People-First Pride: Committed to Equality, Inclusivity, Diversity, and Opportunity
There’s nothing quite like grabbing coffee with a founder. Hearing the wild stories of success, failure, and everything in between is both entertaining and enlightening. Our conversation with Gord Tanner was exactly that.
Gord is a successful software developer, entrepreneur, and influential thought leader in the tech space. Most notably, one of his former companies, Tiny Hippos, was acquired by BlackBerry in 2011. Since then, he has been an active and visible engineering leader in the Waterloo area.
When Gord asked us to be a part of his latest venture to create events that build community, spark conversation, and promote LGBTQ+ voices in the local Kitchener-Waterloo tech scene, we jumped at the chance to help. His vision aligned with one of our core Terminal values — to put people first. We embrace a commitment of stewardship whereby we constantly strive to improve the welfare of our members, our clients, and the communities that we touch.
Creating environments where everyone can thrive is a passion at Terminal. That passion fuels our commitment to diversity, inclusion, and acceptance for all. We strive to provide technical talent from around the world the opportunity to work on the best and most cutting-edge projects, no matter where those companies are located. We are committed to employ and help develop the best talent — irrespective of race or sexual orientation — and celebrate a diverse workforce. We believe a diverse workforce creates strong teams that are ready to tackle difficult sets of global business challenges — and so does Gord and the coordinators of the LGBTQ+ events. Gord’s passion for the event series was palpable:
“After experiencing LGBTQ+ communities at past events like the JSConf event in Florida, I promised myself I would do something to bring that feeling of support to more LGBTQ+ folks here in the Waterloo Region and foster a local community where we can support and learn from one another.”
With sponsorships from Terminal and Smile.io, Gord and his co-founder Joy Smith hosted the first LGBTQ+ in Technology Meetup on March 26, 2018 in Waterloo. It was such a success that before the night was over, the second event of its kind was already in the works for April 30, 2018.
As we find ourselves in the middle of Pride month, it’s important to take time to celebrate, embrace, and express what makes us all unique. It’s our chance to reach out to our friends and say,
“We support you being you — 100%.”
We will continue to support Gord and his events and do our part to amplify the voices of the LGBTQ+ community in our industry.
Up next:
The fourth installment of the LGBTQ+ in Technology Meetup will be hosted by our friends at Vidyard and feature a fireside chat with Larissa Holmes, the VP of Talent at Borrowell and a leader in the inclusivity and diversity space. Larissa will be joined by Donna Litt, the co-founder and VP Operations at Kiite. You can secure your spot on the Eventbrite page here or the Facebook event link here. We are also proud to host our first ever event at our penthouse space in the coming months, so stay tuned for details.
