Pride across the globe this year feels complex; filled with joy, grief, and a need for urgency. There is plenty for us to celebrate, but also a deep opportunity for organizations and leaders to thoughtfully consider, add to, and reinforce their previous commitments to the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.

As a queer woman of colour who works every day with teams looking to be more inclusive in my work at Bright + Early, I’m lucky to work with many organizations who deeply care. Sadly, I’ve also seen news of companies scaling back their DEI commitments by pausing sponsorships, softening language, and shifting focus away from 2SLGBTQIA+ programs. And in my position as a board director at QueerTech, (a non-profit hoping to grow queer representation in Canada’s tech ecosystem), this shift has meant fewer sponsors for our mentorship and leadership initiatives, which have a direct impact on inclusion at the top level. 

This moment in time, while polarizing and constantly changing, calls for clarity and consistency. Whether you directly invest in inclusive policies and programs and call them as such - you have queer, trans, racialized, disabled, and many other marginalized employees looking to you for cues as to where they stand on your team. We want to know if your organization is a place where we can thrive, be seen, be supported, and trust that we are more than a check-box hire for you. 

If your team has built trust as an inclusive workplace, this month is a time to strengthen it. Revisit your commitments, make space for dialogue, sit in any discomfort and learn from the individuals that identify as part of the 2SLGBTQIA+ umbrella on your team or in your community. Check in with your team, invest in initiatives that reflect your values, and build structures that won’t have to be constantly revisited based on external headlines.

Though we’re often faced with discouraging news,  devoting my work life to supporting the communities I belong to and care about has been an incredible privilege, and it’s work I don’t take lightly. If you are curious about how to support your team right now, I’d love to connect. You can reach me on LinkedIn, or drop me a line at [email protected]. 

If you’re looking to learn, here are some of my favourite resources:

• Pride at Work has a ton of great content. I attended their conference in May and really respect and value the work they do.

• Some best practices for non-binary workplace inclusion.

• On being an LGBTQ Ally. This is from 2022, but I met some of the folks that work at the Human Rights Campaign Commission and they are incredible humans!

• A thoughtful approach from Diversio on de-risking DEI programs.

Wishing you rest and joy, 

Clea

Bright Reads ☀️

Curated reads and resources re: building great places to work.

• Employee Wellbeing Is Declining and Costing Businesses Trillions (Inc.)

• Workday Faces Collective Action Lawsuit Over Alleged Age Discrimination (HRO Today)

• How Tech Workers Really Feel About Work Right Now (Lenny’s Newsletter)

• How Global Hiring and Contract Work Are Evolving (HR Brew)

• Digital Nomads, Remote Holdouts, and the New RTO Culture Wars (Business Insider)

• “Natasha” Wasn’t an AI—Just 700 Coders Pretending (Tech Funding News)

• Unregulated AI in the Workplace Is a Compliance Nightmare (CFO Brew)

• KPMG Survey: Most Employees Use AI, Few Are Trained on It (Emerging Tech Brew)

• For the Love of God, Stop Calling Your AI a “Coworker” (TechCrunch)

• Moderna Merges HR and IT (FlexOS)

• Why HR Teams Are Building the Business Case for Babies at Work (HR Dive)

• Cakes Body’s $36K Child Care Credit Leads the Way in Affordable Child Care Planning for Employees (Success)

• Confessions of a Spelling Bee Pronouncer (Defector)

• Laid Off - a fun substack exploring a decidedly unfun topic

• The Bee Magazine- a new publication supporting working class writers

• Cannector - a new resource to connect Canadian leadership to growing companies, built by our friends (and clients) The Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI)

• Group Chat podcast - a new pod bringing interesting people for real-talk about what is (and isn’t) working in Canada’s democracy. Hosted by our friends (and clients) The Samara Centre for Democracy

What’s New at B+E ⛅️

If you missed it, we launched a whole new website last week! Includes: delicious cereal, a super fun team page, and more information on how we approach making you things like equitable compensation systems, creative employee handbooks, and more.

Coming Up 👀

• June 5 – World Environment Day

• June 16 – Father’s Day (Canada + US)

• June 19 – Juneteenth (US) 

• June 20 – World Refugee Day

• June 21 – National Indigenous Peoples Day (Canada)
  and Summer Solstice

• June 27 – Canadian Multiculturalism Day

• June 28 – Stonewall Riots Anniversary

June is also:

• Pride Month

• National Indigenous History Month (Canada)

• Caribbean American Heritage Month (US)