Learn how FindSpark can support your diversity & inclusion, recruitment, and employer branding goals through our online and offline programs: findspark.com/employers
February is Black History Month and an opportunity to celebrate Black culture and history at work. Collaborating with your HR team and employees on programming will create an inclusive environment, an educational experience for your team, and demonstrate your company’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.
We asked the FindSpark Employer Community to share how they celebrate Black History Month with different program ideas to inspire companies of all sizes and resources.
Feature Black Team Members and Invite Guest Speakers to Lunch
Contributed by Sydnee Greenberg, Employer Brand Creative Lead at Cloudreach
We’re celebrating black excellence in Tech by spotlighting Cloudreachers internally and externally who make Cloudreach such a great place to work. See our spotlight featuring Dominique West, Security Operations Engineer. We are highlighting these individuals and the topic of Black History Month both internally via our weekly communications and Diversity and Inclusion Hub, as well as externally via our blog and social media channels.
Dominique West, Security Operations Engineer at Cloudreach
We are hosting a special internal lunch discussion where we’ll share stories and experiences around race with the intention of creating a space for people of diverse backgrounds to understand one another, build empathy, and commit to small acts of kindness that can help bridge the racial divide. This discussion will be hosted by Jenn Graham, the founder of Civic Dinners, live in our Atlanta office, and all employees are invited to join virtually with their colleagues.
Individual offices are also celebrating by planning excursions to local exhibits and decorating their laptops and water bottles with fun Cloudreach-branded Black History Month-edition stickers.
Cloudreach’s Black History Month Sticker Graphic
Plan a Museum Tour and Discussion Afterward
Contributed by Andrew Tuchfeld, People Business Partner at Braze
We celebrated Black History Month with a private tour of the Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum last Friday. Our diversity and inclusion initiative’s (which is called Braze for ALL) Culture Club organized the event which had 20 attendees. The exhibit shines light on a broad spectrum of black artistic practice from 1963 to 1983, which is one of the most politically, socially, and aesthetically revolutionary periods in American history. After the tour, the group had a discussion focused on how marginalized communities can use art to reclaim their sense of power and community over drinks and appetizers.
Create Special Curated Digital Content
Contributed by Alex Finkel, Editorial Operations Director at Bustle Digital Group
We just launched our latest package Black and Thriving, Bustle’s celebration of joy, nostalgia, and honor of being Black in America. The package’s first installments include an essay from presidential hopeful Sen. Kamala Harris, a piece that compiles reflections from Black women about what joy means to them, and an essay by CNN’s Fredricka Whitfield explaining what being an HBCU alum means to her.
Highlight Lesser Known Historical Black Heros, Icons, and Events and Host a Book Club
Contributed by Tara Seney, Office Manager at Brandwatch
I’m the Office Manager at Brandwatch in New York. I oversee our Wellbeing Committee which handles the wellbeing of our staff in the office. This consists of planning our social events, recognizing important months like Black History Month, Women’s International Month, Pride Month and others, office lunches, happy hours, mental health training, volunteering opportunities and more.
This particular month is special because we’ve curated an amazing list of initiatives to celebrate Black History Month.
We’re displaying social conversations about Black History Month through Vizia, our social media command centers, which allow us to take real-time social data that Brandwatch analytics captures and publish into a beautiful visual display.
Far too often, the Black history we’re taught in schools is limited to slavery, Rosa Parks, and Martin Luther King Jr. So this year the NYC Wellbeing Committee is inviting people to help educate Brandwatchers about a historical Black hero, icon, or event that people might not be aware of. We’re then sharing these spotlights globally to everyone in our organization.
In addition to our BHM Spotlights, we’ve planned a fireside chat with the founder of Black Women Talk Tech to celebrate the achievements of African Americans in general as well as specifically in tech, our industry.
Finally, this month our book club has chosen to read “If Beale Street Could Talk” by James Baldwin, a prominent black author whose work was recently made into the award-winning film by the same name.
This Vizia illustrates conversations happening around Black History Month all over the world.
Learn how FindSpark can support your diversity & inclusion, recruitment, and employer branding goals through our online and offline programs: findspark.com/employers
