chat with U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams and panelists who are licensed professionals in their respective fields, including psychologists, physicians, OBGYNs, cardiologists, nutritionists, social workers, and many others. Employees will have a chance to learn from some of the best and have the opportunity to ask the questions they want to ask.

Experian’s culture of inclusion internally extends to how communities are served externally. Experian is committed to financial inclusion for all and is proud to partner with organizations who share a similar mission, such as Operation HOPE, Black Girl Ventures, the National Urban League, AfroTech, and the National Black MBA Association.

Experian’s social teams are going to share posts that highlight Black History Month and some of the initiatives the company is taking to support the Black community. The initiative includes this blog post, which highlights how the Black community is honored at Experian.

Please visit Experian’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion website to learn more about the company’s work and see that work in action.

FactSet

Throughout the month, FactSet employees will have the opportunity to engage in a robust array of events, activities, and virtual engagements sponsored by the Black Business Resource Group (BBRG).

Below is a list of virtual programs planned in celebration and recognition of Black History Month:

• February 3: Signature Speaker Dr. Natalie N. Watson-Singleton will discuss socioeconomin factors affecting Blck health and tips/exercises to be healthy.
• February 9: Cafecito Session titled “Remedies & Wellness Practices Around the World,” which is a roundtable discussion in collaboration with FactSet’s Latinx BRG to practice the wellness, emphasizing intersectionality of Black and Latinx cultures/ancestors.
• February 24: Careers workshop with P-TECH in Norwalk, CT, as part of the philosophy and values of Corporate Social Responsibilities, FactSet’s BBRG members are volunteering to be part of a virtual panel discussion with local high school students.
• February 25: Kahoot Trivia, a bit of fun to look after social well-being and connect with others even for a bit. This entertaining virtual event will include prizes and the FactSet DJ.

To learn more about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at FactSet, please visit FactSet’s DEI page.

FINRA

Let’s Eat: The African Culinary Influence – The FINRA African American Network (FAAN) will kick off BHM with a virtual celebration of Black and African American cuisines and the cultural influences of Africa. During the event, held on February 2, members will share and reflect on the influence of African culinary heritage on food in the Americas, specifically the United States, the Caribbean, and South America, while also discussing the food’s societal impact.

Let’s Learn: Educational Event – The FINRA African American Network (FAAN) will host an educational event on February 10.

Let’s Listen: FAAN Talks 2.0 – Spoken Word – On February 17, the FINRA African American Network (FAAN) will host a Spoken Word event, which will include various elements of storytelling, theater, jazz, and blues music presented by FAAN members.

Let’s Discuss: Black History Is American History – The FINRA African American Network (FAAN) Flagship event on February 23 will feature a moderated Fireside Chat discussion featuring a 30-year veteran of the financial services industry and community advocate. He will share his journey and his opinions on the rise of financial technology and its impact, the importance of allyship, and how to attract and retain diverse talent.

Let’s Give: Funding the Education of Future Minds – The FINRA African American Network (FAAN) will partnership with United Negro College Fund (UNCF) to support its Black History Month Workplace Giving Campaign: Elements of Education. UNCF has been at the forefront of providing financial support to underserved students for 77 years. It has held onto the core belief that providing a college education to the underserved and underrepresented is vital to socioeconomic stability as well as the continued strengthening of the American adventure. The campaign begins February 1 and will end March 4.

Freddie Mac

In recognition of Black History Month, Freddie Mac’s ARISE (African Diaspora, Resources and Information Sharing for Everyone) business resource group (BRG) will engage employees through a series of events that celebrate Black contributions, culture, and presence. Here is a list of some of the planned inclusive engagement activities:

• Black Executives Panel – This moderated discussion features Freddie Mac senior leaders sharing insights about their career journeys and ways in which others can grow their career.
• Breaking the Stigma: Mental Health Awareness – Mental health experts share the importance of mental wellness to our personal and professional resilience and the importance of seeking help and support when needed.
• Equitable Housing Panel Discussion – Freddie Mac equitable housing experts will discuss the current state of equity and accessibility to home ownership within underserved and underrepresented populations and how Freddie Mac is helping to make home possible for these communities. This intersectional event is cosponsored with the Hispanic Organization for Leadership and Achievement BRG along with Freddie Mac’s Single-Family and Multifamily divisions.
• Black Women’s Symposium – This cosponsored event with Freddie Mac’s Women’s Involvement Network BRG features Black women leaders sharing their stories of career development, unique challenges, and practical tips on improving support and engagement for Black women in the workforce.

Gallagher

During the month of February, in celebration of Black Heritage Month (BHM), the corporate I&D team at Gallagher plans to engage colleagues globally in the following ways:

• An all-employee message from their Global CHRO sharing an overview of their Black Heritage Month (BHM) celebration on the first day of the month
• A virtual BHM Kickoff performance and dance lesson with Drum Tribe – South Africa
• Diversity Resources posted on their intranet I&D site focusing on Black heritage and history, including a virtual tour of a gallery within The National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Virtual panel event titled Black Communities & Culture: A Global Perspective focusing on the lived experience of Black people around the world featuring employees from the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and Jamaica
• Invite colleagues to share about any influential Black person who has contributed to history and share how they have inspired them (e.g., politician, author, actor) on their intranet blog page.
• Highlight Black pioneers in the insurance industry once a week externally on all social media outlets as well as internally on the intranet site. 
• A LinkedIn banner for employees to use on their personal profiles as well as a social post celebrating Black Heritage Month through the LinkedIn My Company Tab feature for employees to share through their personal profiles

Hancock Whitney

In celebration of BHM, Hancock Whitney is proud to increase and celebrate the Black Masking Indians, also known as Mardi Gras Indians, who aim to preserve history and build community by combining the African tradition of masking and the influences of Native Americans with the spirit and beauty of carnival. There is now a Black Masking Indian Exhibit at Hancock Whitney’s headquarters in Gulfport, Mississippi, and in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Howmet Aerospace

For Black History Month, Howmet Aerospace started celebrations by sharing President Biden’s Proclamation on Black History Month, alongside a brief history lesson on BHM. The company will follow up each week by recognizing Black Women CEOs. Details on how the City of Pittsburgh will celebrate BHM will also be shared. The city is showcasing the life and works of photographer Charles “Teenie” Harris, a Pittsburgh native whose four-decade career with The Pittsburgh Courier—one of the nation’s most influential Black newspapers—created an unparalleled chronicle of Black American life, culture, and history during the mid-twentieth century.

Finally, Howmet Aerospace’s manufacturing sites will be celebrating and recognizing Black History Month with team talks and lunch-and-learn sessions.

International Monetary Fund

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will kick off this year’s Black History Month by distributing a blog featuring suggested activities for the Diversity Reference Groups (DRGs, equivalent to ERGs). These activities will span the month of February and highlight what Black History Month means, why it matters to everyone, and reasons to celebrate. In mid-February, the Diversity and Inclusion Office will host two events:

• A virtual town hall with facilitation led by Spencer Barros, the co-head of the Equity and Inclusion Program for Film Forward at Seed & Spark, after the screening of the film Ailey. The facilitation will explore the theme of intersectionality (cultural identity, racial justice, mental health, LGBTQ+ identity, and fitness).
• The Diversity and Inclusion Office in collaboration with the DRGs will host a volunteer donation of school supplies to a local school to continue the spirit of Martin Luther King Day of service to community and social justice for all.

JetBlue

To celebrate Black Heritage Month, JetBlue is doing the following:

• This month will open with a social post that recognizes Black History Month and links to the JetBlue Blog for customers to reach more on what we are doing this month and beyond. Later in the month there will be a destination spotlight series that will highlight Blue Cities with Black cultural connections.
• “Minding My Black-Owned Business” Newsletter – J.A.D.E. will be releasing a weekly newsletter highlighting the member’s favorite Black-Owned Businesses.
• Phyllis Iller Brings Black Joy to T5 – In Late February, JetBlue will be working with Phyllis Iller, an Atlanta-based photographer, to bring her Pull-Up Sessions to T5.
• Black Joy Music Playlist – J.A.D.E. has curated a hand-selected Black History Month playlist for rotation in T5, including artists such as Beres Hammond, Frank Ocean, Ella Fitzgerald, and many others.
• Celebrating Black Voices with In Flight Entertainment – A Black History Month curated list of movies featuring films such as The Pursuit of Happyness, Green Book, Sylvie’s Love, and many more.

Merck & Co.

February 1 will be the official launch of Merck’s Black History Month programming with a virtual event called “Bridge, Balance, Build: A Focus on Black Health, Wellness & Wealth,” where a panel of LEADers will talk about the health equity work the company is performing, from oncology to diversity in clinical trials. A fireside chat will occur between the Global D&I CoE leader, Celeste Warren, and Mr. Ervin “Magic” Johnson. On February 22, there will be an hour-long session about healthy cooking, and on February 28, a Mental Health (“Same Storm, Different Boats: Mental Health in Communities of Color”) speech will be given, in partnership with the internal asset on health and wellness called Live It!

Also in partnership with Live It! Merck will have newsletters going out every week during the month. The themes are:

• Prevent it – Health insurance disparities
• Fuel it – Food desserts
• Move it – Obesity
• Balance it – Weathering (impact of discrimination and systematic racism)

Merck plans to also offer the following events to employees:

• February 24: Durham – Lunch & Learn “Black Wall Street” Joint with Wilson. MWN (gender affinity group) joint event. Tour of Stageville.
• February 24: Elkton panel discussion, “Beyond Representation, I Matter” Weekly email series titled “to be seen, to be heard”.
• February 24: LATAM – Spotlight on important Black personalities from the region to increase awareness about Blacks, educational effort.
• NJ chapter has three planned activities during the month, including virtual trivia.
• February 24: PA chapter will be hosting a student activity at N. Penn High School.
• February 25: PA chapter has a book club event.
• South San Francisco – Coffee chats, fireside chats
• UK – Sponsor and share U.S activities
• Virtual – Virtual month of service. Asking members to support or to donate hours to community service. All volunteer services to be captured in Merck Gives Back.

MIT Lincoln Laboratory

The Lincoln Employees’ African American Network (LEAN) plans to host four events for Black History Month:

• A fireside chat during the second week in February on the hiring and retention of African American employees at the Laboratory
• The 9th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) Event on February 17. The theme of this virtual event, “Persevering with Unity and Compassion,” highlights the significance of MLK’s legacy advocating for voting rights, civil rights, and unity and inspires action to achieve these ideals in the Laboratory community. The event will feature a video of staff members sharing their thoughts on unity at the Laboratory and on civil rights. The keynote speaker is Lieutenant General Richard M. Clark, Superintendent, U.S. Air Force Academy.
• A technical talk by a member of the Laboratory’s Black community in mid-February.
• A virtual concert and conversation with musician Jake Blount during the last week in February. Mr. Blount specializes in the music of Black and indigenous communities in the Southeastern United States. Attendees will explore the roots of Black Americans through music and historical musical appropriation within the larger context of cultural appropriation.

Moody’s

To commemorate Black History Month, Moody’s employees will participate in a weekly speaker series, the 4th Annual Black Inclusion Group Trivia Afternoon, a panel around Black representation in product innovation, and documentary film screenings. The Black Inclusion Group, an ERG at Moody’s, has shared weekly newsletters, Zoom and desktop background designs, and employee spotlights.

Examples of the documentary screenings include a viewing of The Long Shadow by Frances Causey, which will be followed by a live Q&A session with the director and producer. Moody’s is also partnering with Echoing Green to screen the documentary The Power of Black Innovation, which explores chronic under-funding of Black-led organizations and celebrates the perseverance of Black innovators.

Nasdaq

Nasdaq will kick off Black History Month with an informative article on the month’s significance, including information on important civil rights leaders, such as MLK Jr. and Rosa Parks. This will be promoted on the intranet platform and circulated amongst employees. In partnership with the Global Link of Black Employees (GLOBE) ERG, Nasdaq is offering Black History Month Zoom backgrounds to all employees to bring awareness of the celebration and encourage our employees to participate in dialogue.

The GLOBE ERG is hosting several events, each with the theme of expanding financial literacy across racial demographics.

Further, Nasdaq will be spotlighting members of the GLOBE employee network on Nasdaq.com. These spotlights feature thoughts and ideas from prominent GLOBE members about the work they are doing to create a more inclusive and diverse culture at our company. Nasdaq also has a webpage that is dedicated to the celebration of Black History Month. The company will be amplifying messages across social media platforms, including a resurfacing of the incredible “Amplifying Black Voices” art exhibit. Amplifying Black Voices is a multimedia retrospective featuring works of art and photography documenting Black life across the world. To close out the month, the social media platforms will recap our Black History Month financial literacy seminars.

In addition, Nasdaq will be hosting a bell ringing ceremony in partnership with Blacks at Microsoft (BAM). Following this event, Nasdaq will also be hosting a behind-the-bell interview with BAM members, which will be featured on social media platforms.

New York Life

New York Life will be celebrating Black History Month in the following ways:

• A BOLD Town Hall featuring the Head of the DEI Center and VP of DEI Agency – Both leaders will touch on upcoming key initiatives and events. The conversation will be moderated by Black employees who are ERG chairs.
• A BOLD conversation with Renee Montgomery – Renee will share her personal story as a co-owner and VP of the Atlanta Dream, former WNBA star, philanthropist, and activist.
• BOLD Presents, Planning BOLD-ly: A Wealth Building Series featuring NYLIM – This session will discuss concepts to grow net worth while protecting it from threats and erosion.
• Virtual volunteering opportunities and walk-a-thons for employees to support Heart Health Month will also be offered to employees.

Keep an eye on the company’s social media platforms for more information on how New York Life is promoting Black History Month and ERG Leadership.

New York Power Authority

To celebrate Black History Month, New York Power Authority (NYPA) will be doing the following:

• February 24 – The company’s Multicultural ERG in collaboration with Hakeem Oluseyi, astrophysicist and former space science education lead for NASA, will host a free, virtual event where Hakeem will address NYPA staff and share his powerful story of overcoming class and race barriers to become a leading astrophysicist, educator, and advocate. Hakeem is a renowned scientist who has worked on Nobel Prize-winning teams and created 12 patents globally on manufacturing computer chips. He is also the author of the new, groundbreaking memoir A Quantum Life: My Unlikely Journey from the Streets to the Stars. Prior to the event date, 100 copies of Hakeem’s memoir will be provided to event attendees.

NYPA Communications is using FYI Newsletter space and social media platforms to highlight and celebrate diversity and the company’s Black employees.

Northern Trust

The Northern Trust Black Business Resource Council (BBRC) will take time this month to share external stories as well as highlight the stories of Black employees and their important contributions. Additionally, keeping in mind the mental health and well-being of employees, they will host a program aligned to the official Black History Month theme of “Black Health and Wellness.” To complement the programs, the BBRC will send weekly emails in February containing inspirational messages from Black senior leaders, historical facts, links to various resources or activities, and topics for discussion on their Yammer Community page, as well as the Black History Month event details.

Planned activities include:

• Discussion with Northern Trust’s Chief Financial Officer (and BBRC’s Executive Sponsor) and the Managing Executive and Head of Asia Pacific—Asset Management focused on the parts of their personal and professional journeys that prepared them for, and catapulted, their careers today
• Co-hosted with the Women of Color Alliance (part of the Women in Leadership Business Resource Council), a conversation on “Living and Leaving Your Legacy.”
• A conversation between the Northern Trust Head of Corporate Sustainability, Inclusion, and Social Impact and former Northern Trust Head of Corporate Social Responsibility and Global Diversity, Equity & Inclusion will focus on the importance of uniting others and being true to yourself.

The BBRC has also compiled a number of educational resources ranging from podcasts, including Code Switch, to family-friendly resources to support the employee learning around this key month. Partners across North America will be invited to participate in the programs and to access all compiled resources. The Head of Corporate Sustainability, Inclusion, and Social Impact will post a message on the Northern Trust LinkedIn page to mark the start of the month. To learn more about DEI at Northern Trust, please visit the Northern Trust website.

Realogy

The theme for Black History Month at Realogy this year will be “The Future of Black History is at Realogy.” One of the goals this year for all of the company’s ERGs is to elevate the conversation on topics and issues that are important to all. With this in mind, the African American and Caribbean (ACE) ERG will be hosting a series of activities and a live, virtual, company-wide event designed to educate and create awareness on the true purpose, significance, and meaning of Black History Month. A key theme that Realogy’s ACE ERG will be exploring throughout the month is the importance of understanding the events of the past, how it has impacted the present, while recognizing the contributions of Black leaders and the importance of investing in the Black youth of today. The ACE ERG activities throughout the month will include:

• Kicking off with an impactful article on the significance of BHM, followed by a series of mini-videos featuring some of Realogy’s ACE members and Black leaders who will discuss the significance of Black History Month.
• A podcast featuring an interview about the impactful community work that ACE is doing with Exalt, a Black youth-focused organization.
• An event titled “The Future of Black History is at Realogy,” featuring an insightful panel conversation with Realogy Leaders about the Griffin Bridges Program and the work ACE is doing to invest in the education and growth of our Black youth to build a better future for all.
• On the final week of Black History Month, ACE will launch a new mentoring initiative.

Robert Half

Robert Half’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) team is partnering with the company’s Black Employee Network to celebrate Black History Month. A dynamic group of speakers will be joining the company throughout the month as a means of education and celebration. The groups have chosen to focus on the ways that Black people have made a lasting impact with all of their creativity and innovation. During the month, employees will explore the themes of Black innovation, music, dance, food, health, wealth, and wellness, culminating in a Black leadership conference that the Black Employee Network will host for their members.

There are three speaker events, of which two will be for the entire company and one will be for the ERG’s members only. The topics will include Black Innovation, African Music and Dance, and The Impacts of Hip-Hop. A conference for Black leadership will also be held during the last week of February. A partnership with the Smithsonian is also hopefully on the horizon for 2022 as the company partnered with them in 2021.

There will be a campaign on the company’s LinkedIn and Instagram profiles speaking directly to each of the month’s themes.

Sesame Workshop

For Black History Month this year, Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum will join Sesame Workshop for a conversation about the current state of race relations and social progress in the United States. Dr. Tatum is the President Emerita of Spelman College, a clinical psychologist, and author of the best-selling classic, Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations About Race. She is also a Sesame Workshop board member.

Each heritage month, the organization holds a Sesame Shares: DEI Speaker Series events. Sesame Workshop welcomes a guest speaker, and a Sesame employee has a conversation with them about topics related to culture, identity, lived experiences, equity, and allyship.

There will be posts related to Black History Month on Sesame Street’s Instagram.

Sodexo

Last year at Sodexo, the African American Leadership Forum (AALF) encouraged everyone with the theme “Knowing Your Purpose.” They’re building on that momentum this year with the Black History Month theme “Dig Deeper: Black History and Future.” Digging deeper reflects the self-awareness, current state, and future of the AALF community. This is particularly poignant as they celebrate the 20th Anniversary of AALF’s founding. The group will feature stories of AALF’s origin, highlight current activities within the regions, share pertinent information as it relates to voting rights, and discuss the employee business resource group (EBRG) with DEI Leadership.

Featured events and activities during the month include:

• A movie club cosponsored by AALF and the Sodexo Organization for Latinos (SOL)
• A book club Fireside Chat
• A spotlight conversation with the team members who founded the AALF employee business resource group 20 years ago
• Straight Talk conversations that emphasize real conversations about challenging subjects
• A focus on community health and wellness
• Features for Black-owned businesses
• Keeping the voting rights conversation front of mind through information and resource sharing

Sony Music Group

As the 2020 decade ushers in a new era of creativity, Sony Music Group (SMG) looks to entrepreneurs, creatives, and entertainers to drive society’s modern-day cultural renaissance. This February, in recognition and celebration of Black History Month, organizations across the Sony enterprise will embrace a collaborative Black History Month theme: “The Roaring 20s: Black Creativity & Innovation Across the Globe.” With several company-sponsored events and activities, Sony is proud to pay homage to the Black creators, innovators, and changemakers who foster community and shape culture across industries and around the world. From Hip Hop to K-Pop, rom coms to thrillers, to virtual reality and E-sports, Sony is proud to recognize, support, and advance Black creativity and innovation at Sony Music, Sony Pictures, Sony Interactive, and beyond.

To celebrate Black History Month this year, SMG’s Office of DEI and Helping Unite Everyone (HUE), SMG’s ERG for employees of color, is putting on a series of internal events (Note: At SMG, ERGs are referred to as TAGS, or Talent Advisory Groups):

• February 9: The Power of the Black Dollar: HUE’s Black Business Expo – HUE welcomes several Black-owned businesses to present their stories and products to their communities. Employees who RSVP will automatically be entered into a raffle of several products from these businesses.
• February 15: Sony Group Collaborative: Black Creativity & Innovation with Valeisha Butterfield – Sony Corporation, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Electronics, and Sony Music Group come together as Sony Group Collaborative for their BHM Event, featuring a fireside chat with Valeisha Butterfield Jones of The Recording Academy with EVP and CDIO, Tiffany R. Warren. Their discussion will touch on the influence Black creators and innovators have across all Sony Industries.
• February 17: Black Genius: A Discussion on Power, Influence, & Beauty of Black Creativity – This discussion focuses onthe vital influence that Black Artists have contributed to society throughout history from the Harlem Renaissance to modern-day culture, while highlighting how Black people naturally create and disrupt trends and the necessity in giving consistent credit to Black Artists and their culture.
• February 22: The Orchard Presents: Culture, Creativity and Commerce – Join the Orchard for a panel highlighting Black entrepreneurs and their impact on the music industry and the opportunities and challenges faced on their career journeys and the importance of economic empowerment. This is an international TAG event.
• February 24: …to be Young, Gifted, and Black: A HUE x Office of DEI Celebration on Black Artistry – This celebration will allow employees to take a quick break from work and enjoy the music of some signed artists.
• German Black History – Each week in February, HUE Germany will highlight notable Black innovators who have made a lasting impact on German history. In partnership with Black content creators, they will create fact flyers that will be posted internally on their Microsoft Teams channel.
• Colorism Research – HUE Germany’s Education Committee will share poignant research on colorism and its impact globally in the entertainment industry.
• Panel Event: The Black Experience in the German Music Industry – HUE Germany will host a panel featuring 5-6 panelists from different walks of the German entertainment industry to discuss their experiences and also shed light into their challenges while navigating the industry in German.

Externally, employees can engage in SMG’s YourCause CSR Connect platform to make commitments to any of our partners in our Global Social Justice Fund or tune in to podcasts made by some of Sony Music’s very own:

• YourCause CSR Connect – Employees can access our new employee engagement platform for new events and resources from Sony Music Group’s Global Social Justice Fund partners in celebration of Black History Month. Employees can also make the commitment to volunteer or donate to any of our Global Social Justice Fund partners.
• Sony Music Podcasts – Every Tuesday throughout February, tune in for new podcast episodes of Power: Don King, Eclipsed, Cheat! And Good Words with Kirk Franklin hosted by Sony Music’s Black podcast creators.
  • Power: Don King
  • Eclipsed
  • Cheat!
  • Good Words with Kirk Franklin

People can also tune in to various Sony Music channels to hear what’s going on in the office, at SMGs labels, and more!

• Sony Music News Recognizes Black History Month – Sony Music will recognize Black History Month in a series of posts related to this year’s theme. Follow on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for updates!
• Legacy and Certified – Tune in to Legacy’s This is Certified Black History Campaign, “The Music that Made Us” with Certified for special playlists and takeovers with Kandi and RZA throughout the entire month on @thisiscertified on Instagram and YouTube! See also, RZA’s Playlist and Kandi’s Playlist.
• RCA Records – Synonymous with Records, Culture, Art, this year RCA Records’ campaign, “Black History Happens Everyday,” will highlight recent Black history-making moments that impact and define the world today – from H.E.R.’s first-ever Academy Award win to the individuals on the continuous quest for social justice. Follow @rcarecords on Instagram throughout the month to learn more.

Sysco Corporation

Catalyst, Sysco’s Black Associate Resource Group, will host a global town hall for all associates featuring Dr. Jessica B. Harris. Dr. Harris authored the book that inspired the Netflix series titled High on the Hog, which examines the influence Black food has had on America and the ways that food unites us all. Catalyst will also publish (both internally and externally) features spotlighting some of Sysco’s Black customers and suppliers, as well as African Americans who have made significant contributions to the food industry. Sysco’s purpose is to connect the world to share food and care for one another, so the company is endeavoring to tie Black History Month programming to this fundamental principle.

TDIndustries, Inc.

TDIndustries will be celebrating Black History Month in the following ways:

• Encourage Partners to join the Partner Resource Groups (also known as ERGs).
• Publish four articles featuring TD Partners, the history of TD’s founder Jack Lowe Sr. and his involvement with the desegregation of the Dallas Independent School District, and a highlight on industry-related African American inventors scheduled for Inventor’s Day, February 11.
• Promoting cultural recommendations such as books and movies to educate our Partners. Suggestions include Best of Enemies, Hidden Figures, and Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent.
• Encouraging the company’s Partners to join an industry peer’s webinar.

TD Bank

Over the past 14 years in Canada and the past 4 years in the United States, TD Bank has celebrated Black History Month through colleague receptions/summits and events. TD’s commitment to Black communities is amplified through a series of artistic, cultural, and thought leadership events funded through the TD Ready Commitment (TDRC). Launched in 2018, the TDRC was developed to support the conditions necessary for a more equitable tomorrow. Last year’s theme, “Not Just Another Black History Month,” highlighted conversations that Black communities and allies around the globe were having to confront the ongoing realities of anti-Black racism in all aspects of society. TD Bank’s Black History Month theme this year is “Let’s Walk the Walk,” which is broken into four categories throughout the month of February (Black Thought, Black Health, Black Wealth, and Black Joy).

How TD Bank is celebrating BHM with colleagues:

• Lunch and Learns Centered Around Financial Literacy (Prosperity Program), Career Development and Goal Setting (Vision Board Event), Business Acumen Session (Tampa Bay Black Heritage Festival)
• Black History Month programs and initiatives:
  • BHM Colleague Spotlight
  • External Community Engagement Conversations
  • Mind, Money, and Movement: How to Fortify Your Mental, Financial, and Physical Well-Being (a panel discussion addressing mental, physical, and financial wellness in the Black community) and Historically Speaking: A Great Moral and Social Force—Conversation with Timothy Todd (a discussion around social and historic contexts for the establishment of Black bank ownership in various urban areas)
  • BHM Speed Mentoring Program
• February 2: Fireside Chat with Bharat Masrani, Group President and Chief Executive Officer, TD Bank Group, and Keynote Speakers Minda Harts and Hadiya Roderique
• February 9: A conversation about how environmental factors impact health disparities in Black communities
• February 11: Divine 9 Lunch and Learn—A look into the history and significance of the Divine 9 Black Sororities and Fraternities in the United States featuring several Divine 9 colleagues
• February 15: Building on last year’s conversation about generational wealth, Black leaders in the tech industry and small business owners share how they’ve built success and how they pay it forward for the next generation of business leaders and entrepreneurs with a special guest—Wole Coaxum, CEO of MoCaFi.
• February 17: Virtual lunch with a Historical Black Colleague or University (HBCU) President
• February 23: The closing event of Black History Month will be a celebration of “Beauty, Love, and Culture.” Discover the ways these dimensions impact everyday culture across North America. Hear from the children of TD colleagues on what Black History Month means to them and what brings them joy.

How TD Bank is celebrating BHM with customers and communities:

• Highlighting customer and community stories through marketing and branding communications and social and digital platform
• The Black History Month communications will include advertising in community publications and broadcasts, advertorial sponsorships in community publications, and newsroom storytelling and public relations.
• “Let’s Walk the Walk” social media marketing campaign—On a national communication scale, leveraging marketing assets across various media and digital platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn

Tractor Supply

To celebrate Black History Month, African American employees in R.I.S.E., a Team Member Engagement Group (TMEG), has planned several exciting events and activities for all team members. Below are a few of the highlights:

• For the entire month of February, Black History Month banners will be hung on the flagpoles in front of the company’s corporate office to show support for Black History.

• Throughout the month of February, the R.I.S.E. TMEG will sponsor their 2nd Annual virtual auction to raise money for African American communities. Team members will have a chance to bid on autographed books, sports memorabilia, and artwork. Items up for bidding are from Black-owned businesses.
• February 1: Tractor Supply will start Black History Month with social media posts and communication to all team members.
• February 7 to 11: Black History Virtual Scavenger Hunt – team members will be given clues to find national Black history landmarks around the United States by searching the web.
• February 8: Tractor Supply will launch a landing page featuring highlights from the company’s community engagement events within local African American communities and spotlighting several African American team members from the company.
• February 12 to 15: Documentary Movie Trivia – team members can win prizes by watching the documentary Teach Us All and answering a few questions about the movie. Teach Us All is about the Little Rock Nine. The Little Rock Nine was a group of nine Black students who enrolled in an all-White Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. The goal of the Little Rock Nine was to integrate schools.  
• February 16: African American employee members from R.I.S.E will host the 2nd Annual Black History Month Celebration featuring guest speaker Dr. Terrance Roberts from the Little Rock Nine.
• Week of February 21st: Tractor Supply will create a “sizzle reel” showcasing what Black History means to team members.
• Black History Month themed graphics will be posted in stores, distribution centers, and at the store support center. Team members can use the virtual graphics for email signatures and virtual backgrounds in celebration of Black History Month.

United Health Group

The United Health Group will be hosting the following events to celebrate and honor Black History Month in 2022:

• Two distinct webinars on diabetes and financial literacy
• Two virtual fitness classes with Q&A on fitness and nutrition
• Mini fireside chat with ERG Leaders and UHG Leaders about “Understanding the Importance of Employee Resource Groups and the Impact on the United Health Group African American Experience.”
• The Right to Healing and Healthiness Series – A three-part series on African Americans and Internalized Trauma presented by Optum Behavioral Health Women of Color Employee Resource Group
• Behavioral Health & Wellness Blog with two sessions that provide an informative, educational, and conversational space in which to talk about African Americans and mental health
• Coffee Talk Podcast – Hear from African American colleagues and experience inspiration, express experiences, and alleviate stress/tension through like-minded conversations to promote mental and emotional wellness.
• Mental Health & Wellness Resource Library – Resources for African American mental health and wellness, including books, articles, video, and more
• Prerecorded event including UHG’s Chief Diversity Officer, Joy Fitzgerald, and other leaders who will be a re-play for employees called “Our Journey: Being Black in Corporate America Panel”
• PowertoFly: Elevating Black Leaders Summit – Participating with a speaking session and followed by recruiting portion
• Newsroom story with two-minute “What does Black History Month mean to you?” video and social media cuts of the video throughout the month

ViacomCBS

ViacomCBS’s ERG, Black Employees Achieving Together (BEAT+), is celebrating and recognizing the continued achievements of Black Americans with their theme “Still Making Black History.” Throughout the month they are offering robust virtual programming that will highlight the contributions of many—from leaders in the Civil Rights Movement to millennial change agents making their mark in the cultural advancement of Blacks in America.

The company is also partnering with the Smithsonian to have a fireside virtual chat to discuss the Smithsonian’s One Thousand Years of Slavery docuseries, as well as the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History to have a discussion between two historians of American history, David Blight and Peniel Joseph, who will examine the lives and legacies of Frederick Douglass and Martin Luther King Jr.

Follow for more information on ViacomCBS’s Instagram: viacomcbs_ogi and with the tag #StillMakingBlackHistory.

Wayfair

WayBlack is an Employee Resource Group focused on cultivating a strong sense of community and connectedness within Wayfair through networking, mentorship, and professional development among employees identifying as members of the African diaspora. WayBlack will be hosting multiple events each week focusing on Black joy, games, fellowship, learning, and fitness. Some of the community events are:

• #CultureTags Trivia
• TV Screening of Abbott Elementary
• The Beauty of Hair session
• Social Media & Black Twitter lunch event
• BPCC Panel Discussion: The Changing Role of ERGs in Corporate America
• Yoga & Mindful Meditation
• Dating While Black
• Black Mental Health Discussion: Dealing with the Stress, Anxiety, and Trauma of the Pandemic

Wayfair is partnering with external organization Kunik for a session on “How to Speak to Your Family About Race & Racism” as well.

Weill Cornell Medicine

To celebrate and honor Black History Month 2022, Weill Cornell Medicine will be hosting a virtual panel Discussion on Black Hair at Work led by staff members and virtual story time reading for children of employees to learn about the Lunar New Year.

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