At the following San Francisco tech companies, celebrating and promoting Black history isn’t confined to just one month out of the year.
In fact, both companies featured below recently launched year-round initiatives designed to foster education, advocacy and change within their communities.
As part of its ongoing DE&I efforts, real estate tech company Zumper recently formed an ID Blind Initiative where they no longer provide landlords with photo IDs prior to approval and lease generation to ensure the protection of low-income renters, Recruiting Lead Kristine Holliman said.
Healthtech company Invitae and its Head of DE&I Rayshawnda Madison recently developed a new mentorship program with Hampton University and other historically Black colleges and universities with a goal of furthering opportunities and representation in biotechnology.
To gain more insight into what they’re doing to celebrate Black history – this month and beyond — Built In SF connected with Holliman and Madison.
As part of its Black History Month celebration, Invitae’s BlackGenX employee resource group (ERG) — which exists to support and uplift Invitae employees who identify as members of the African Diaspora — is hosting a Netflix watch party and trivia nights focused on Black history.
In honor of Black History Month, what is your company doing this year to celebrate Black history?
Invitae’s employee resource group BlackGenX (pronounced Black Genetics) has big events planned for Black History Month! Our highlighted events are community table talks around the experiences of Black women in the workplace and spotlights of Black people in STEM.
Our community table talks are hosted by our DE&I team, where community participants (Invitae employees and external partners) are encouraged to have honest, gritty and informal conversations encouraging authentic discussions on varying crowdsourced topics in order to shed light on relevant issues by fostering community at Invitae. Past talk topics included mental health, allyship, xenophobia and imposter syndrome.
Additionally, our BlackGenX Spotlights is an initiative in which we have monthly informational shares on Black people in STEM. This is an opportunity to highlight historical figures and employees here at Invitae. Spotlights are elected and voted on from employees and are shared and reflected on in our monthly social hours.
What other activities or charitable initiatives do you have planned for Black History Month?
We have a few activities planned for Black History Month. The first is a Netflix watch party where our BlackGenX ERG will host a movie night with movies crowdsourced from other group members. And multiple trivia nights hosted by BlackGenX focusing on historical and Black History Month facts.
As far as charitable events go, Invitae partners with 100 Black Men of America organization to sponsor year-round recruiting fairs, panel series, recruitment advice, resume reviews and career opportunities for event attendees.
Our highlighted events are community table talks around the experiences of Black women in the workplace and spotlights of Black people in STEM.”
What are some ongoing programs, initiatives or benefits your company offers to support and empower Black employees throughout the year?
Some of our ongoing year-round initiatives include BlackGenX’s community table talk series. Invitae currently holds community table talks once a month around various topics including politics, Black Lives Matter, xenophobia and other topics ERG members vote to discuss. Additionally, we’ve recently developed a new mentorship program with Hampton University and other historically Black colleges and universities, with a goal to continue building further partnerships and opportunities for further representation in biotechnology.
As a way to give back, Zumper’s Black Lives Matter ERG kicked off “BLM Gives Back,” an initiative where the company made charitable contributions to different nonprofit organizations like Red Hook Initiative, Black Girls Code and The Okra Project, Recruiting Lead Kristine Holliman said.
In honor of Black History Month, what is your company doing this year to celebrate Black history?
The team at Zumper is thrilled to have an ERG dedicated to Black Lives Matter (BLM) with the mission of creating a safe space for Black employees and allies to foster diversity, education, advocacy and change. The group consists of 86 members who meet monthly. During the month of February, our celebration will include a presentation on the historic origin of Black History Month and Carter G. Woodson, the “Father of Black History.” As a descendent of former slaves, Woodson launched the celebration of “Negro History Week,” the precursor of Black History Month.
Other activities will include trivia featuring Black inventors and presentations by BLM board members sharing facts about family history and opening up the floor for others to participate.
What other activities or charitable initiatives do you have planned for Black History Month?
During the month of February, Zumper will continue to support Black-owned businesses and vendors. For example, we’re partnering with a Black-owned printing company to produce t-shirts commemorating Black History Month for our BLM members.
Additionally, we’re selecting an organization dedicated to STEM programs for Black youth and will provide them with computers and other related equipment.
Our celebration will include a presentation on the historic origin of Black History Month and Carter G. Woodson, the ‘Father of Black History.’”
What are some ongoing programs, initiatives or benefits your company offers to support and empower Black employees throughout the year?
For charitable contributions, we kicked off “BLM Gives Back” and the recipients were Red Hook Initiative, Black Girls Code and The Okra Project, an organization dedicated to supporting Black trans people. Other activities have included unconscious bias training and a call to action to vote in the 2020 election.
In October 2020, we kicked off our speaker series with a presentation by Kwame Owusu-Kesse, CEO of the Harlem Children’s Zone and, as a result, we are launching an eight-week summer internship program for Black youth in engineering. In 2021, we established Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday as a company holiday, giving our employees the opportunity to participate in this day of service. We also hosted a forum and safe space for Zumper employees to discuss the insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and the future of race relations.
And lastly, Zumper has formed an ID Blind Initiative where we no longer provide landlords with photo ID prior to approval and lease generation to ensure the protection of low-income renters under Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act.
