CRG Year in Review: OutChime
“A unique characteristic of our community is that parts of our identity aren’t always easily visible for others to see,” says Nick Madrid, a Strategy and Planning Manager and co-lead of OutChime, the Chimer Resource Group (CRG) dedicated to the LGBTQIA+ community. “It can be hard and sometimes scary to come out at work.” he explains. “But finding your tribe and feeling accepted, is critical to your wellbeing — no matter which community you belong to.”
OutChime is dedicated to building connections within Chime, increasing visibility and allyship for the LGBTQIA+ community, and giving back to others outside of Chime.
“Groups like OutChime are important because collectively, we’re in the unique position to challenge and support not only our fellow Chimers, but our members, too,” Nick says. This happens by identifying and questioning biases, advocating for each other, and making a real impact on company policies and operations. For example, OutChime helped to add trans-friendly policies to Chimers’ insurance benefits and improve the Chime experience for trans members.
Lending a voice to other groups
Due to police brutality and systemic oppression, OutChime made the easy decision to stand up and publicly support our friends in the Black community.
In June, a month typically reserved for Pride celebrations, OutChime decided to give that space to their friends in AfroChime — a CRG — and Black Lives Matter (BLM). They wrote a manifesto of sorts letting the community know that they stand with BLM and scrapped their original swag plan for Pride — which was already in production. In lieu of Pride celebrations, they created a BLM t-shirt, participated in conversations about race, and advocated for real action.
“We found so many similarities in the intersectionality of our communities. It was so powerful. I’m proud that we were able to demonstrate support of the BLM movement in something that we could all wear — together.”
Focusing on the community when they need support
At the beginning of the year, OutChime planned to double down on allyship as a theme for 2020: they were going to provide Chimers with rainbow flags to place on their desks in solidarity and support of the LGBTQIA community. But when Chimers had to shelter-in-place, that changed. “We shifted our focus, and when current affairs shone a light on BLM, we put our attention there,” says Nick.
Towards the end of the year, especially because everyone was still sheltering-in-place, OutChime focused on producing events to help build connection through shared experiences. They partnered with LGBTQ-owned businesses to host cooking classes online and played drag bingo, donating proceeds to local organizations like the SF LGBT Center, Marsha P Johnson Institute, Openhouse, and PFlag in Canada.
Making the investment in CRGs because they’re important — though maybe not urgent
2020 was a year of shifting priorities for everyone, from Chime as a company (we made stimulus payments available early, launched Unemployment Assistant) to CRGs and Chimers alike. But for Nick and the OutChime leads, it was more important than ever to recognize that the work behind CRGs is not measured in weeks, months, or quarters. It’s measured in years. “Our work is important but not always urgent, he explains — as a leader of the group, we’ve had to create time and space to prioritize the important work over the urgent,” he says.
This year provided many distractions, interruptions, and reasons to shift course. “Life can so easily get in the way, but you have to stop, reflect, and focus on this kind of work, even when — especially when — it’s not easy,” Nick says.
Supporting OutChimers — in 2021 and beyond
OutChime’s focus — even when priorities are shifting and urgent things come up — is on supporting the LGBTQIA community at Chime. To do that, Nick and the team worked hard through 2020 to make sure there was a regular cadence of events to bring OutChimers together. “We wanted to be sure there was always something on the calendar for people to look forward to,” he says. “Whether those were meetings, happy hours, cooking classes, or larger events, we just made sure people had ways to come together often.”
Looking forward to next year, Nick and the team are excited to create more intersectionality across CRGs and focus on engagement. With our new Head of Diversity, Equity, and Belonging, Erica Johnson, OutChime can’t wait to have structure and programs in place to support their important work.
What’s more, OutChime hopes to take 2021 to focus on external community involvement and get involved in Chime’s benefits program, making sure that we’re supporting all Chimers. Finally, the group will work with Chime’s product and member services teams to further improve the core Chime product experience around issues that are near and dear to the LGBTQIA community.
We can’t wait to see all the wonderful things OutChime will accomplish in 2021!
