#BELONGHERE
founding member / program manager / idea maker / team leader
We are out to cultivate a new culture, start a reformation of being - a revolution of kindness. We believe inclusion isn’t a set of numbers or hit or miss quotas, that it’s a way of being and creating: creating an environment of value and recognition that empowers people to be their best brightest selves.
We are ready to make an impact that reverberates through an entire industry. And if we’re honest, we’re out to change the world. It’s going to take all of us, but we know with your help we can do it. You aren’t just welcome here, you Belong Here..
Projects
#SeenHere
Legislation and policy may change the world, but I believe our everyday actions are how we change lives. Policies may create better companies, but our daily interactions build better cultures. With that in mind, BelongHere doesn’t want to lose sight of those personal moments: the times we take to truly see and listen to one another, where we can celebrate those that surround us for being who they are. And so, we introduced #SeenHere a small way to begin to build a practice of gratitude for those we work with every day. A fun and joyous practice of letting each other know they are seen - for who they are and how great that is.
Processes & Practice
It’s not enough to say we believe in diversity and inclusion, we must enact it every day in real, tangible ways in how we do everything.
I led a project in which every discipline reviewed every step of how they did their business, searching for ways to be more inclusive, more diverse in thought and action and created a toolkit for their teams. We then found the commonalities and raised them to company-wide practices while the disciplines refined their toolkits making sure each item and process is actionable.
Eventually, this will create an Inclusivity Playbook - helping not just Isobar but agencies everywhere review how they do their work and what they can do to make it better. This book will never be “done” but will hopefully grow as we do. See the beginning here and the WIP Creative Experiences toolkit here.
Socialize
Partnering with Marketing, I helped develop a social calendar wherein we could live out our values and recognize our peers. We created campaigns for major moments in the calendar year (most recently Juneteenth, and plans for others such as Indigenous People’s Day, Women’s Equity Days, Election Day), as well as a series of posts called Insta-glories where we celebrate our colleagues and all they are both in and out of the offices.
Other Projects
November 2019 - July 2020
Internal Resources - We designed and curated a collection of resource materials to live on our internal hub so everyone could have access to empowerment, education, and opportunities to participate. It is a living resource and will be updated continually.
Book Club - a resource for our colleagues to read culturally-inspired, igniting texts and discuss and share with each other how we felt and what we have learned from them.
On-Boarding - partnering with HR to re-evaluate our on-boarding process so that is more inclusive and welcoming to our company.
Fireside Chats - Believing vulnerability begets strength, and the more we can share our stories the more we feel we all belong, we set up a series of talks led by our colleagues sharing their own stories and experiences. The following topics initially included are: working with Autism, mental health, physical disabilities, working parents, women in leadership, among others.
Behind-the-Scenes Award Cases - Developing a process to create case study videos about the awards we win, highlighting the people who worked on the projects and their excitement about the award as well as what project itself meant to them. Often award-winning projects are presented for months without us really knowing who the teams behind them are. This is a way to recognize and honor all the work those “behind the trophy” did to get us there.
Enabling Pronouns - Partnering with our technology administration teams enabled pronouns in our email, slack and zoom signatures
Black History Month Email Campaign - We asked our colleagues to send us the names of Black technologists and innovators whose work influences our own. We then sent 2-3 emails a week all month long telling those stories, along with personal quotes from those who submitted the names on why they wanted to share them.
Holiday Greetings - We changed the way we approached our client holiday cards. We designed and built a micro-site where we celebrated taking care of yourself by offering funny excuses (written by Isobarians across all our offices) to get out of social occasions that might feel too much, and donated money to support a mental health crisis line instead of sending our usual box of chocolates. You can see the digital card and experience here.
Inclusive Celebration - Throughout December we designed posters for a dozen of the many holidays (religious and secular) that fall between the end of November and early January and hung them up throughout the offices. People then attached stickies to “their” holiday, telling a little bit about how they celebrate.
A New Brief - We defined and implemented Brave Briefs. These briefs are Brave Briefs are anchored in unexpected and brave insights that challenge and change businesses, brands and lives. A way to generate and present proactive ideas and solutions
How It All Started
#BelongHere was kicked off November of 2018. However, the work of it began way before.
I had a couple years where I faced multiple incidents that made me feel invisible and disposable. I learned how valuable small acts of kindness could be, how much it meant for someone to believe in you. I got to the other side with the help of the many wonderful people in my life - and I swore to pay it forward in every way I could.
I started at my work. I wanted to create a culture where everyone I worked with felt valued, seen, and like they belonged for exactly who they were. Where we reminded people on a regular basis how grateful we were they showed up every day, how lucky we felt they were there to create with us. I began small projects; thank you letters for the past year, posters of famous women technologists on the walls of our offices during International Women’s Day .. . . tiny things. All in hopes of making those we worked with feel like they were right where they should be when they walked through our doors every day.
Then in 2018, I had a call with Liz Stevison that changed everything. She wanted to do something for the next 3 Percent Conference, wanting Isobar to have a bigger presence. She called me to brainstorm ideas. I wanted something more. I wanted her to join me in building something big within Isobar and she jumped at it. We began planning. Soon, she and I recruited Rachel Bradshaw and Claire Mirisola and we all dug in deep and officially created #BelongHere: a consciously intersectional organization built around the idea that when you feel seen and valued you can be brave - you can create bold work and take the kind of risks needed to build world-changing experiences.
That is BelongHere. It’s an act of love for our colleagues and an intrepid act of hope and call to action for our industry. We can do better. We must. I believe it can and will change the work we do and the way we do it for the better. And what’s more, I do believe we can change our industry and our world, too - together.