5 Things / National Hispanic Heritage Month
We are in National Hispanic Heritage Month and I’d like to recommend some Latine folks for you to follow and/or hire all year long. Ingrid Harb is my guest on 5 Things in 15 Minutes this week. She’s a fabulous, connective speaker who also leads transformative in-person DEI experiences. You can follow Ingrid here and catch her on my podcast this week.
My friend, speaker Miguel Aviles-Perez is based in Puerto Rico, which remains in crisis once again due to the devastation of Hurricane Fiona. Much of the island still lacks power. Miguel is thoughtful and insightful and his energy is amazing! You can follow Miguel here.
Finally, we have a new team member here at Equality Institute, Erika Latines, who is a compelling and engaging facilitator and storyteller. You can read more about Erika here. She’s available for our new workshops True Colors and Just the Way You Are, as well as our bestseller, Voices Carry.
And if you’re looking for a great novel, I highly recommend the NYT bestseller Olga Dies Dreaming written by my old friend Xochitl Gonzalez. It’s a juicy novel set in NYC and Puerto Rico. I loved it.
Here are the good vibes I found this week:
Virgin Atlantic Announces Non-Gendered Uniform Policy
Virgin Atlantic Airways continues to break uniform barriers…they’re now allowing their flight crew to wear whichever standard pants or skirt uniforms they prefer, regardless of the crew member’s gender identity. Earlier this year, they allowed crew members to begin displaying visible tattoos. Given that the U.S. State of Washington recently determined that Alaska Airlines’ strict gendered uniform policy is discrimination, this is an important policy shift. This matters to employees who choose to express their identities in this way but may have career limitations as a result.
Amazon, Hilton, and PepsiCo Among Nearly Four Dozen Major Companies That Commit To Hiring 22,000 Refugees
The Tent Partnership, founded by Chobani CEO Hamdi Ulukaya, provides companies with resources to help them hire and retain refugees. A dozen major brands have expanded their commitments to hiring more than 22k refugees in the next few years. Refugees make great employees, in part, because of their low turnover rate. This matters because the private sector can play a significant role in supporting these refugees who are increasingly being used as paws in political games.
Activision Blizzard launched a boot camp for industry outsiders
Activision Blizzard, the video game company that recently settled a number of harassment and misconduct cases, is working hard to change its culture. The company created a Level Up U boot camp specifically to expand the diversity of their engineers. The boot camp is a 12-week hands-on video game engineering program specifically for folks from underrepresented groups. Graduates are guaranteed a job at the company. In the pilot, 104 graduates, plus another 15 from elsewhere in the company wanted to shift into engineering roles. This matters because the video game industry precisely and engineering and other tech roles more generally have historically lacked BIPOC, and this program creates new opportunities to enter those spaces.
California Job Postings Will Soon Include Pay Ranges Due to a New Salary Transparency Bill Signed Into Law
California passed a law requiring all employers with 15+ employees to include salary ranges in job descriptions. It’s the largest state with this law and will affect some big companies like Apple and Google. This law will also benefit existing employees who can now ask for the salary range for their position. This means job-seekers aren’t the only ones who’ll benefit from greater pay transparency — existing employees can check where their salary falls within their own organization and raise discrepancies in pay to negotiate or call for an adjustment. Salary transparency is a key tool to closing the racial and gender wealth gaps. This matters to Black, Latine, and Native women in particular who are paid as little as $.60 on the dollar to men.
First Neurodiversity-Focused Chamber of Commerce Launches in Colorado
Colorado is the first state in the U.S. with a neurodiversity Chamber of Commerce. Part of the Colorado Neurodiversity Chamber of Commerce's goal is to connect employers with neurodiverse talent and they’ve already signed on with some major companies. (Examples) This matters because neurodiverse people are underemployed (including 85% of autistic college grads), often because their assets are undervalued. I hope this sets an important precedent.