Our Employee Resource Group (ERG) spotlight series continues. This week we spoke with the co-leaders of Bitly’s Pride ERG, Ashley Alves (Program Manager for Customer Success) and Lena Rogala (Director of Data Engineering) who talked about the importance of creating visibility, recognition, and action for the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, and Asexual (LGBTQIA+) community, and its impact on Bitly’s culture.
What motivated you to become an ERG leader?
Ashley: As someone who is not limited to a singular identity, I felt it was important to educate myself and help to foster an inclusive community within the organization. Sometimes the hardest part is stepping in to make change and that is what becoming a leader of one of our ERGs gave me the power to do.
Lena: The environment I work in is as important for me as the job itself. I want to work in a place that is open, inclusive, accepting, and in which everyone feels comfortable being themselves. I want to take every opportunity I can to make a difference.
What are the key areas of focus for the Pride ERG?
Ashley: Our primary focus includes Awareness, Diverse Representation, and Inclusion and Belonging. These areas are important because they allow us to provide viewpoints to all Bitizens (what we call our employees) that they may not be currently exposed to. Moreover, constructing a safe space for all individuals to come together is encouraged and facilitated through meaningful communications and insights.
Lena: Our ERG is focused on three pillars: Awareness and Education, Diverse Representation, and Inclusion and Belonging. We want to raise awareness not only for the LGBTQIA+ history and current events but also for the daily experiences of the community. Our community at Bitly is pretty small and we are trying to open up networks for everyone. We want to make Bitly an attractive place to work for members of the community and create safe spaces and events for more inclusion and belonging.
How does this impact the Bitly culture?
Ashley: Through our Pride ERG we can share insights from the queer community with others at Bitly, which will help us build a shared community where individuals can feel welcome to join and speak openly.
Lena: The impact of our ERGs is higher than I expected. You can literally see how it opens people’s eyes and minds—not only of people who are not familiar with diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) topics, but really, the eyes and minds of everyone. Surfacing and discussing DE&I topics on a regular basis and in a variety of different formats raises so much awareness and interest.
“Every Bit Counts!” is our tagline for DE&I. What does it mean to you? What does it mean for this ERG?
Ashley: A tiny drop of water can still create a ripple effect in the ocean. Even the smallest of efforts can turn into something bigger. When I see “Every Bit Counts”, I believe that incremental change is the best way to make a lasting impact.
Lena: It means that nobody is too small, too unimportant, too low in the hierarchy, or too much in the background to make a change. Every one of us has experienced something, has something to share, and can contribute to us having a more diverse, equal, and inclusive environment in the daily actions that we take. Sometimes it takes only small things to make a big impact.
How does the Pride ERG bring this tagline to life?
Ashley: In the Pride ERG, we don’t claim to be experts. Our goal is to introduce topics and facilitate discussions in digestible formats, or “bits” if you will. We feel that it gives members an opportunity to get involved at their own pace.
Lena: We are involving the community in every decision we take. We want to know what everyone is experiencing, what they are going through, what they are needing, what they want to share, and what they want to change.
Visit Bitly to learn more about our ERGs and our mission to be a catalyst for connections for our customers, employees, and communities.