How Elastic’s Tiffany Witwer Built a Career from Civil Engineering to Customer Service
Tiffany Witwer from Elastic is a proud mom of three.
“I enjoy being a parent because it teaches me patience and it gives me a different perspective,” she shares. “It allows me to be more present, laugh more, and appreciate the small things.”
In between her duties as a mom, she keeps herself mentally and physically healthy by running, biking, swimming, or doing yoga — all activities that help her start the day with gratitude. "It gives me the right perspective and attitude to go into the day,” she says.
With an overall positive outlook on life, Tiffany brings that same energy to her customers at work as the Head of Customer Service for Elastic.
We sat down with Tiffany, who shared with us her career journey from civil engineering to customer service. Keep reading to learn top tips for creating happy customers.
Starting a Career in Engineering
Tiffany pursued an undergraduate degree in biological engineering.
“I was always really good at math and science, especially chemistry. And I love being outside in nature and learning about it,” she shares.
It was a college professor’s research on stormwater runoff that motivated her to pursue her master's degree in biological and civil engineering. “I liked his energy and attitude toward learning. It was contagious,” she describes.
While working alongside this professor at North Carolina State University, she presented her work at a conference that helped lay the groundwork for her career. “I met a man who liked my presentation," she says, "and was hiring a civil engineer for a consulting company.”
Taking on this new opportunity, she moved to New York City where she discovered her love of being surrounded by diverse people and cultures, in addition to her new job.
“I enjoyed doing the design work and meeting the customers,” she explains. "I was always the one on the proposals, winning the design work, and building relationships with customers.”
While emerging in the complex realm of storm waste engineering, Tiffany saw how the world was progressing and thought that knowing software and technology would be beneficial.
“So I learned to code, networked, and got a job at a business analytics and software company as a pre-sales systems engineer,” Tiffany says.
Pivoting into a Customer Success Role
As she dedicated more time to customers, her interest in working with them soon began to increase. “What I loved most was that I was using my mind to solve problems, but I also got to interface with customers. I got to meet customers and hear what they were doing and hear how we could help them.”
Tiffany spent 10 years in pre-sales engineering and sales. She then took a job in a different company where she helped build out their advisory services business.
It was there that she built a successful team with coworkers who would lead her to her position at Elastic.
Elastic is the leading platform for search-powered solutions. They help enhance customer and employee search experiences, keep mission-critical applications running smoothly, and protect against cyber threats.
As the Head of Customer Service, Tiffany is responsible for making sure customers are getting the most value out of their software. "It's not only about how customers are using the technology," she explains. "It’s, ‘how is a customer's experience with Elastic? Are we meeting their need for technology?’ And, ‘are we meeting their needs from a support and empathy standpoint?’”
In order to meet her customers’ complex needs, she emphasizes how crucial communication is.
The Importance of Communication in Customer Success
Quality communication is a skill that can often be undervalued. “I think people underestimate how much time is needed for clear communication,” she points out. “Just because you put a message out there, it doesn't mean it’s clearly understood. You need to think through how people are going to respond to the information.”
With the complexities of communication, Tiffany relies on setting clear intentions when communicating in meetings. “I always ask at the beginning, ‘what is your goal for this meeting and what does success look like for you?’" she explains.
Communicating clearly what success looks like for both parties allows for a better outcome. “I think for communications, it's making a lot of time and clearly defining what you want to get out of the interaction.”
Advice for Clear Communication with Customers
Tiffany’s career journey has been a mixture of understanding technology and building relationships with people — learning how to explain the technology to customers and problem solve in an empathic way. This has led to overall customer success. To create clear communication, Tiffany offers this advice.
- Be empathetic and listen to your customers: “If you think about it, you've been trained in your technology, you know it inside and out,” she explains. "But when you meet with a customer, the technology may only be a small part of their job.” Taking this perspective can help you to communicate with more empathy. “It's understanding people's vantage point and then using that to communicate to them.”
- Defining success and clearly communicating it: “I'm a strong believer in getting on calls and confirming the goals and what people want to get out of the call," Tiffany shares. "This way, you know, you are aligned on what success is no matter what type of call.”
- Be genuine: “At the end of the day, people will remember how you made them feel," she shares. "I think for me, it's about being a good human and making the world a better place. And if you can do that in your job as well, that's a win-win.”
- Get to know people: “Getting to know people, their perspectives, and growing with them is what has led me to customer success and to where I am in my career,” Tiffany advises.
How These Companies Upskill their People to Stay Ahead
Professional Development Programs that Upskill on the Job
As an employee during a time of endless technological advancement, it can be stressful to keep up with the ever-growing list of resume-boosting skills. Investing time and money outside of work to hone them can get complicated.
That’s why it’s key to find a company that cares about upskilling if you want to stay sharp. Upskilling is when companies train employees in new and relevant skills necessary for the future, usually through training programs and continued education.
Collective Insights —
“Collective Insights continually invests heavily in our technical and business skillsets. Delivering high-quality services to our valued clients is critical. We strategically plan the direction of these services and the skillsets required to provide them. Therefore, building a team of highly capable technical consultants is a top priority.
Collective Insights creates customized training plans to develop individual capabilities to meet the increasing demand. We budget training and exam investments to eliminate the cost burden for our team. We also provide tuition reimbursement to assist our team with continued education. Additionally, Collective Insights implements a focused mentorship program to guide junior team members and offers ready access to relevant technologies in our labs so that everyone can exercise their knowledge with hands-on tools.”
Learn more about Collective Insights here.---
Logicworks —
“One way Logicworks tackles continuous learning is through our Certification Reimbursement Program. Regardless of position or seniority, we will reimburse employees for any pre-approved “work-related” certification exams like the AWS Cloud Practitioner or AZ-900 Azure Fundamentals, and once a certification is achieved, we’ll provide a one-time bonus. This encourages our teams (both technical and non-technical) to keep expanding their ever-growing toolbox while earning a few extra bucks along the way. Currently, 75% of our employees hold at least one AWS, Azure, Terraform, and Kubernetes certifications and many have gone on to complete more advanced-level certifications.”
Learn more about Logicworks here.---
Waters Corporation —
“At Waters, organizational growth is fueled by the development of each one of us. With opportunities all around, your continuous development is achieved and especially effective through a routine of ongoing learning. Waters launched a flexible learning program called iLearn, which is our enterprise-wide self-directed learning platform, bringing you state-of-the-art online content. A learner-centric design allows our diverse workforce the flexibility to choose how they want to learn: watching or listening to video courses, reading an e-book, or listening to an audiobook. This makes learning very flexible. An extensive library of industry-leading content is available in several languages for our international audience: English, French, German, Japanese, Mandarin, Portuguese, and Spanish.
Waters also recognizes the benefit of furthering your development through additional education that is work-related. The Educational Assistance Program is a reimbursement plan, which reduces some of the financial burden on the employee. Waters will reimburse you up to $5,250 each calendar year of employment for tuition, books, and registration and lab fees, provided the course has been pre-approved by Waters and a passing grade is submitted at the conclusion of the class.”
Learn more about Waters Corporation here.---
Stem Disintermedia —
“Stem encourages all employees to pursue educational opportunities that will further develop and hone their professional skills. One significant way we do this is by offering an annual $400 Learning & Development stipend. Employees can use the stipend towards courses, seminars, books, tools, equipment etc. to help them master a new skill or expand interests within their field. Led by our CEO & executive team, Stem has directly invested in individual and programmatic training/development that aims to ensure every person - especially those that have been historically marginalized - are given the opportunity and roadmap on how to thrive within Stem.”
Learn more about Stem Disintermedia here.---
Cummins —
“Our workforce is our most valuable resource, and the company is only as successful as the people we employ. Our Leaders are empowered to support the development, upskilling, and continued education of our employees to enable them to reach their full potential. This is achieved through the balance of on-the-job experiences, enterprise learning, functional-driven competency development, employee-generated content, and a learning infrastructure that utilizes emerging technologies to deliver relevant content on demand. Our Global Education Assistance policy is available to all of our employees, aiming to eliminate barriers that limit personal contribution and personal growth through company-supported access to ongoing education.”
Learn more about Cummins here.---
Helm —
“As a learning organization, Helm nurtures people's innate curiosity, encouraging continual growth and investing in developing our team’s skills. Helm offers internal workshops and training on people management, leadership, and DEIB. We also sponsor conferences and courses on subjects like data science, AI, and NFTs. Helm promotes knowledge-sharing within and across teams through monthly lunch-and-learns and a collaborative information center, and all Helm employees are eligible for a professional development stipend for their continued education and growth. Since everyone has unique abilities, Helm strives to provide the programs, tools, and environment to optimize those abilities and help everyone succeed.”
Learn more about Helm here.---
Okta —
“Okta is prioritizing and up-leveling our continuous learning.
Okta has taken its support further by providing additional resources and partnerships for all of the ERG (Employee Resource Groups) by supporting their projects to bring awareness, education, and (hopefully) peace to employees.
For example, POCC (People of Collective Cultures) has created workshops to help us all learn the history of SO MANY races/cultures and communities in America. Through learning, the desire of Okta (and ERGs) is that education and support will help us all understand generational trauma, differences, and current struggles of many.”
Learn more about Okta here.---
UKG —
“UKG recognizes that talent is equally distributed, but opportunity is not. That’s why our Upskill program places value on the transferrable skills that candidates bring to the table, not just their experience.
Whether you served your country, stepped away from work for family, lacked educational opportunities, or decided to pivot your career in a new direction, we believe there is more than one path to success.
As a UKG Upskill program participant, you are hired as a full-time employee and provided training that will enhance your skills and prepare you for a meaningful career at UKG.”
Learn more about UKG here.---
Veracode —
“At Veracode, career growth and upskilling are central to our culture. In addition to role-specific training and upskilling, we offer a selection of structured in-house development courses for both managers and individual contributors such as Managing for Success and Leading at all Levels. We also offer a wealth of self-paced learning opportunities through our internal Veracademy, free access to LinkedIn Learning, dedicated professional development days, and tuition reimbursement for those that participate in furthering their education.”
Learn more about Veracode here.---
DreamSpring —
“DreamSpring offers a robust employee development and education program designed to provide both formal and informal support to employees interested in professional development, upskilling, and pathways to leadership or specialization.
Our management track prepares employees for leadership positions, working to enhance their team and project management. The expert track defines pathways toward deeper subject expertise including trainings, certifications, and expanded responsibilities.
Informal opportunities, such as webinars, conferences, job shadowing, and volunteer work are available to grow skills and networks. DreamSpring also maintains partnerships with local universities to offer a wide range of classes, programs, and opportunities.”
Learn more about DreamSpring here.---
Zapier —
“Zapier wants all employees to do their best work in a role they love, with a sense of opportunity, purpose, and equity. We offer career plans to every employee, access to our internal job board to see which jobs in other departments are/will be available, and support for potential career jumps. Zapier also has internal career coaches available to 100% of employees who request one, two unique training programs for current employees interested in technical recruiting or engineering, and our Next Play Program, aimed at helping employees find their next job—at Zapier or beyond.”
Learn more about Zapier here.---
Deloitte —
“Deloitte University is one of the most visible and important investments we make in our people. It’s where learning meets leadership. It’s where years of knowledge, experience, and values are fostered and passed on. And it’s where we develop leaders who make an impact that matters for each other, our clients, and the communities we serve.”
Learn more about Deloitte here.
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Expedia Group —
“We believe learning happens anytime and anyplace, and that everyone is a learner and a teacher. We provide employees with opportunities to develop professionally, create learning experiences to facilitate skill development, and support employees in applying and teaching each other new skills. Our learning programs and products cover performance and leadership, tech and product, commercial, learning communities, and resources specific to roles and responsibilities.”
Learn more about Expedia Group here.---
ScienceLogic —
“At ScienceLogic, we prioritize our employees at a holistic level. We provide enrichment opportunities for all ScienceLogicians via learning resources, employee training programs, and other tools to support our employees’ quest for continuous learning and development. Also, for the first time, ScienceLogic hired a group of recent college graduates as part of its College Hire Program. The program aims to:
- Create a strong network of college hires
- Introduce what our company does and how we talk about it
- Provide an overview of our product and what problems it solves for our customers
- Reflect on our core values
- Introduce the different departments and discuss how they all cross-collaborate
- Learn about our individual strengths and how they apply to our work style”
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Back Market —
“Back Market offers the possibility of training path to all employees consisting of:
🎓 Internal Online Corporate University to spread knowledge and share our Back Maker's skills
🎯 Open training catalog, short-listed external training providers
5 pillars drive our upskilling vision:
- ONBOARDING: Enable new hires to discover all they need to know during their first weeks
- LIVE: Aims to support employees in becoming the best in their position
- GROWTH: Aims employees to reach their Mid Term North Star position
- MOVE: Our career pivot promotes internal mobility
- FREEDOM: Master Class & Soft Skills Workshop are planned quarterly, open self-registration for ALL
At Back Market, 41 nationalities work together. English should be a no-brainer for all, that's why we provide 15 private English classes with a teacher + unlimited access to online exercises. Our English Busuu challenge also rewards our best students each month.”
Learn more about Back Market here.---
Pluralsight —
“At Pluralsight, we emphasize the importance of lifelong learning, both in our product and in our culture. We offer various opportunities that support the continued learning and upskilling of our team members, including;
- Complimentary Pluralsight skills subscription
- Tuition reimbursement benefit
- Dedicated career weeks - featuring workshops, panels, and presentations that help team members grow their careers
- Protected learning time
- Mentorship programs
- DevOps Academy - designed to prepare team members for an entry-level DevOps engineer role
- Company-hosted learning series - centered on topics like leadership and change management
Whether it be upskilling, reskilling, or learning something new, we believe in investing in skills development and facilitating growth experiences that help team members reach their goals.”
Learn more about Pluralsight here.---
Ribbon —
“At Ribbon, we know that education is a continuous journey. To support our teams in their growth, we provide a $500 annual stipend for folks to use in any way to expand their knowledge. For some, this means buying books and resources about how to be a better manager or even a better ally. For others, it means attending conferences with their teams. No matter how you take advantage of the stipend, we trust our team is using it to expand their horizons and become better professionals and leaders.”
Learn more about Ribbon here.---
CHG Healthcare —
“At CHG, we live with purpose. Putting People First is not just our core value. It is our culture. We focus on the whole person professionally and personally. CHG offers foundational training at headquarters for every new employee along with people-driven, leader-guided career pathing throughout their career. Career training involves mentorship programs, extensive training programs for leadership, departmental training, DEI bias training, and tuition reimbursement.”
Learn more about CHG Healthcare here.---
McMaster-Carr —
“McMaster-Carr offers a culture of development that caters to the curious people we hire. Project assignments intentionally offer opportunities to explore technology in ways that broaden or deepen expertise. Engineers also build professional skills and knowledge in ways that extend beyond their project assignments and roles. Leveraging our 100% paid tuition benefit to pursue advanced degrees and extracurricular studies, attending conferences, joining or co-leading guild discussions, and participating in internal DevTalks provide people with many opportunities to learn and explore their diverse interests.”
Learn more about McMaster-Carr here.---
Datadog —
“Our Talent Development team empowers Datadogs to unlock their highest potential through global offerings and opportunities. Using a future-first approach, they curate, develop, and deliver quality learning moments and career development programs that are accessible and useful for everyone. Their team supports the development, launch, and continued delivery of training programs that will advance the company’s performance and strengthen our culture! #DatadogLife”
Learn more about Datadog here.---
Novelis —
“At Novelis, embedding our cultural beliefs in everything we do is critical to our success. To educate our employees on these beliefs, we provide an immersive in-person culture workshop that is facilitated by our top leadership and addresses topics like how we give and receive feedback, recognize and reward our colleagues, and maintain open lines of communication across functions. The content is cascaded down through all our 17 North American manufacturing facilities thanks to our network of Culture Champions. Our people are our greatest asset, and culture workshops are how we deepen our investment in their success. ”
Learn more about Novelis here.---
BlackRock —
“Our people have the opportunity to master their role anytime, anywhere, through virtual and classroom courses that help them up their game while gaining the skills and knowledge needed to be a high performer and leader at BlackRock.
The BlackRock Academies: Development programs focused on client relationships, technology, investments, leadership, management skills, and more.
Professional Networks: Employee-led networks that provide resources, mentorship, learning, and development opportunities. For example, the Associate Development Program was created by the Women's Initiative & Allies Network.
Leadership Programs: Invite-only programs to grow leaders through executive coaching, sponsorship, hands-on work, and more. Our flagship programs include the Women, Black, and Latinx Leadership Forums for women, Black and Latinx Managing Directors, respectively, as well as Enterprise Leadership Acceleration at BlackRock for Directors, and Professional Preparation for Elevated Leadership for Vice Presidents..”
Learn more about BlackRock here.---
Riot Games —
Women@Riot, a professional and personal development program for women and gender-diverse Rioters, focuses on mentorship, coaching, and networking. The program holds quarterly global workshops that cover topics like negotiation, self-advocacy, building resilience, knowing your story, and mentor/mentee relationships. Additionally, they host monthly virtual coffees with Rioters across all levels that help foster a true sense of community between participants all over the world. They also bring in guest speakers like Kim Scott, author of Radical Candor, who talked to Rioters about how they can apply this management philosophy at work.”
Learn more about Riot Games here.---
Nestlé —
“At Nestlé, we are striving for a more sustainable future, towards a healthier planet, a stronger and more responsible society, and a thriving economy. This year we are upskilling all of our employees at all levels to help make progress on our sustainability journey. One of the ways we do this is by incorporating sustainability into our employee skill-building and education opportunities. This year, our employees are upskilling through a Fundamentals of Sustainable Food and Beverage Packaging course on our internal learning platform. All areas of the business are working on building sustainability into everything we do in order to help create a more sustainable future.”
Learn more about Nestlé here.---
Collins Aerospace —
“At Collins Aerospace, we’re deeply committed to your health, well-being, and success. Our Employee Scholar Program empowers you to develop new skills through job-related certifications or full degree programs. By investing fully in your lifelong learning, we’re supporting your development and helping you push the boundaries of what you can achieve as we redefine aerospace, together.”
Learn more about Collins Aerospace here.---
RebelMouse —
“At RebelMouse we believe that people can achieve their fullest potential by staying curious and open to learning. That's why we offer our leaders the opportunity to be challenged by experienced professionals that could mentor them in their growth journey. We combine in-house and external training sessions with PowerToFly Mentorship Program not only as a solid ground to develop their skills but also to share their struggles and insightful ideas with mentors that guide them in recurring 1 on 1 meetings for 6 months. The results keep showing up, we have two mentored leaders that got promoted recently and we can see that they are excited to move the needle to where it matters most for the company and for their career!”
Learn more about RebelMouse here.---
Kiva —
“One of Kiva’s core values is: Grow Your Career, Grow Your Mind — boredom isn’t an option.
Kiva allows people to create a personal impact across the world:
Through experiential learning, digital collaboration, and the power of human connections, Kiva U provides a platform for young people to take action and change lives via microfinance and financial inclusion.
An internship at Kiva gives you 6 months of hands-on learning with an innovative, internationally recognized nonprofit that has tech startup in its DNA — develop your professional skills, while making lifelong friends.”
Learn more about Kiva here.---
Nokia —
“At Nokia, our approach is to inspire all of our employees to take control of their own learning journey. We show them the vast array of learning opportunities available; whether it’s with formal training, on-the-job training, or by working together with their coach or mentor, we ask: “what do you want to learn now to improve performance in your current role?” and “what do you need to prepare you for your next career move?” either way we put them into the driver’s seat.”
Learn more about Nokia here.---
Google —
“At Google, you’ll find a range of opportunities to grow, connect, and give back at every stage of your career including, educational reimbursement, a Googler-to-Googler peer learning and coaching platform, donation matching and time off to volunteer, employee resource groups for underrepresented employees and their allies, and Internal Googler community groups and local culture clubs. The video above highlights how a Googler founded the ERG Buddy Program at Google, which pairs new Googlers with mentors in their employee resource groups to support them on their career journeys.”
Learn more about Google here.---
Elastic —
“We believe in providing Elasticians with the opportunity to continue to learn and develop throughout their careers. As we evolve as a company, we want our Elasticians to evolve with us. Our Learning and Development team curates courses in Elastic Academy, our in-house development program, which allows Elasticians to level up, minimize any skill gaps, and stay curious.
For managers, there is a specific training path on leadership, and we also provide all Elasticians with access to LinkedIn Learning, so they can choose what they’re interested in and take courses that align with their development goals.”
Learn more about Elastic here.---
ServiceNow —
“At ServiceNow, we’re dedicated to helping employees live our People Pact-- live your best life, do your best work, and fulfill our purpose together. To help employees learn and grow, we offer 1:1 life coaching, education reimbursement, and department-specific courses. We also have a dedicated Talent Development team that offers programs to employees of all levels that focus on agility, innovation, inclusion, and trust. Some of these programs include Future Readiness, led by Harvard Business Professor Frances Frei; Strive, our yearlong leadership development program; and Launchpad, our professional development program for early career employees.”
Learn more about ServiceNow here.---
1Password —
“1Password happily supports employees with upskilling and continued education through several means. Each employee receives an annual training budget to put towards their goals and pursuits, whether for courses, books, or any other learning materials. Additionally, 1Password provides a monthly "Learning Nook" session where we discuss topics ranging from security and career skills to mental health and accessibility. Finally, our very own 1Password University gives team members the chance to enroll in an ever-growing list of eLearning courses, with classes on wellness, professional development, team training, and more.”
Learn more about 1Password here.---
uShip —
“uShip maintains very healthy professional development budgets for each employee to use towards continuing education, certifications, conferences, courses, etc. We’ve paid for our developers to become AWS certified. We also provide unlimited access to LinkedIn Learning and actively promote our internal and external (with PTF) mentorship programs to foster career growth. We’re proud to have so many tenured employees that have moved and advanced through multiple departments as they’ve grown their skills here.”
Learn more about uShip here.---
Esri —
“At Esri, growing your career can take many different directions. Employees have many opportunities to explore their interests and development needs with colleagues and leaders throughout the organization, and that’s where the magic happens! Employees collaborate with other teams and work on projects that develop and challenge them. Not sure what your interests are? We have a dedicated Employee Development team that offers resources on technical skills, personal development, competencies, and more. Want to take it to the next level? Esri offers tuition assistance to obtain your degree at a lower cost.”
Learn more about Esri here.---
Nike —
“At Nike, we know that there’s no finish line on the path to greatness. That’s why we believe in empowering teammates to own their careers, growth, and development.
From on-demand learning and development platforms to mentorships, DE&I education, upskilling programs, and tuition support, we invest in foundational and functional learning experiences to support employees throughout their careers.
Click here to learn more about our development opportunities and other Nike benefits: https://jobs.nike.com/benefits”
Learn more about Nike here.---
UnitedHealth Group —
“At UnitedHealth Group, UnitedHealthcare and Optum we are committed to providing our people with rewarding development and career growth opportunities. Our global diversity, equity and inclusion team is dedicated to enhancing the employee lifecycle from onboarding to retirement, promoting development and inclusion throughout. We also value continuing education and support our employees as they upskill for career advancement. And we always empower team members to find out what it means to do your life’s best work.”
Learn more about UnitedHealth Group here.---
Cockroach Labs —
“At Cockroach Labs, we value communication as represented in one of our values, Communicate Openly and Honestly. As our company went remote and returned as a distributed workforce, it’s clear how important communication is to working effectively, from collaborating with your team to telling stories to inspire to sharing information across departments. Throughout the year, we facilitate workshops focused on a communication skill, some topics include:
- Speech Coaching - how we can use our voice to influence
- Listening Skills - how we must listen first to understand
- Designing Visual Slides - how we can inspire with a visual story”
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The Recycling Partnership —
“The Recycling Partnership staff are curious, dedicated professionals, always eager to pursue growth. We understand that personal development drives professional growth. Consistent with our Pursue Growth and Learning Core Value, we launched an initiative called the Partners in Progress Program (PiPP) to enhance Partnership employees’ individual experiences and help connect their roles to real purpose. PiPP encourages two-way conversations around Core Values, Goals, Growth, and Feedback to help Team Leads understand what motivates and drives each employee and enable The Partnership to support these motivations while encouraging employees to own their career growth and professional development.”
Learn more about The Recycling Partnership here.---
CrowdStreet —
“At CrowdStreet, our Builders are empowered to engage in continuous skill development and education both internally and with outside resources. Every employee is eligible for a learning and development reimbursement that can be used for certifications, conferences, professional association dues, and external courses and training sessions. StreetSmart, our internal learning platform, offers a robust and diverse content library of more than 4,000 on-demand learning experiences that cover a wide range of topics that support both personal and professional development.”
Learn more about CrowdStreet here.---
CDW —
“At CDW, our coworkers are empowered to reach their highest potential, and we are focused on providing them with a wide variety of tools and development opportunities to help them achieve their career aspirations. Across our global operations, our LAUNCH orientation program sets the foundation for a continuous learning journey from day one. Our suite of leadership training and development programs allows us to develop and nurture internal talent by providing the resources our coworkers need to advance in their professional journey. In addition, all coworkers have access to LinkedIn Learning and professional development sessions provided by our business resource groups.”
Learn more about CDW here.---
PagerDuty —
“We believe all Dutonians (PagerDuty employees) are leaders and take pride in our People First goal. We prioritize our people, design whole human experiences, and make development equitable. We invest in learning that provides employees with modern leadership skills and behaviors by connecting Dutonians to real-time and relevant experiences that amplify career growth, performance, and opportunity. This happens because of our amazing people managers, leaders, and HRBPs who continually support individual and team development. More broadly, our People Development Team works to cultivate and manage key employee moments that matter to help PagerDuty realize our vision, purpose, and mission.”
Learn more about PagerDuty here.---
SumOfUs —
“At SumOfUs, we cultivate and foster an organizational culture where we encourage people to bring their whole selves. We prioritize learning and development for all staff through stipends, clear growth paths, and a dedicated learning and development department. We have different types of funding available for learning and development, (e.g. individual learning funds, anti-oppression coaching grants, and team training grants). We are also dedicated to investing in our managers and are currently piloting a management learning lab. As SumOfUs grows and evolves, we want our people to grow and evolve alongside us so they feel empowered to go out, fight for people over profit and make change in the world.”
Learn more about SumOfUs here.---
PwC —
“Since 2017, we’ve upskilled our people through “New World, New Skills.”, our $3B investment to equip them with the digital skills, tools, and training needed to thrive in a tech-first workforce. Building on that, we launched My+, our biggest and boldest reimagination of our people experience, with development as a key pillar and leadership upskilling opportunities like our Inclusive Mindset Badge. Beyond PwC, we’re investing $125M to support 25,000 Black and Latinx college students to prepare for and begin an in-demand career through our Access Your Potential program — aspiring to hire 10,000 into roles at the firm by 2026.
Learn more and explore career opportunities at PwC.”
Learn more about PwC here.---
Guru —
“One of Guru’s core values is to Seek and Share Knowledge — we believe that when we share what we know and lift others as we rise, we build a culture of knowledge that makes us all a little bit better. Be transparent: share the good and the bad, and offer insight into decision-making processes. Take risks and experiment; every setback is a learning experience. Seek diverse views for better outcomes—embrace diverse experiences, backgrounds, and skill sets to make us stronger and smarter. Nothing revolutionary was ever created in an echo chamber.
Guru empowers you to make choices about your future and take steps to make that happen. We offer a $1,500 professional development stipend to give you the learning and education you need to take you further along in your career. We offer up to $10,000 in tuition reimbursement for tenured employees.”
Learn more about Guru here.---
Teachers Pay Teachers —
“Learning is central to our culture at TPT! We actively create opportunities for employees to gain experience, develop skills, and learn from each other.
Since 2019, TPT has offered a mentorship program that matches employees with mentors across the company, building relationships and creating pathways toward career aspirations. It’s not unusual for employees to pivot onto new teams, as open roles are often posted internally before externally.
Employees receive PD stipends yearly, reimbursing purchases such as subscriptions, conferences, and workshops. Our engineering teams gather on Fridays for “Engineering Learning Fridays,” and broader tech teams attend weekly Demos to share insights.”
Learn more about Teachers Pay Teachers here.---
Netskope —
"To support our employees with upskilling & continued education, our company implemented Netskoper U. Netskoper U is an online Learning & Development Program in partnership with Coursera. Netskoper U offers more than 7,000 courses and guided processes on topics ranging from machine learning, digital marketing, and leadership presence, to playing the guitar and learning a foreign language. The most popular course amongst Netskopers is Python for Everybody, alongside modules like AWS Essentials, Programming with Google Go, Kubernetes, and even Spanish Vocabulary. The course catalog ranges greatly whether you're interested in learning how to Program with JavaScript, or wanting to understand The Science of Well-Being - there's a course for everyone!"
Learn more about Netskope here.---
Skedulo —
At Skedulo, employees receive a yearly learning & development stipend to access books, courses, and other resources to support their learning of choice. We also have a career development mentoring program focused on expanding networks, gaining new knowledge and insights, and building new skills. Apart from forming a mentoring connection, participants are invited to attend professional development workshops and conversations throughout the six-month program.
For our people managers, we offer a training series focused on leadership in alignment with our core values. We are also intentional about our diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging foundations training which is offered throughout the year."
Learn more about Skedulo here.
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Samsara —
“Samsara believes in the power of feedback to not just build better products but develop as professionals. We have performance reviews every 6 months where employees reflect and are given feedback on their current strengths and areas of growth. We encourage creating Personal Development Plans to facilitate career growth conversations with managers.
Additionally, we provide a wealth of internal training resources along with a professional coaching membership via Bravely and a quarterly stipend to spend on the professional growth opportunities of your choice.”
Learn more about Samsara here.---
Workiva —
“Workiva employees have constant access to self-paced learning opportunities via Degreed, our learning library. Our internal Micro Lesson Monday and Wellbeing Wednesday series provide timely, educational resources every week. We also provide employees experiential learning and leadership opportunities within our Business Employee Resource Groups (BERGS), our R&D team’s annual conference: LINK, Workiva's Annual Amplify User Conference, and PowerToFly's Pride: Championing LGBTQIA+ Leaders and Allies event. Workiva sponsors and hosts workshops and programs including DiSC, Crucial Conversations, Inclusive Leadership, Women of Workiva, and Accelerating Leadership to encourage the growth and development of our most valuable resource: our employees.”
Learn more about Workiva here.---
Wolters Kluwer —
"At Wolters Kluwer, we provide everyone with the support they need to broaden their skills, develop their potential and achieve their goals. Our approach helps every employee grow, helping them develop greater satisfaction in the job they do, develop a strong sense of purpose and develop their career. Our tailored learning programs help people identify and develop the skills and interests that will help them now and in the future. Everyone at Wolters Kluwer has potential and we ensure they can realize it!"
Learn more about Wolters Kluwer here.
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Relativity —
“All Relativity employees are promised the opportunity to accelerate the trajectory of their careers through transparent development conversations, feedback and coaching, and access to curated live and on-demand content for skill development. We also invest in targeted skill development opportunities for specific audiences, such as our newest program focused on Relativity’s Next Gen Leaders. In this year-long journey aimed at preparing team members for the next generation of leadership at Relativity, participants develop skills aligned with Relativity’s Leadership Expectations through live learning labs with members of our Executive Team, virtual cohort discussions, and focused on-the-job application.”
Learn more about Relativity here.---
Northrop Grumman —
“Northrop Grumman offers many resources to help you further your career. My Learning Experience is the primary point of access for all learning and development, providing a personalized experience built on your interests and interactions. Through career planning, job experiences, leadership development programs such as Women in Leadership and technical programs such as Women in Science and Engineering, there’s something for everyone.
We also encourage employees to continue their education to enhance skills and knowledge as they progress in their careers by taking advantage of Northrop Grumman’s Education Assistance benefits. Explore our Total Rewards Gateway to learn more about our offerings.”
Learn more about Northrop Grumman here.---
Autodesk —
“Learning. Growing. Developing your skills. Expanding your horizons. All great ways to stay engaged and inspired—both in life and in your job. At Autodesk we have these resources to support our employee’s ongoing evolution:
- Tuition Reimbursement
- Professional Association Fee Reimbursement
- Career Coaching by BetterUp
- Mentorship and Leadership Development Programs
- Online Tools and modules: self-guided content and curriculums
- Instructor-led courses”
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Splunk —
“Technology evolves at lightspeed, that's why Splunk empowers our employees to keep their skills sharp with on-site and online courses.
We also provide management training and connect optimal professional pairings through our global employee mentorship program.
Splunk employees are supported through career growth and development with ongoing and personalized coaching across orgs, access to the School of Splunk for skill development, and are encouraged to take courses at accredited educational institutions with reimbursement programs in place.
To learn more about life at Splunk, our benefits, and exciting career opportunities, please visit splunk.com/careers”
Learn more about Splunk here.---
Audible —
“At Audible, we provide opportunities for ongoing growth and development through resources that are relevant and useful for employees’ career journey. This ranges from formal programs like our career journey workshops and flagship manager training, to access to many Amazon resources focused on certifications, coding boot camps, and builder programs, to fully supporting employees’ education through tuition reimbursements. Additionally, through events delivered by our impact groups such as Women in Tech, access to learning platforms like Edcast and LinkedIn learning, and informal events such as the SDE career day, employees have many opportunities to grow and develop themselves and their careers.”
Learn more about Audible here.---
Moody's Cooporation —
"As a global integrated risk assessment firm, we invest in our people throughout the employee life cycle to build an adaptive, engaged, diverse and inclusive workforce. We are committed to helping our employees develop the skills needed to thrive today and in the future. As part of that commitment, employees across the organization grow their skills and expertise with access to Moody's University, our robust learning hub with resources across a wide spectrum of domains-- enterprise, leadership, business-specific and technical. These resources are complemented by our continuing education and innovation programs through academic partnerships and our employee educational assistance program."
Learn more about Moody's here.
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SoftwareONE —
"SoftwareONE unlocks the potential of every employee by helping them realize their personal growth and career ambitions. We have many upskilling and continuous learning opportunities, including our Emerging Leader program that focuses on growing future leaders and helping them develop a strategic mindset. SoftwareONE also has on-demand learning topics, including how to develop technical and soft skills. Our strategic partnership with Harvard Business School helps us analyze the impact of skillful conversations. We also collaborate with McKinsey to help historically marginalized talent with the support they need to accelerate their career growth and leadership progression."
Learn more about SoftwareONE here.
Playing to Her Strengths: The #1 Lesson Taya Richardson Learned as a Sales Leader at Elastic
Even if you hadn’t seen the longboard that Taya Richardson has in her house, you wouldn’t be surprised, upon meeting her, that she loves to surf.
She has a surfer’s energy about her: equal parts poised and laid back.
The San Diego transplant recognizes it in herself, too, and not just when she’s waiting for a wave. Taya says that her personality plays a big part in her approach to sales leadership for search-powered solutions company Elastic, where she is currently a Regional VP.
“I’m not somebody who’s going to come in with heavy energy right off the cuff. But ultimately I have this desire and innate drive to solve problems,” she says. You can imagine her applying that focus to a lineup or waves — or to a sales rep who’s struggling to close a big deal. “Part of my leadership style is about being able to stay composed, logically look at the problem, assess it, and drive towards a solution.”
Taya has been able to figure out her leadership style, hone it, and apply it to her team thanks to two things: first, transparently sharing her goal to become a sales leader with her mentors and managers; and second, the focus of those mentors and managers on helping Taya reach that goal.
We sat down with Taya to hear more about how she’s purposefully built a leadership path that fits her unique strengths and interests — as well as how Elastic’s people-first culture made that possible.
A Love for Solving Problems
Taya didn’t know she wanted to be in sales until an HR internship at a cybersecurity company in college failed to capture her attention. She’d studied international business and marketing in college, enjoying exposure to other cultures and perspectives.
“Learning about people and understanding how they make decisions was something I loved,” reflects Taya of study abroad experiences in Martinique and Costa Rica.
But during her HR internship, Taya had met sales executives at the company and realized that she loved the energy around sales. “I enjoyed the concept of solving problems for customers and could relate it back to that international business interest,” says Taya, who says she was also interested in the growing cybersecurity field.
She took a job in that company’s sales department, where she confirmed her hypothesis that solving customer problems with innovative, effective technology was something she was passionate about.
“I get a lot of intrinsic value from relationship selling and working with my customers. Ultimately, if you have a fantastic technology, and you’re solving a customer challenge and can build a relationship with those individuals along the way, it’s a great experience,” she says.
Experiencing a People-First Culture
Taya was working for software company Endgame when it was acquired by Elastic. She’d joined the company because she loved its culture and mission, and was worried she wouldn’t feel the same way after the acquisition — but quickly saw that her worry was unfounded when 90% of her original team was kept on post-acquisition.
“I felt the exact same energy at Elastic,” says Taya. “I had the ability not only to sell products that were solving risk-based problems for businesses, but also had this new challenge of solving revenue-generating problems on the search and observability side.”
She liked Elastic’s Source Code, a set of ideas that guides the business, and felt like they were taken seriously. Taya found out just how seriously Elastic took these ideas when she told her superiors that she wanted to grow from an individual contributor into a sales leader.
“They heard that, acknowledged it, mentored me, and helped develop me to the point where they felt I would be a successful leader,” says Taya, who is now responsible for several sales reps’ books of business across her region.
With the help of her mentors, Taya started by taking on projects that would allow her to stretch her management muscles. She created a program for five sales reps on the east coast to help them build their book of business, learned how to do strategic deal reviews, and how to work with different personalities.
“It takes a very special leadership organization to look at developing and retaining internal talent,” she says. “There are always two options: you can pull externally, or you can hire and develop internally. We’ve really taken on the latter as a company and it’s been a great experience.”
Taya’s seen that people-first focus play out not just in development conversations, but also in how work-life balance is managed.
“When COVID got to the point where it was a long-term challenge, leadership gave us ‘shut it down days,’ which are a couple of days off each month to handle any personal stressors that we had,” she says. “To have the acknowledgement from leadership that it’s been a challenging time has been incredible.”
4 Key Factors to Making it to Leadership
Taya credits much of her success to the culture and the leaders at Elastic. “We’re a mission-driven organization building very innovative technology with a group of high energy, fast-paced, driven, hardworking individuals,” she says.
That’s especially true of the women in sales who have become Taya’s mentors, she notes, shouting out Katie FitzGerald, Elastic’s Vice President, Americas.
But no matter where you work, Taya has a four-part framework to help you drive towards your own goals:
- Transparency. Taya was clear that she wanted to go from IC to leadership, and counts that as a key part of her being able to do it. “Open and honest conversations lead you in two directions: either they hear you and want to develop you, or they don’t, and you go find a company that does,” she says.
- Resiliency. “Be relentless in pursuit of your goal, and resilient throughout the process,” says Taya, noting that there will be roadblocks along the way.
- Mentorship. “Both internal and external mentors are so important,” she says. Learn from the styles, strengths, and advice of each.
- Embrace your own style. Last but not least, Taya gives one key piece of advice about figuring out what kind of leader you’ll be: come as you are. “If you have a different style, you’ll have a different perspective, and that’s healthy and necessary in order to achieve your company’s goals,” she says. “Don’t feel that you need to put yourself into this cookie cutter mold that you believe professionals need to be in. Own who you are and feel confident in pursuing it.”
If you want to pursue a career path at Elastic, check out their open roles!
Celebrating LGBTQIA+ Pride in the Workplace — Virtual and In-Person Ideas
So much has changed in our workplaces over the past year, but the importance of DEIB hasn't. And neither has the importance of highlighting the value that each unique team member brings, no matter how they identify. June is LGBTQIA+ Pride Month — a perfect opportunity to put this into practice and celebrate the identities and intersectionalities of your LGBTQIA+ team members and allies.
This year, with some of us returning to the office and others staying remote, Pride celebrations might look different for everyone. So we asked some of our partner companies to see what they're doing to celebrate LGBTQIA+ Pride Month in their organizations. Keep reading for some ideas so that your remote, hybrid, and in-person teams can learn, uplift, and grow together while celebrating Pride Month 2022 — virtually and in person!
Clyde — launch an ERG
“Clyde just launched our newest ERG group, Pryde, to foster a welcoming culture and inclusive, safe environment for LGBTQIA+ employees, allies, and advocates. Pryde has been hitting the group running with the hopes of rolling out the following initiatives for the upcoming Pride month:
Highlighting internal benefits available such as mental health resources, 3-month paid parental / caregiver leave, and coverages accessible for transgender individuals.
Rolling our Understanding through Inclusion Series that focuses on weekly themes such as celebration, global perspectives, allyship, etc.
Launching a Pride Month Calendar filled with fun facts, resources, and upcoming internal events such as a Chicago / NYC event to benefit local LGBTQIA+ organizations.
Pryde is excited to support, foster, and further celebrate our culture that surrounds the LGBTQIA+ identities at Clyde.”
Learn more about Clyde here.
CDW — amplify employee voices on social media
"Pride Month gives us the opportunity to celebrate the many accomplishments and contributions the LGBTQ+ community has made throughout the world and within our organization. Our Business Resource Alliance Valuing Equality (BRAVE) Business Resource Group is planning multiple events with the theme ‘Family Matters’ including a coworker panel discussion, a keynote speaker event featuring LGBTQ+ rights activists and a networking social event. Additionally, we will be amplifying coworker voices internally through an email campaign and externally on @CDWCareers social media."
Learn more about CDW here.
Samsara — volunteer with a local charity
"This Pride Month, Samsara's Pride ERG and People team recognize the unique paths that have brought us together, the differences that make our strengths, and that we can accomplish anything through unity. Samsara will host a Q&A for the Pride ERG and allies to explore themes around trauma, belonging, and the human condition. We are partnering with Habitat for Humanity Bay Area—volunteering over several days in June. And lastly, we will have Pride celebration events, fun swag, trivia, and remembrances to celebrate and honor the history that has brought us here today."
Learn more about Samsara here.
Riot Games — showcase LGBTQIA+-themed content
"All of Riot’s games will be celebrating Pride with unique in-game content. We want all players to feel their identities are represented. No matter where you live, who you are, or who you love, we want to make sure you can see yourselves while you play.
Our offices around the world will also be celebrating Pride in their own ways. For example, Rioters at our main campus in Los Angeles will be participating in the West Hollywood Pride Parade and Rioters in Brazil will be putting on a series of tournaments featuring players from LGBTQIA+ communities."
Learn more about Riot Games here.
UKG — join a local Pride parade
"At UKG, our Pride theme in 2022 is “Authentically U.” Authentically U empowers you to live and celebrate your life authentically, whether you identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender non-conforming, or an ally. The employee resource group PRIDE at UKG strives to create and foster inclusivity amongst our employees (also known as U Krewers) and will support special programming and events throughout June — such as local parades, webinars, and articles spotlighting U Krewers. We celebrate Pride all year, so follow Life at UKG on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram for photos and stories."
Learn more about UKG here.
AlertMedia — host an in-office Pride celebration
"AlertMedia is excited to sponsor with Austin Pride this year and participate in the annual parade and festival. We will also be hosting a Pride event in-office so that our employees can celebrate National Pride Day together. This event will include food and goodies from local LGBTQ+ owned businesses.
In addition, our team has created Pride-themed Zoom backgrounds as well as t-shirts for those who want to show Pride all year-long. Lastly, we are thrilled to continue our partnership with our non-profit partner, Out in Tech, as well as kick-off one of our first Employee Resource Groups, LGBTQ+, in June!"
Learn more about AlertMedia here.
Teachers Pay Teachers — screen some LGBTQIA+ films
"TpT is excited to celebrate Pride Month with the help of Flora, our employee resource group for LGBTQ+ employees & allies! This year, Flora has several activities planned, including virtual Drag Bingo with Marti Gould Cummings, an in-person Happy Hour, astrology readings, and screenings of LGBTQ+ films. Flora will also co-sponsor a company-wide discussion on Florida's Parental Rights in Education bill.
Throughout Pride Month, TpT will also be highlighting and celebrating members of our Teacher-Author community who identify as LGBTQ+."
Learn more about Teachers Pay Teachers here.
Workiva — advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights by donating to local organizations
"To celebrate LGBTQIA+ Pride Month, Workiva is proud to participate in two local Pride parades in cities where our employees live and work. Employees in these locations – Denver and Amsterdam – also plan to support the cause by joining the parades and representing Workiva. Our Rainbow Business Employee Resource Group (BERG) will be sharing more about activities and ways to support the community on our company-wide intranet throughout the month. And we’ll also work to advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights and amplify the voices of the community by sharing opportunities for employees to give back – both financially and through volunteerism to charities."
Learn more about Workiva here.
BlackRock — run workshops to amplify Pride beyond the workplace
"This year, BlackRock is celebrating Pride Month throughout June under the theme, "Standing with Our Pride." Our employee network, Out & Allies, will host events, run workshops and fundraise for LGBTQIA+-focused nonprofits to amplify pride beyond our walls. It is important that we foster a workplace that is safe and inclusive, allowing for expression and celebration."
Learn more about BlackRock here.
Elastic — host a hybrid drag bingo happy hour
"Here at Elastic, "As You Are" is one of our values, what we refer to as our Source Code. We also believe in giving back and supporting the communities where we live and work.
Driven by our Rainbow Stack ERG, this Pride season, we will be pairing volunteer opportunities with special celebrations to encourage EVERYONE to come "As You Are" and take tangible steps to support our global LGBTQIA+ community. This year Elasticians will have access to volunteer opportunities in offices, donation opportunities, newly designed Pride stickers, and drag bingo happy hours locally (and virtually, all over the world)."
Learn more about Elastic here.
Thumbtack — host a virtual drag show
"Every year, Thumbtack's Proudtacks employee resource group leads our Pride celebration by creating company-wide events for our virtual-first employees! Our 2022 events include a virtual LGBTQ+ themed scavenger hunt and drag show, queer themed trivia, co-sponsored events with other Thumbtack employee resource groups and a happy hour. We also share a variety of queer themed facts throughout the month, such as the history of the Stonewall riots and Pride in the Philippines."
Learn more about Thumbtack here.
SeatGeek — amplify historically underrepresented queer figures
"QueerGeeks, SeatGeek's LGBTQ2SIA+ ERG, is organizing a few different Pride-focused events. We want to thoughtfully engage local and remote employees to make Pride an ongoing, educational, impactful, and celebratory experience. We're writing up content on historically underrepresented queer figures, inviting guest speakers to drop by company meetings, funding transportation to/from local volunteer events, and matching donations to the Trevor Project through our partnership with employee recognition app Bonusly. Thanks to our partners at NY Liberty and Portland Timbers, our members will also get to celebrate at some upcoming games."
Learn more about SeatGeek here.
SoftwareONE — create Pride-themed virtual meeting backgrounds and signature lines
"This Pride month –and throughout the year– SoftwareONE celebrates the contributions of the LGBTQ2IA+ community while acknowledging the unique struggles that many in the LGBTQ2IA+ community still face. We will continue our learning opportunities that focus on the perspectives of marginalized groups by hosting a 21-Day LGBTQ2IA+ equity challenge. Both internally and externally, SoftwareONE will highlight the contributions of our “SWOmies” and other trailblazers who belong to the LGBTQ2IA+ community. And, in a show of support and solidarity, we’ve created themed imagery, from virtual meeting backgrounds to signature lines, so we may all fly our Pride colors high."
Learn more about SoftwareONE here.
PagerDuty — host a live baking session with a Pride-themed trivia
"PagerDuty’s LGBTQ+ employee resource group, RainbowDuty, holds Pride events yearly to educate, encourage community participation and create a sense of togetherness across our distributed team. This year, we will be sponsoring a mix of virtual events:
- A panel with participation from external speakers
- Partnering with our social impact team on donation matching campaigns for charities
- Fun breaks with a live baking session and Pride-themed trivia
- “Color-per-day” themed employee pictures during Pride Week, resulting in a rainbow collage featuring our team
- Distributing a 2022 Pride t-shirt for employees to wear proudly wherever they go!"
Learn more about PagerDuty here.
PwC — host a Pride Summit watch party
"Throughout June, PwC is building on its culture of belonging through #PwCPride. The Pride Summit is back and PwCers have the opportunity to join in-person at an office watch party or turn in virtually! They’ll find sessions featuring business leaders and celebrities who advocate and use their personal experiences to fight for LGBTQ+ equality during the summit. The PwC US National Shine Committee for the LGBTQ+ community and allies will also sponsor Pride Parades across the US and the firm's social media will highlight PwCers sharing what Pride Month means to them. Learn more about PwC here."
Learn more about PwC here.
Splunk — sponsor a LGBTQIA+-centered event
"Splunk’s Pride Employee Resource Group has special programming and activities around the theme of: “Chosen Family.”
We are excited this year to continue our intersectional celebrations throughout both June and July by sponsoring the inclusive drag festival of Oaklash, matching donations to LGBTQ+ organizations, offering educational workshops with Out & Equal, and speaking again at the Lesbians Who Tech Pride Summit.
Splunkers globally will also virtually come together for a zoom talk with Mercury Stardust the "Trans Handy Ma'am” trans activist and Tik Tok celebrity.
Join us as we build community and lift up our stories together!
#SplunkLife"
Learn more about Splunk here.
T. Rowe Price — educate your employees on fostering an inclusive environment
"This Pride Month, T. Rowe Price recognizes the valuable contributions of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ+) individuals across the world, and we reaffirm our commitment to standing in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community in their ongoing struggle against discrimination and injustice. We are demonstrating our commitment to creating and sustaining an inclusive environment in respect of sexual orientation, gender and trans identity through global programming to educate and engage our associates and strategic partnerships to drive social good."
Learn more about T. Rowe Price here.
Autodesk — host a trans-inclusion workshop
"In celebration of Pride month, Autodesk’s Pride Network will be hosting both global and local events focused on the theme of community. Events will include a trans-inclusion workshop, panel conversation in partnership with Autodesk Black Network, and celebration with drag celebrity, Willow Pill. In addition to these internal events, Autodesk is a proud sponsor of this year’s Lesbians Who Tech + Allies Global Pride Summit. Rita Giacalone, VP of Culture, Diversity, & Talent Development will present on Building a Culture of Inclusion in a Hybrid Workplace, and our Pride ERG will host a panel talk in our virtual booth."
Learn more about Autodesk here.
ServiceNow — enable employees to FULLY express themselves
"At ServiceNow, we are committed to enabling our employees to fully and authentically express themselves. We celebrate Pride month today and every day by focusing on cultural awareness about the LGBTQIA+ community, open dialogue about issues the community is facing, barriers to belonging, and inclusive policies. Pride at ServiceNow Belonging Group and external platforms provide a safe space for this dialogue, employee activations, and allyship promotion. See how ServiceNow creates a safe space for LGBTQIA+ employees to embrace and bring their most authentic self to work.
Explore career opportunities with ServiceNow today."
Learn more about ServiceNow here.
Nestlé USA — host a global webcast around supporting safe spaces
"Nestlé is excited to be sponsoring Pride Month activities in Washington, DC with Capital Pride Alliance and in Cleveland, Ohio, with Pride in the CLE! Employees and their families are invited to participate in our events in person for the first time since 2019, with parade groups organized for both locations by the Nestlé Pride Alliance! At Nestlé, Pride is a Global celebration too – a Global webcast is being held for all employees on Leading Together for LGBTQ+ Inclusion, where panelists will discuss how we’re making our workplace an inclusive supportive safe space for our LGBTQ+ Community. #YouAreIncluded #NestlésGotPride"
Learn more about Nestlé USA here.
Siemens — host a 21- day challenge
"Did you know it takes an average of 21 days to build a new habit by adjusting your focus and how you spend your time? For 21 days in June, the Siemens Pride Challenge will push participants to shift their perspective and examine what they can do to promote inclusion and create a culture of belonging. Employees will receive one email per day with short but impactful content (podcasts, videos, articles, etc.) to deepen their understanding of LGBTQIA+ topics. The Siemens Pride Employee Resource group will also host several learning webinars."
Learn more about Siemens here.
Northrop Grumman — provide professional development opportunities for LGBTQIA+ employees
"Happy Pride Month! At Northrop Grumman, our Pride in Diversity Alliance (PrIDA) Employee Resource Group (ERG) works to support the quality of life for LGBTQIA+ employees and dependents, fostering and inclusive and equitable environment for all.
Our PrIDA ERG augments and ties into local community support while also providing professional development and leadership opportunities for LGBTQIA+ employees. During Pride Month, local and virtual PrIDA chapters host many events such as social hours, seminars on inclusion and intersectionality, and professional networking / career growth workshops. Here is what some of our employees are saying":
“Diversity and inclusion are cultural cornerstones at NG and the array of talent, ideas, experiences and authenticity of our employees propels our success. We’re excited to celebrate PrIDA this month – and every day.” Wendy Williams, Vice President, Space Systems, Propulsion Systems Division
“I’ve worked a lot of places, but Northrop Grumman is different. The PrIDA ERG members and the leaders who support them actually care about people like me. I can have a career, be successful, and (most importantly) I get to be myself!” Taylor Swensen, Program Integrator, Aeronautics Systems, Air Dominance Division
Learn more about Northrup Grumman here.
Collins Aerospace — raise the Progress Flag in the office
"Collins Aerospace and our PRIDE Employee Resource Group are proud to sponsor efforts through June that support and celebrate our LGBTQIA+ colleagues and community.
- Raising the Progress Flag at many of our U.S. locations.
- Sponsorship of local Pride festivities in our communities – parades, walks, wine tastings and more!
- Educational programs for our employees through partners such as Out&Equal.
- Ally workshops and pledge signings.
And talk about PRIDE! Our parent company, Raytheon Technologies, has been named a 2022 Best Place to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality by the Human Rights Campaign."
Learn more about Collins Aerospace here.
Moody's — promote articles and newsletters to boost awareness
"Moody's is committed to advancing the cause of LGBTQ+ inclusion. Moody’s Multicultural BRG promotes articles and newsletters that help create awareness and give us an inside into personal stories and testimonials with the purpose of advocating a work environment that respects, welcomes and supports lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and non-binary individuals. Also, Moody’s is hosting several events like “The T in LGBT” that will be focusing on Social issues, Workplace issues, and Trans* benefits and the “Pride Month and Juneteenth celebration event”."
Learn more about Moody's here.
Equinix — highlight LGBTQIA+ families' stories
"Equinix is committed to being a leading employer for the LGBTQ community and in support of that goal, our PrideConnect employee connection network offers programming for connection and learning. This year, team members have invited the Equinix community to join them in a conversation, “The Modern Family: all genders, sexualities, and identities welcome!” In this event, participants will hear personal stories from a LGBTQ parent and their LGBTQ child, learn how a global insurance company adopts DIB practices, and see how a law firm supports the LGBTQ community, particularly in countries that don’t recognize same sex marriage. We are proud of the great work of our EECNs like PrideConnect, this month and always."
Learn more about Equinix here.
15five — host an allyship book club
"For Pride Month, our LGBTQIA+ employee resource group is planning a fun virtual trivia event, a book club for those who want to learn more about becoming an LGBTQIA+ ally, and a presentation on the state of LGBTQIA+ rights in America in 2022."
Learn more about 15five here.
Spectrum — attend a Pride party event
"June is a month-long celebration of Spectrum’s LGBTQ community. The Spectrum LGBTQ Business Resource Group is hosting an array of activities to further support our commitment to being an organization that fosters LGBTQ acceptance and equality.
Some of the activities throughout June are our Out and Equal Webinar - Fostering LGBTQ & Allyship at Work, several spotlights on Spectrum LGBTQ members with the theme “Your Story, Your Truth, Your Power,” an internal inclusion talk, a discussion on Pride history, and the LGBT Tech Pride Party event in Brooklyn, NY that two Spectrum LGBTQ members will be invited to attend."
Learn more about Spectrum here.
Yelp — host a virtual concert featuring LGBQIA+ artists
"It’s no secret that parenting brings its own set of challenges. Intersectionality has shown us how these experiences can be amplified by the layered identities many of us possess. This Pride Month, we’re bringing together our Yelp parents and LGBTQ+ employee resource groups to shed light on the realities of parenting outside the heteronormative paradigm. We’re also hosting another Drag Queen Story Time with Per Sia, a Latinx, nonbinary drag queen and storyteller. And, of course, we can’t end the month without a celebratory virtual concert featuring LGBTQ+ artists."
Learn more about Yelp here.
Datadog — support and attend ERG-planned programming
"This June, Datadogs will celebrate Pride Month and honor the fight for the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community! Our Rainbowdogs Community Guild has planned programming all month long, including leadership discussion panels, community events, and more.
Rainbowdogs’ mission is to provide a warm, supportive, and friendly community for Datadog employees who identify as trans, queer, lesbian, bisexual, aromantic, asexual, intersex, two-spirit, gay, or questioning+, as well as the allies that support them. Follow the #DatadogLife and stay tuned for information about our upcoming internal initiatives to celebrate Pride Month."
Learn more about Datadog here.
Expedia Group — tune into the Pride podcast
"Expedia Group’s Inclusion Business Group (IBG), Pride, will be among those celebrating Pride. Expedians will get the opportunity to Lip sync for pride, to tune into the pride podcast and to attend a panel focused on “stories of pride through action” where employees will transparently share their authentic, inspiring experiences."
Learn more about Expedia Group here.
Wolters Kluwer — foster a culture of belonging all year long
At Wolters Kluwer we encourage you to be your unique self, bring your ideas to life, learn, develop, and thrive. As a global company, having a diverse workforce is paramount to our success.
This year, to celebrate LGBTQIA+ Pride Month, we are showcasing the diversity we enjoy within our global team, with our CHRO telling his own personal story as well as several other employees creating videos to share their experiences, pride and sense of belonging at working for Wolters Kluwer. We will be sharing these stories on our social channels and in our internal newsletters. We are also devoting space on our corporate homepage to recognize Pride Month.
In addition, we will be leveraging our partner, Limeade, to run a series of fun and engaging activities and challenges to celebrate Pride Month.
Learn more about Wolters Kluwer here.
Healthfirst — invite a guest speaker to share their story
"As New York City’s largest hospital-sponsored insurance plan, Healthfirst is no stranger to diversity. Celebrated every June, PRIDE, serves as an opportunity to celebrate love and embrace our differences as we seek a better future for all. For the first time in Healthfirst’s history, the True Colors PRIDE Alliance ERG will be at the forefront while taking fellow Trailblazers on a journey of PRIDE throughout the years. In addition to the various internal events that we’re planning, we will have guest speakers from organizations such as The Dru Project and Stonewall Speakers. Join us as we celebrate PRIDE!"
Learn more about Healthfirst here.
Andela — promote networking opportunities with LGBTQIA+ professionals in tech
"At Andela, we are celebrating Pride Month through a series of events designed to raise awareness, encourage active allyship and promote the importance of meaningful LGBTQ+ inclusion. Events include opportunities to network with LGBTQ+ professionals in Tech, Learning sessions, pride celebrations and fun virtual gatherings that focus on the importance of Belonging and the power of bringing our whole selves to work. As Andelans, we believe that active allyship and LGBTQ+ inclusion should be verbal, visual and behavioral based and so our focus is not just about what we say, but being visible, modeling our vision for an inclusive world."
Learn more about Andela here.
1Password — create a resource hub with books, podcasts, movies, and shows by LGBTQIA+ creatives
"Alongside donations to The Trevor Project and Pflag Canada and a number of internal events such as a keynote speech by Cheddar Gorgeous, 1Password’s Pride planning committee will be sharing “did you know?” posts throughout the month of June aimed at educating our internal community. By sharing definitions and historical facts about Pride with the whole company, we’re working to further foster our culture of learning and allyship.
The leaders of our DEI&B program – Strong, Unique Voices (SUV) – have also created a resource hub on Notion for all 1Password team members to access books, podcasts, movies and television shows made by LGBTQIA+ authors and creatives."
Learn more about 1Password here.
2U — promote intersectionality with in-person and virtual events
"2Q—2U’s LGBTQIA+ business resource network comprising 800+ employees internationally—celebrates the theme “Go Forth and PRIDE!”, emphasizing how important it is for our LGBTQIA+ employees to be their authentic selves, at work and in life, and to create intentional moments together for effecting change. 2Q will host over a dozen virtual and in-person internal events promoting intersectionality and inclusivity with special guests, including “empower hours” showing how employees can use VTO in support of LGBTQIA+ causes. On 2U’s blog and social channels, we’ll also feature “Day in the Life” perspectives from some of our LGBTQIA+ leaders, including transgender voices."
Learn more about 2U here.
Cummins — build a Pride ally program
"Here at Cummins, we are excited to take part in celebrating Pride Month and supporting the LGBTQ+ Community. Our European Pride ERG have put together a presentation to distribute across Europe embracing Pride Month and sharing our commitment to our journey on changing global attitudes. Our team are sharing ways to get involved; we have information on how to sign up for LGBTQ+ Safe Leader Training and links to our Pride Ally Page where you can become part of the program. We have a rainbow flag flying high at our European sites and are proudly sponsoring a Pride Parade in England."
Learn more about Cummins here.
Pitney Bowes — review workplace standards
"At Pitney Bowes we have a history of creating an inclusive culture where our employees feel they can bring their authentic selves at work. In the last few years, we have expanded our outreach into the LGBTQ+ community and supported the ongoing efforts for equality. During Pride month we celebrate our contributions and our global community by:
• Spotlighting editorials including LGBTQ+ topics and employee stories
• Providing resources to support coming together virtually and at our operating sites
• Sharing important resources to help support LGBTQ+ employees, allies and their families
• Maintaining the standards to be a best place to work for LGBTQ+ people"
Learn more about Pitney Bowes here.
uShip — sponsor and decorate a float for a Pride parade
"Pride is our most celebrated commemorative month at uShip! In addition to featuring local activities in our weekly newsletter, we also sponsor and decorate a float for the “Austin Pride” parade that takes place every August."
Learn more about uShip here.
Google — match your employees' donations
"At Google, our PRIDE at and Trans at Google employee resource groups continue to grow each year. This year, many LGBTQ+ Googlers and their allies will be coming together to host office events and join their local communities to participate in Pride marches. Additionally, given the challenges facing so many LGBTQ+ people, Google is donating to nonprofits that work directly with the community such as Pride Live, GLAAD and The Trevor Project. Googlers will also be able to donate to nonprofits during Pride month and Google.org will match their donations to LGBTQ+ charities around the world."
Learn more about Google’s LGBTQ+ initiatives
Learn more about Google here.
Kiva — post content to raise awareness
"Kiva is celebrating Pride this year by hosting virtual events and sharing content with our community. Our LGBTQ+ Employee Resources Group (ERG) will host a speaking event featuring an advocate for trans rights, as well as a virtual gathering for LBGTQ+ identified employees. Kiva's marketing team will post content throughout the month to highlight content and stories that raise greater awareness around LGBTQ+ lives."
Learn more about Kiva here.
CHG Healthcare — open a pop-up shop with Pride shirts for employees
"At CHG Healthcare, we pride ourselves on our culture of inclusion and diversity. We are celebrating Pride this month by:
- Participating in the Utah Pride Parade and Festival with more than 200 staff members walking with us
- Opening a pop-up shop for CHG with Pride t-shirts for all employees
- Formally relaunching our LGBTQ+ inclusion group
- Participating in Utah’s Business Equality Leader program, including training about LGBTQ+ inclusion
Learn more about CHG Healthcare here.
Audible — throw an internal happy hour
“This Pride Month Audible is collaborating with Playbill for an activation in Times Square, throwing an internal happy hour celebration for employees to reconnect and celebrate at the Innovation Cathedral, and is sponsoring Montclair NJ’s Pride Festival.”
Learn more about Audible here.
Freddie Mac — host a panel on inclusive terms
"Each June, Freddie Mac looks forward to celebrating Pride with our employee community. This year, Freddie Mac’s theme is “Pride: Then and Now,” featuring a powerful month of programming looking at the history and future of LGBTQ+ rights. Our kickoff event features drag queen and coder Anna Lytical to talk about community representation in tech fields. We will also host discussions on legal cases that protect LGBTQ+ rights, a keynote from filmmaker Yoruba Richen on the intersection of the LGBTQ+ and Civil Rights movements, and a panel on inclusive terms. We will also be highlighting how our LGBTQ+ employees contribute to Freddie Mac’s efforts to make home possible – and inclusive – for all."
Learn more about Freddie Mac here.
CU Direct —
"CU Direct’s PRIDE Employee Resource Group is excited to celebrate PRIDE at the company and in our local community! We are kicking off by sponsoring folks throughout the company to attend a PRIDE Leadership conference hosted by CU Pride, an LGBTQ+ Association of Credit Unions, where folks can learn about building inclusion and intersectional allyship. Throughout the month, team members will play PRIDE Bingo. Folks can win Bingo by participating in a PRIDE activity like reading a book, watching a movie, or highlighting a Queero (queer hero). We’ll wind down each Friday with mini-Pride parties—listening to playlists of queer artists, while we work. At the end of June, our PRIDE ERG is volunteering to set up the OC Pride Parade in Santa Ana, CA. We’re also encouraging our team members across the country to participate in Pride Parades and local events near them!"
Learn more about CU Direct here.
Soundcloud — curate a Pride playlist
"This year, at SoundCloud, we are branding Pride Summer throughout June and July as we celebrate with our US, Germany, and UK employees. Over the next two months, our Diversity Resource Group (DRG) QueerClouders will host a series of events ranging from office activities to educational workshops. As we celebrate and embrace the Queer community, we have curated various playlists located on SoundCloud and are proud to support multiple non-profit organizations that focus on the LGBTQI+ community through the SoundCloud Community Fund."
Learn more about Soundcloud here.
Skedulo — host a discussion group about a film
"During Pride month Skedulo is celebrating by embracing and sharing stories from individuals who identify within this community at Skedulo. We are also raising awareness on issues and building allyship through an education session. We are launching a partnership with The Bobby Goldsmith Foundation, Australia’s longest-running HIV charity that supports people living with HIV, a disease that has largely affected the LGBTQIA+ community. We will also host a Pride Parade watch party at our San Francisco office, a volunteer event with Frameline Film Festival, and discussion group event about the Netflix Documentary film, Disclosure, highlighting Hollywood's impact on the trans community."
Learn more about Skedulo here.
Relativity — hold educational broadcasts
Relativity Pride is excited to celebrate June with a variety of in-person, hybrid and virtual events including a picnic, happy hour, quiz bowl, and educational broadcast on the history of Stonewall. During Pride, we’re also collaborating with Relativity Women in the Workplace and Black at Relativity to program intersectional events. As a global company, we have engaged employees in the UK to host EMEA-friendly networking sessions. Finally, we’re determined to give back to the community, partnering with our social impact team to raise funds for a local organization with a Relativity match.
Learn more about Relativity here.