Throughout the year, SPECTRAFORCE is always looking for ways to help others, support each other, and learn about various initiatives. To ensure these initiatives are top of mind, we have a DE&I (diversity, equity, and inclusion) counsel that helps guide our company on DE&I initiatives. While 2022 isn’t over, we’ve still been able to assist many groups, and we’re sharing them below to shed light on these groups in the hope of spreading awareness.
PENTA
PENTA Initiative is a Western Kenya community-based organization that encourages local students to develop their soft skills and connect to the rest of the world online. Additionally, the organization provides online coursework to students through Coursera, Kahn Academy, and other learning platforms. Several years ago, a PENTA Initiative leader, Matilda, connected SPECTRAFORCE to the Penta Initiative through a mutual friend when the organization struggled with internet access for its students. Inspired by the mission, SPECTRAFORCE has since provided the WiFi connection for the initiative, which has reached beyond the students to provide internet connection and printing to the larger community. Additionally, through donated laptops, students can continue their education offline when the power is out, which was not possible with desktop computers. The donations made a significant impact by connecting the young population in the area to their studies. Looking forward, the Penta Initiative is working on a website to connect better globally, have more computers to meet the needs of a growing community of students, and is currently building a new computer lab. If you would like to reach out to assist, you can email pentainitiatives@gmail.com.
Dress For Success
In Raleigh, the Dress for Success organization empowers women to achieve economic independence by providing a network of support, professional attire, and the development tools to help women thrive in work and life. SPECTRAFORCE is involved in the organization by assisting women with mock interviews and feedback to assist them back on their feet financially.
SPECTRAFORCE DE&I Initiatives Internally:
We have various activities to ensure that we start within the company with our DE&I initiatives. Below are a few of the initiatives that we’ve championed at SPECTRAFORCE.
- We share a calendar that showcases DE&I milestones and observations along with information regarding the dates, so all employees remain informed.
- We also implement various DE&I activities to keep our employees engaged in the initiatives. For instance, in honor of Pride Month in June, SPECTRAFORCE hosted Pride Yoga Sculpt Class, where all employees could join virtually. All participants wore bright colors and took time to contemplate and practice equity and inclusion – qualities we want to embrace on and off the yoga mat! Additionally, SPECTRAFORCE gathered to show allyship with the LGBT community by raising funds for The Trevor Project. The Trevor Project is the world’s largest suicide prevention and mental health organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, & questioning (LGBTQ) young people, offering 24/7 crisis intervention and suicide prevention programs.
- Within the DE&I committee, the group shares book and movie recommendations to communicate feelings, thoughts, and conclusions, listen to each other, and become more well-rounded.
- Within employee communications, such as the employee handbook, we’ve implemented a gender neutrality tone as well as acknowledging and respecting pronouns within all employees’ email signature blocks.
Soon, we plan on rolling out even more initiatives and look forward to sharing them along the way to inspire and bring awareness. You can find out more information on our DE&I initiatives here.
