As the Talking Rain team celebrates Black History Month and honors the struggles, triumphs and accomplishments of Black Americans throughout our nation’s history, it’s critical that we also take time to reflect on our continued mission to build a culture of inclusivity, education and growth.
We strive to offer development opportunities to support the power of diversity, equity, and inclusivity education throughout our organization in an effort to gain perspective that unites us all. While there is still work to be done, we are committed to creating a safe space for learning and sharing.
Below are examples of some of our enrichment and education offerings:
- We are applying the learnings from our work with Dr. Byron Martin, Assistant Vice Provost for Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion at Carnegie Mellon, which have been guiding our progressive journey to understanding the importance of embracing different cultures in every facet and function of our organization, from training processes, to our approach to recruiting and communication, all the way to our company values.
- We hosted a fireside chat with Arshay Cooper, award-winning author and central figure of the critically acclaimed film “A Most Beautiful Thing” about his work with America’s first all-Black crew team and the importance of embracing accountability to promote a progressive environment.
- We partnered with City Year Seattle in honor of MLK Day of Service. The day began with a virtual panel discussion around the current state of diversity, equity and inclusion work in America, and we ended with a community service project; both of which reinforce our collective responsibility to support change and growth for ourselves and future generations.
- We launched a discussion series around African American cuisine and its impact on American culture, highlighting how food and cultural competence can unite everyone.
Whether it’s a cultural education opportunity from our Rain Maker Inclusivity Council, making new connections via a Rain Maker Resource Group, or participating in a community volunteer event, we are always working to create a space for listening, learning and engaging.
What unites our team today is that we work at Talking Rain, but what could unite us tomorrow could be something much deeper.