Pride Month @ Athennian

It’s Pride Month! What does Athennian do all year round for LGBTQ+ communities? 

Pride Month is a time when folks come together to celebrate, honour, and support the LGBTQ+ community and its allies. The month of June is a time to celebrate how far we’ve come as a society, but also recognize the work that remains to be done for LGBTQ+ communities. As individuals, we demonstrate our support of Pride in a variety of ways, but how is Athennian contributing throughout the year at a corporate level? 

1. Continuously Striving to Establish and Maintain Relationships With the LGBTQ+ Community 

First and foremost, Athennian recognizes our responsibility in driving community outcomes every day of the year - both within the company and outside our Zoom rooms. With support from the DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) committee at Athennian, our People Team has implemented the following internal policies: 

• A clear recruitment mission and DEI statement that emphasizes fair treatment and open support of the LGBTQ+ community and other marginalized groups.
• Equal benefits for all employees including support for parental leave (including adoption). 
• Non-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment Policy with clear consequences and next steps for violation. Inclusive language training and resources. 

This distinction, between action and empty words, is crucially important to Athennian.

2. Athennian’s DEI Committee 

Our formalized DEI committee, with the support and sponsorship of our executive leadership , organizes programs and internal training to take steps to demonstrate clear support for LBGTQ+ communities and other marginalized groups. The charter of our DEI Committee includes 3 focus areas: 

1. DEI Awareness & Engagement: Initiatives include engaging advisors and consultants to support the committee, scoping a diversity training program for People Leaders, highlighting the diversity of our team members in a formalized and active way, taking intentional steps towards workplace equity, formalizing organizational leveling and comp structure, and more. 
2. Womxn in the Org: Initiatives include increasing gender parity in technical roles, formalizing a strategy for increased representation of women in technical management and senior leadership roles, and demonstrating thought leadership on gender parity in the community and in our industry. 
3. Diversity by Design: Initiatives include increasing awareness of diversity issues in product design and engineering, and communicating the benefits of incorporating diversity by design as a key component of product-led growth.

3. Pride Toronto 2022 

Athennian is excited to participate in Toronto’s Pride March on June 26th, 2022. This will be our first time at Pride Toronto as an organization, and we can’t wait to get out with our team members and clients to celebrate our diversity, but also take the time to recognize how far we still have to go. 

4. Fundraising & Events

This year, members of the Athennian team joined together to complete a 5k Pride Ride in support of Rainbow Railroad, a Canadian charitable organization that helps LGBTQ+ individuals escape violence and persecution in their home countries. We ended up raising over $1,500 together!

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We’re also excited to be working with local groups to organize a virtual, company-wide inclusivity training event. One of the goals of this event is to increase awareness around Employee Resource Groups (ERGs): how to create them, maintain them, and what purpose they serve. 

Despite it being Pride Month, Athennian strives to make diversity, equity and inclusion a priority all year long. We work to understand the complex and multifaceted issues facing the LGBTQ+ community today. And, above all else, we want to take actionable steps to ensure our own team feels comfortable, supported, and heard.