Happy Pride! June is Pride Month, and on places like LinkedIn, it also marks the start to what is known as “The Great Rainbow Logo Overload.” You may have noticed many companies swapping out their logos for a rainbow version, or posting the Pride flag on their website. However, celebrating Pride Month is about so much more than just posting rainbows to your social media or website.
I want to shout out Mead & Hunt as a great example of how to celebrate Pride. We’re not changing our logo to a rainbow version. Instead, we are continuing to live by our values of putting people first. We strive to do this every day for our LGBTQ+ employees, not just during the month of June, and we are proud to support every person in our company for who they are year-round.
One of the things I value most about Mead & Hunt is our Employee Resource Group (ERG), which includes five interest groups: Women, Ethnic Minorities, Military-Veterans, Disabilities, and LGBTQ+. I can speak from experience as someone who is active in our company’s LGBTQ+ interest group that these groups provide a community within our ever-growing company for those of us who have not always had an opportunity to see ourselves represented within our industry.
This group has allowed me (and many others) to build friendships across the company. As a nationwide firm, these relationships are so important to create a shared sense of community and culture that spans multiple states and offices. I have gotten to meet coworkers who I connect with instantly and can relate to through shared experiences, as we do in the queer community. I have deeply valued the relationships that have developed from my time in the group.
As a proud gay engineer, I have often found that my presence in engineering is unique. I have at times found myself code switching when interacting with other engineers, deepening my voice on conference calls, or taking out my earrings when I go on a job site. But I am so glad to work at a company where I can show up every day as my authentic, queer self. I can be out and proud 365 days a year and have the support of my coworkers and company behind me. I am so grateful that I can celebrate pride in myself, my community, and my company through not only June, but every day of the year.