Black History Month provides an opportunity for us all to reflect on and celebrate the contributions of Black people throughout our nation’s history. Pendo is proud to celebrate the month alongside its employees, but we also know the importance of continuing our DEI work beyond Black History Month. Our goal for any programming is to increase awareness and inspire action. Here are the ways we did that this month, and a hint at what’s to come:
To kick things off, our MOSAIC Affinity group committed to providing regular spotlights on Black American entrepreneurs, inventors and activists. They also organized a virtual tour of the International Civil Rights Museum in Greensboro, NC, which included a virtual exhibition of the historic Woolworth counter, the location of a six-month long sit-in which led to the desegregation of the F. W. Woolworth lunch counter on July 25, 1960.
We also began a company-wide Learn and Learn series with a talk by Jim Sills, the CEO of Mechanics and Farmers Bank (M&F Bank). M&F Bank, North Carolina’s oldest African American-owned bank, was established in 1908 and was a pillar of Black Wall Street in Durham, NC. Last year, Pendo transferred $3 million dollars to M&F Bank.
Pendo also amplified Black-owned businesses by sponsoring snack boxes for all our employees filled with snacks from BIPOC-owned brands from across the country. The boxes included snacks from Partake Foods, Pipcorn, and Finger Licking Dutch.
In timing with the month of celebration, our product team also changed our customer-facing logo to incorporate the Pan-African colors of black, red, green, and yellow colors, which symbolize history, prosperity, growth, and shared identity.
Looking Ahead to March
As we look ahead to March—Women’s History Month—we have organized an internal conversation around challenging gender bias in the workplace, aligned with the International Women’s Day global theme “Choose to Challenge.”
And on March 18th, we will host a conversation on designing with product inclusion in mind as part of the Women of Pendo customer community. This conversation will feature Annie Jean-Baptiste, head of product inclusion at Google and author of Building for Everyone, and Pendo CEO and co-founder Todd Olson. We are excited to explore ways to design more inclusive products with a woman who is leading the charge at one of the world’s best known companies.
Please stay tuned for more information and details on how you can attend the event by signing up here.
We will continue to provide opportunities for our employees and community to learn, collaborate, and be voices for inclusion as 2021 continues.