That does sounds beneficial. What sort of things would be shared?
Usually stories about struggles they had growing up.
One black gentleman was adopted into a non-black home in an area with very few people who looked like him, and while he had a good childhood (though he certainly experienced racism), he felt disconnected from his roots until he found the local black chamber of commerce and realized how vibrant the local community was.
Another was by a black woman who grew up a strong black community somewhere in the south. She didn’t have as many issues with racism until later in life, her struggles were more with her career, since black women (or women in general) weren’t expected pursue careers in tech (or maybe business, I forget), so more sexism with a racial backdrop.
We also had people from Asia, E. Europe, and Africa, as well as women and gay men, either as speakers or on discussion panels. It was all focused around personal experiences, either when they felt excluded or something that helped them feel accepted.
My takeaway was that hiring quotas and language don’t really do anything (one even brought stats about retention), the most important thing is to foster a sense of community. It shouldn’t be a top down thing either, or even within the company, just be aware of local community resources in case it comes up. If the focus is on quotas and language and not retention and community, you’re going to have issues.
Usually stories about struggles they had growing up.
One black gentleman was adopted into a non-black home in an area with very few people who looked like him, and while he had a good childhood (though he certainly experienced racism), he felt disconnected from his roots until he found the local black chamber of commerce and realized how vibrant the local community was.
Another was by a black woman who grew up a strong black community somewhere in the south. She didn’t have as many issues with racism until later in life, her struggles were more with her career, since black women (or women in general) weren’t expected pursue careers in tech (or maybe business, I forget), so more sexism with a racial backdrop.
We also had people from Asia, E. Europe, and Africa, as well as women and gay men, either as speakers or on discussion panels. It was all focused around personal experiences, either when they felt excluded or something that helped them feel accepted.
My takeaway was that hiring quotas and language don’t really do anything (one even brought stats about retention), the most important thing is to foster a sense of community. It shouldn’t be a top down thing either, or even within the company, just be aware of local community resources in case it comes up. If the focus is on quotas and language and not retention and community, you’re going to have issues.