In our second to last post of our Employee Resource Group (ERG) spotlight series, we shine a light on Bitly’s Women ERG, its co-leads Julie Wu (Director, Renewals and Growth Strategies) and Regina Novikova (Senior Agile Coach), and their inspiration and goals for creating change in the Bitly workplace and beyond.
What motivated you to become an ERG leader?
Julie: In my own professional experience, I have not had the type of ERG groups to support myself (and other women) at previous tech companies. My motivation for becoming a leader of the Women ERG is to drive change and become a catalyst for transformation for women in the workplace at Bitly and beyond. Women are 51% of the US population, yet only a fraction of that percentage have impactful government (congressional/senate seats), senior engineering jobs, or C-level roles that drive everyday decisions that affect us! We need a seat at the table, at all levels, if we want to see significant change. While this will not happen overnight, by having Bitly’s Women ERG, we can start driving conversations and initiatives internally and externally that will eventually lead to incremental change.
Regina: I would love to create a space where all Bitly employees enjoy working, are happy to start their working day and thrive at Bitly, and in life. I believe in order to make this happen we need to create a truly inclusive environment that enables people throughout the company to open up their potential and truly connect and collaborate.
What are the key areas of focus for the Women ERG?
Julie: We have three areas of focus. The first is awareness and education and understanding the history of women’s struggles, the root causes of it, and how intersectionality plays a role in statistics and facts.
The second area is inclusion and belonging which requires providing a safe space for women to discuss and share their stories, while also inviting our allies to join in on the conversation of gender equity.
The third area is community and partnerships by finding ways to drive change, working with other companies (and customers) who want to learn more about women’s equity and how Bitly is a catalyst for change.
Regina: Our focus is to empower women and to help them shine bright by creating a supportive environment and a community at Bitly where women can turn to one another for help. By creating a safe and supporting ambience for women, we can increase awareness of what it’s like to be a woman in the workplace, the challenges that come with it, and also the strengths and opportunities women bring to the table. By collecting and sharing wisdom and useful information for women, we can help them grow, thrive, and be happier and healthier.
How does this impact the Bitly culture?
Julie: For me, Bitly has always had an inclusive culture. Having the Women ERG doubles down on the diversity and equity piece of the equation because we are opening up a space for women to discuss women-specific issues not only at Bitly, but beyond. These conversations, along with the voices from the other Bitly ERGs, are helping to shift our culture from just being inclusive to also enabling those who feel they belong because their diverse perspective matters. Doing this is helping to change the perception of equality (everyone gets the same pair of shoes in the same size) towards equity (everyone gets the same pair of shoes that fit).
Regina: Bit by bit, it makes us more and more inclusive which usually brings in more creativity and ideas!
“Every Bit Counts!” is our tagline for DE&I. What does it mean to you? What does it mean for this ERG?
Julie: Every bit does count. There is no action too small that will not cause a reaction or ripple down the line. I see this as the butterfly effect and the small steps we are taking today to drive change within Bitly to educate, and understand and foster DE&I will stay with us long after we work at Bitly. Unlearning our biases is hard work. Teaching or trying to educate on this is even harder, which is why every bit of action for education we take now matters, since these are the tidbits that stay with us to bring this outside of our day-to-day work life.
Regina: I see two dimensions here. The first is people oriented. Every individual counts and needs to be included, considered, and have a voice. It will make our products greater and hopefully it will help to make the world a better place.
The second dimension is that every little step counts. It can be challenging to work on initiatives like this. Every little step, every little moment when someone feels better, hopeful, joyful, powerful, empathic, and expanding their heart, makes a difference. There is always a ripple effect, one person being happier influences everyone they touch.
How does the Women ERG bring this tagline to life?
Julie: The Women ERG does this by educating. For example, every Monday, we post Monday Motivation facts related to women. We also encourage our members to post inspiring books, articles, and videos to get conversations started. Lastly, we hold safe space discussions. Most recently, we held a discussion regarding the protests in Iran with a speaker from the region. These valuable moments touch everyone present and incept new perspectives and potentially ideas on how we can continue to drive change for women.
Regina: We try to make this tagline true for women at Bitly by sharing useful information, hosting safe space calls, panel discussions, and lunch and learn sessions that hopefully makes their life better, makes them feel understood, listened to, seen, and appreciated.
Visit Bitly to learn more about all of our ERGs and our mission to be a catalyst for connections for our customers, employees, and communities.