Pride Month is celebrated in June in the U.S. and many other countries throughout the world (although some countries and cities officially celebrate Pride during other months). For many companies in the local tech ecosystem, fostering a welcoming and supportive culture for LGBTQ+ employees, partners, and customers is core to creating a truly inclusive organization. While these companies work throughout the year on initiatives that support LGBTQ+ individuals, June is certainly a time to celebrate this work.
We spoke with a number of MassTLC members to learn about their efforts and have shared them below.
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As part of our continuing efforts to highlight and provide education on various cultural events throughout the year, the IDG D&I Council is pleased to share our plans for Pride Month!
Pride Email Banner
For the first time in IDG’s history we have created a banner for those who would like to use in their email signature throughout the month of June to show allyship with our LGBTQ+ colleagues and community.
Newsletters
- History and background of Pride Month
- Definitions and education around the LGBTQ+ acronym
Other resources and activities
- Company-wide Webinar: Seven colleagues from across IDG, Inc. globally will give an overview of LGBTQ+ terms and share personal insight around identity, coming out, and allyship
- Employee spotlights of LGBTQ+ employees
- Resources for LGBTQ+ employees
- Allyship education and resources
- Scavenger hunt to earn a Global Link badge on your profile
- Special features on the @IDGTECHtalk social channel
For the third year in a row, Nuance is celebrating earning the highest score of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index, qualifying the company as a 2021 Best Place to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality.
This year, Nuance Pride is changing its emphasis from celebration to impact. Here are some of the ways they are doing that:
- Sharing a video created to celebrate Pride at Nuance
- Creating resource guides for employees who want to learn more about LGBTQ+ topics including how to be more effective allies
- Sharing educational information via its LGBTQ+ Network ERG meetings and the company intranet
- Having Nuance Pride members share their own stories internally and externally on the company’s social media channels
- Donating to organizations such as the The Trevor Project, PFLAG, and Cascade AIDS Project
- Sponsoring annual LGBTQ+ celebrations and events such as Pride, National Coming Out Day, Transgender Visibility Day, and social gatherings.
- Hosting outside speakers to help with educational events
Pegasystems is celebrating Pride Month through a variety of activities run by the Pride@Pega ERG. These include:
- Fireside Chat Series on different LGBTQIA+ topics
- Instituted optional change for members of LGBTQIA+ community and those who identify as gender non-binary to self-identify in our HR system
- Instituted optional chance to add pronouns to our company directory
- Sponsored lesbiansWHOtech Pride Summit 2021
- Executive Sponsor of Pride@Pega Employee Resource Group published external blog.
- Created virtual photo gallery for employees to submit “What Pride Means to Me” photos.
- Worked with our Pride@Pega family members to identify outstanding non-profit organizations that share our values of equality, inclusivity and social justice encouraging employees to make a personal donation or redeem recognition points for these organizations: The Trevor Project, PFLAG, Kampania Przeciw Homofobii (Poland), Pride Foundation Australia, Pride Circle (India)
In addition to all of this work, Pega is sharing its commitment publicly through its brand ambassador program. English golfer, Mel Reid, is an advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights in sports, and will be wearing Pega’s Pride logo throughout LGBT Pride month in June – marking one of the first times a Pride logo has ever been used in professional golf.
Wayfair fosters an environment that is welcoming and safe for its LGBTQ+ employees, as evidenced by the company’s earning the highest possible rating of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2021 Corporate Equality Index.
Some of the ways that Wayfair supports its LGBTQ+ employees include:
Benefits
- Domestic partner benefits
- Transgender-inclusive healthcare benefits
- Supportive policies for gender transitions
- LGBTQ+ employee resource groups (ERGs)
Corporate Policies
- All employees participate in DEI-focused trainings
- New hires complete non-discrimination training on their first day
- Employees are offered a Certified Interviewer Program and Culture & Inclusion trainings
Community Support and Education
- Wayfair is a Platinum sponsor for this year’s Lesbians Who Tech Pride Summit. Lesbians Who Tech is a community of LGBTQIA+ women, non-binary and trans individuals in tech. The virtual conference is being held from June 21 – June 25.
- Wayfair hosts an ongoing, internal speaker series called “Change Starts at Home.” These sessions are panel discussions among employees, executives and members of Employee Resource Groups – it’s an opportunity for folks to talk about their experiences and listen and learn from the experiences of their colleagues. Earlier this month the company hosted a company-wide Change Starts at Home conversation on Transgender & Intersex Awareness.
Transparency and Reporting
Wayfair published its first global DEI report in 2021 and shared it externally.
This year, Workhuman’s Pride calendar is focused on education, celebration, and connection (especially important given the company’s dual headquarters in the U.S. and Ireland). Here are some of the things the company is doing to support these focus areas:
- Pride 101 Workshop to explore the history of Pride, starting with its inception in 1969
- Workshop, created by Sparkle, the LGBTQIA+ ERG, in partnership with the Parents at Workhuman ERG, on how to make life at home more inclusive
- Bake along competition featuring Irish comedian Gearoid Farrelly
- Series of Slack and social media messages that highlight LGBTQIA+ individuals, allies and heroes
- 5K race
- Support of The Trevor Project and ShoutOut
At ZoomInfo, we love celebrating Pride all year long! We got in the spirit early by selling “Stride with Pride” branded T-shirts in May, with proceeds benefiting the Matthew Shepard Foundation. 
On June 1, we changed the logo on our Okta log-in screens and intranet to our custom Pride logo, and released our employee-sourced Pride Spotify playlist. We’re also hosting several events throughout the month, including a Combined Queer Verbiage presentation and Drag Bingo Night with a costume contest organized by our ZI Pride Employee Resource Group.
