When Kevin Blackwell learned what Unqork is doing for Juneteenth this year, he was overjoyed.
Unlike previous years, there won’t be an event or a speaker. Instead, the software company is treating Juneteenth, the day that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States, with the highest regard and recognizing it as an official company holiday. The entire team will be given the day off for a chance to reflect and pause.
“All of the trauma of 2020 for Black lives has brought some relevance to Juneteenth,” Blackwell, an associate sales engineer, said. “And I love that Unqork is acknowledging it.”
Andros, another NYC-based tech company, is doing the same. The healthtech company is giving employees the day off, and the team will also use this time to continue their educational programming around the experience of Black Americans.
“At the core of our diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging efforts is the understanding that continuous education is crucial for creating the change that is so dearly needed,” Mali MacConnell, Andros’ office manager, said.
Built In NYC caught up with these two companies to learn more about how they’re honoring Juneteenth this year — and the programs they provide year round to empower Black employees.
Unqork is a DIY SaaS platform for the enterprise that enables users to build dynamic software applications without writing a single line of code.
How is your company honoring Juneteenth this year?
Unqork took a big step in the celebration of Juneteenth by recognizing it as a company holiday. When I first heard about this, I was ecstatic. All of the trauma of 2020 for Black lives has brought some relevance to Juneteenth, and I love that Unqork is acknowledging it as a holiday.
As far as us celebrating Juneteenth, we will be throwing a virtual BBQ where we’ll support Black restaurants, host a game night centered around Black trivia, and invite a great DJ who will serve up some jams.
Unqork compensates the leaders of our ERSGs, and each ERSG receives $25,000 in funding to be used at their discretion for programming and community outreach efforts.’’
What are some ongoing programs, initiatives or benefits your company offers to support and empower Black employees throughout the year?
A key part of Unqork’s approach to diversity and inclusion is our broad set of employee resource strategy groups (ERSGs). Unqork has taken some unconventional approaches when it comes to our ERSGs to make sure these groups are successful and employees are supported.
Unqork compensates the leaders of our ERSGs. Separate from individual compensation, each ERSG receives $25,000 in funding to be used at their discretion for programming and community outreach efforts.
Another really cool program we have at Unqork is a mental health series. This series consists of healing circles and mental health training sessions built around strengthening your mental well-being. This series is led by Ymani Hawkins, a mental wellness coach and a member of Chocolatey, our ERSG for Black employees. We also have multiple AMA sessions throughout the year with prominent Black people throughout the business world.
Andros is a healthcare industry solution that combines data and software to power provider network management and credentialing.
How is your company honoring Juneteenth this year?
Juneteenth is an official company holiday here at Andros, and we are using it as an opportunity to continue our education on the Black experience in this country. At the core of our diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) efforts is the understanding that continuous education is crucial for creating the change that is so dearly needed. We are taking this opportunity — as with the many cultural events throughout the year — to ask ourselves the same set of questions:
- What stories need to be told that weren’t included in our American history lessons?
- How have my thoughts or actions contributed to the status quo and what can I do to change?
- How can I give back to the community being honored?
Our people team takes it from there and provides resources and volunteer opportunities to our coworkers so that there are little to no hurdles to getting involved. We utilize our various communication channels (a weekly all-company email from the people team, BIPOC Slack channel and weekly all-hands meeting) to reach everyone and keep the discussion, education and volunteer efforts front of mind and easily accessible to everyone.
We know the most important ways to support our Black employees are to provide career growth, mentorship opportunities and to cultivate an inclusive environment.’’
What are some ongoing programs, initiatives or benefits your company offers to support and empower Black employees throughout the year?
We know the most important ways to support our Black employees are to provide career growth and mentorship opportunities and to cultivate an inclusive environment. We have a six-month leadership development program (which is open to everyone) that develops key skills required to propel personal and professional growth and foster the next generation of leaders at Andros. We also have 1:1s between managers and direct reports every week with a primary focus on how connected the employee is to their work.
As for the inclusive environment, our CEO is a passionate advocate for DEIB and ensures that our metrics for defining company success each quarter include DEIB initiatives. This includes efforts like yearly mandatory unconscious bias training, quarterly DEIB training for managers, a speaker series, company matching for donations to charities supporting minority communities and more.
