Moving together towards a more inclusive work environment
The last time we were able to celebrate Pride Month in person at Unibuddy, we got our small UK team of 20 together in our London WeWork. We donned t-shirts with our old brand logo and, oddly enough, managed to band together around one table.
Two years and one pandemic down the line, we’re now at a remarkable 120+ employees across London, New York, Bangalore and Singapore — with plenty more to come! So, it’s probably fair to say we’ve outgrown the WeWork table.
We were still not all able to get together to celebrate what was a valuable month of celebration and education for our Buddies. However, with our New York based team able to throw a small get-together a couple of weeks ago (cake and all!), and our postponed London gathering on the horizon, things are certainly looking up.
Lessons on history, intersectionality and pronouns
We kicked off this month with a blog from our Head of People, Niall Mullins, who discussed what Pride Month meant to him as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, and the plans we had as a company to not only celebrate, but also provide opportunities for Buddies to learn throughout June.
Shortly after Niall’s blog went out, we set the wheels in motion for our first idea of the month — to get the Unibuddy team to recreate the Pride flag with a selection of selfies (much easier said than done with Buddies spread around the world). After a bit of digging around in wardrobes, we just about managed to coordinate the Pride flag ‘à la Buddy’ which we’ve proudly included below.
During Pride Month, our Buddies also attended a number of talks that covered different themes associated with LGBTQIA+ Pride. These were not only hosted by external speakers, but also by some of our own team members — something that we’re incredibly proud and appreciative of.
To have a number of our Buddies openly share their personal stories and discuss key issues with their colleagues was extremely impactful, and something that certainly encouraged more engagement in the conversations that were going on both during and after the talks.
Off the back of the initial blog, Niall hosted the first session of the month on the history of Pride which covered LGBTQIA+ experiences through time, from pivotal moments such as the Stonewall Inn Riots in 1969 to the influential figures of Lile Elbe and Marsha P. Johnson.
Learning the history of a month acknowledged across the world was the perfect introduction to Pride 2021 at Unibuddy. And discussing its importance in the present day was an apt way to conclude a session that raised many examples of how much work there is to do in the future.
Our celebration of Pride continued with an informative talk on the importance of pronouns. Buddies from all our campuses joined virtually to hear the talk hosted by Kevin and Paige from our USA Customer Success team.
The use of pronouns is increasingly prevalent in many industries and it’s fantastic to see so many of our Higher Education partners using them in email comms and on social media. With this in mind, it was really positive to have a discussion around how we, as a company, can continue to improve our sense of community by using more inclusive language.
It primed us for our final talk of the month, which was hosted by the Founder of Diversity Co, Tony McCaffery, who spoke to our Buddies about LGBTQIA+ and Intersectionality. Tony shared his personal story with the Unibuddy team and went on to discuss key issues, such as workplace micro-aggressions and workplace inclusivity.
The biggest takeaway from Tony’s session was the conversation around ‘calling out’ and ‘calling in’. We may think that by calling out offensive, oppressive or non-inclusive comments we’re helping to curb micro-aggressions, but really it’s calling in (addressing and exploring why a certain comment was made or misconception was reached) that can spark positive change.
Two weeks on from the end of Pride Month 2021, it’s important to reflect on the successes but also the spaces for improvement. The beginning of July didn’t mark the end of our Pride learnings; we’ll be speaking to our Buddies to gain their feedback about the sessions we ran during the month, and explore what else we can do to continue growing and encouraging these important conversations more frequently.
We’ve come a long way since our last in-person Pride celebration, and that’s something we are very proud of — we’re just waiting on our new t-shirts to arrive!
