Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) have evolved far beyond their origins as affinity networks. Today, they serve as cultural cornerstones, leadership pipelines, and strategic business partners — and the companies below are proof of that shift.
Across the responses we received, a few clear trends emerged. Many organizations are moving away from the term “ERG” altogether, opting for names like “Employee Communities,” “Connection Groups,” or “Employee Networks” to signal a broader sense of belonging and purpose. Executive sponsorship and dedicated funding have become table stakes, with companies increasingly recognizing ERG leadership as formal professional development — even encouraging employees to include it in performance reviews. Several organizations also highlighted the importance of giving employees dedicated paid time to participate, signaling that ERG involvement isn’t an afterthought, but a valued part of the workday.
What’s also striking is the range of communities being represented — from caregivers and neurodivergent employees to veterans, young professionals, and sustainability advocates — reflecting a more expansive understanding of what inclusion looks like in today’s workforce.
Read on to hear directly from these organizations about the groups they’ve built and how they’re supporting them.
What Employee Resource Groups does your company currently have, and how do they align with your organization’s goals?
Beacon Hill’s Employee Resource Networks play a vital role in shaping our inclusive and collaborative culture. These networks provide opportunities for connection, professional development and community engagement. Through initiatives such as awareness campaigns, philanthropic efforts and discussions on career growth, they help strengthen relationships and empower employees across the organization.
How does your company support the formation and ongoing activities of ERGs?
Employee-led networks do more than host events; they create measurable value. By fostering collaboration, leadership development and knowledge sharing, these groups help strengthen retention, improve team performance and build a culture of continuous growth. Their initiatives not only support employees in achieving their goals but also align with organizational priorities, driving long-term success.
Check out Beacon Hill’s careers page here!
What Employee Resource Groups does your company currently have, and how do they align with your organization’s goals?
Synopsys currently has eight Employee Communities that help foster connection, strengthen belonging and create meaningful opportunities for employees to come together around shared experiences, identities and interests. These communities reflect our belief that when people feel seen, valued and connected, they are better able to thrive, contribute and build networks across the organization. Our communities are open to all Synopsys employees of any background.
Our current Employee Communities include:
- CAPE – supporting caregivers and parents as they balance the responsibilities of care and career
- HOLA! – celebrating culture, increasing awareness and building connection for Hispanic and Latinx employees
- NEX-GEN – creating opportunities for early-career employees to build networks, grow their leadership and shape their future at Synopsys
- PRIDE – fostering an inclusive and affirming space for LGBTQIA+ employees and allies
- SWAN – raising awareness of neurodiversity, disability, accessibility and wellbeing in the workplace
- VETS – honoring and supporting veterans, service members and their families while increasing awareness of their experiences and contributions
- VIBE – cultivating connection, growth and opportunity for Black employees across Synopsys
- WIN – creating space for women to connect, grow and inspire the next generation of innovators in technology
At Synopsys, our mission is to Empower Innovators to Drive Human Advancement, and Employee Communities play an important role in making that mission real from the inside out. They strengthen belonging, elevate employee voices and create opportunities for people to lead and build community across teams, regions and experiences. In that way, they are not just communities of support — they are part of the cultural backbone that helps our people thrive and empowers us to advance our mission.
How does your company support the formation and ongoing activities of ERGs?
Employee Communities are an important expression of how we value people and foster connection across Synopsys. Our approach is grounded in employee-driven programming. We believe the most meaningful communities are built by employees for employees, with space to connect, raise awareness and support one another in ways that feel authentic and relevant. Rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach, we aim to empower each community to evolve in ways that reflect the voices and needs of its members.
Supported by the Synopsys Communities and Belonging team and Executive Sponsors, we work to equip community leaders with the tools, guidance and the internal network they need to lead, shape and sustain communities that reflect their experiences, interests and ideas. That support includes advice, partnership, structure and visibility to help communities thrive over time.
Ultimately, our goal is to help Employee Communities be more than programs or events. We want them to be spaces where people feel seen, valued and part of a community — and where employees themselves play a meaningful role in shaping the culture we want to create together.
Check out Synopsys’ careers page here!
What Employee Resource Groups does your company currently have, and how do they align with your organization’s goals?
BFS currently has two Employee Resource Groups (ERGs): WE BUILD (Women Engaged Building Unity, Innovation, Leadership & Drive) and PROUD TO Serve, our Veterans ERG.
WE BUILD focuses on supporting the engagement, connection, and professional development of women across the organization. The group aligns with BFS’s commitment to strengthening inclusion and advancing workforce engagement by creating opportunities for networking, mentorship, shared experiences, and leadership growth.
PROUD TO Serve supports veterans, active service members, and military-connected employees. This ERG reflects BFS’s commitment to representation and inclusion by recognizing the valuable skills, perspectives, and experiences veterans bring to the workplace while fostering a strong sense of community and support.
Together, these ERGs reinforce BFS’s broader commitment to representation, employee engagement, and a respectful, inclusive workplace culture, with a current focus on supporting women and veterans across the organization.
How does your company support the formation and ongoing activities of ERGs?
BFS supports Employee Resource Groups through a grassroot, employee-led model. ERGs are formed based on employee interest and engagement, allowing them to develop organically while operating within an established framework. At this time, BFS’s ERG efforts are primarily focused on women and veterans, consistent with workforce representation and community connection. BFS provides space and opportunity for employees to organize and participate in ERGs, offers clear governance and basic structure allowing ERGs to operate with defined purpose, goals, and intended impact, while promoting leadership awareness and periodic, appropriate involvement, to foster connection and shared understanding. This approach allows ERGs to remain employee driven while supporting BFS’s broader commitment to engagement, respect, and positive workplace and community impact.
Check out Builders FirstSource’s careers page here!
What Employee Resource Groups does your company currently have, and how do they align with your organization’s goals?
Centric Consulting’s Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) are a core part of how the firm builds an inclusive, connected culture while supporting employee growth and business priorities. Operating within Centric Together—the company’s enterprise-wide framework for inclusion and belonging—ERGs bring employees together around shared identities, lived experiences, and career stages to strengthen community, develop talent, and extend Centric’s impact beyond the workplace.
Centric currently supports six ERGs: BE@Centric, EmpoweringWomen@Centric, Juntos@Centric, NextCen@Centric, NeuroSpicy@Centric, and Pride@Centric. Each group has a clearly defined mission and aligns its annual goals to shared priority areas that reflect Centric’s broader strategy: fostering belonging and culture, advancing career development, engaging with communities, and supporting business alignment. Collectively, these ERGs create spaces where employees can connect authentically, build leadership skills, and contribute insights that strengthen how Centric serves its people, clients, and communities.
How does your company support the formation and ongoing activities of ERGs?
Centric supports ERGs through a structured yet flexible model designed for sustainability and impact. New ERGs are established through an application process with clear governance and charter guidelines that ensure alignment with Centric’s values and business objectives. Once launched, ERGs receive ongoing support through executive sponsorship, funding, annual strategic planning, and a regular forum where ERG leaders collaborate and share best practices. ERGs are also backed by internal infrastructure, such as shared planning tools and collaboration spaces, and by external advisory support through Centric’s partnership with Seramount, which provides research, guidance, and leadership development resources.
Together, Centric’s ERGs serve as employee-led partners in shaping a workplace where people feel they belong, can grow their careers, and are empowered to make a broader impact.
Check out Centric Consulting’s careers page here!
What Employee Resource Groups does your company currently have, and how do they align with your organization’s goals?
As part of our efforts to cultivate a workplace where every team member can find meaningful connection and support, Aveanna Healthcare offers employee‑led groups designed to strengthen belonging across the organization. Formerly known as ERGs, our Connection Groups foster connection, learning, and belonging for colleagues. Alongside these Connection Groups, Aveanna’s Social Circles provide additional opportunities for employees to come together around shared interests, hobbies, and passions, helping teammates form relationships that cross roles, departments, and locations. Both types of groups enrich Aveanna’s culture by encouraging personal growth, creating space for open dialogue, and fostering a sense of unity throughout the organization.
How does your company support the formation and ongoing activities of ERGs?
To ensure our Connection Groups and Social Circles thrive, Aveanna invests in dedicated Inclusion & Engagement leadership, offers continued learning and development opportunities, and empowers group leaders with structural support to streamline group management and participation. Together, these efforts help build a workplace where every individual feels valued, supported, and connected to the broader mission of Aveanna.
Check out Aveanna Healthcare’s careers page here!
What Employee Resource Groups does your company currently have, and how do they align with your organization’s goals?
Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) play an important role in supporting our organizational goals by helping to create a more inclusive, connected, and psychologically safe culture where employees feel a stronger sense of belonging. They provide spaces for community, learning, and awareness, while also helping to surface different perspectives from across the business.
This aligns closely with our RELX Leadership Excellence expectation to Lead Inclusively by demonstrating visible commitment, championing global talent, and valuing everyone’s ideas. We believe that cultivating a culture of inclusion, belonging, and psychological safety is a key part of what gives us a competitive edge, and our ERGs are an important part of bringing that to life.
We currently have the following ERGs across four core facets (some with multiple chapters):
Gender; Women in Technology, Women Connected Americas, Women Connected UK, Women Connected APAC, Menopause
Ethnicity; African Ancestry Network, Pan Asian, Multicultural, EDGE UK, Hispanic and Latin Heritage PROUD; Proud US, Proud UK
Disability; Neurodiversity, Mental Health, Hidden Disabilities Other ERGs; Young Professionals, All-In ERGs
How does your company support the formation and ongoing activities of ERGs?
We support ERGs by creating a clear structure for employees to come together around shared identities, experiences, and interests, while also allowing flexibility for local offices and smaller teams to shape groups that are meaningful in their own context. This helps ensure our ERGs are both globally connected and locally relevant. We also invest in the ongoing success of ERGs through ERG leadership development, and by creating structures that recognize ERG leadership through employees’ performance objectives.
All employees are given 16 dedicated ERG hours each year to participate in ERG events and activities. Our leaders actively reinforce that employees can use working time to engage with these opportunities, learn about a wide range of topics, and deepen their understanding of different perspectives and experiences. This sends an important signal that contributing to inclusion and belonging is not peripheral to our culture, but something the organization genuinely values, supports, and makes space for in a meaningful way.
Finally, we have a Belonging Council made up of Senior Executive Leadership where employee voices can be heard at the highest levels of the organization. Together, these structures help ERGs build community, raise awareness and contribute meaningfully to a culture of inclusion and belonging.
Check out LexisNexis Risk Solutions’ careers page here!
What Employee Resource Groups does your company currently have, and how do they align with your organization’s goals?
At Certinia, our Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) aren’t just social clubs—they are key drivers of our culture and business strategy. We believe that an inclusive environment directly fuels innovation, and it’s an important part of how we live out our core value of “Each Others’ Champions.” Our current ERG lineup includes:
• WISE (Women Inspiring Success and Excellence): Focused on fostering leadership opportunities, professional development and mentorship for women across our organization and in our communities
• PACE (Pan Asian Community for Empowerment): Formed to cultivate a thriving community for all Certinians of pan-Asian descent and allies by fostering connection, providing development opportunities, and championing their voices to continue building an inclusive workplace.
• CUBE (Certinia Unites Black Excellence): Designed to promote the growth, success and retention of Certinia Black employees across all job functions.
• Pride: Dedicated to creating a supportive community and advocacy space for our LGBTQ+ employees and allies.
• GENTS: Committed to redefining strength by normalizing the conversation around men’s mental health with guidance, education, networking, tools and support.
• The Village: Centered on supporting parents and caregivers navigating the balance of career and family life.
How they align with our organizational goals: We map our ERG impact across three primary corporate pillars:
1. Talent Retention & Development: Our ERGs bridge the gap between departments, offering organic mentorship, leadership opportunities for group chairs, and professional development workshops that keep our people growing.
2. Product & Market Insight: Our groups frequently act as internal advisory boards. When we build new features or launch marketing campaigns, our ERGs provide invaluable feedback that ensures our work resonates authentically with diverse audiences.
3. Community & Culture: ERGs help us scale our culture as we grow, ensuring that every employee—regardless of background—has a dedicated space where they feel a true sense of belonging.
How does your company support the formation and ongoing activities of ERGs?
We know that passion alone doesn’t prevent burnout, which is why Certinia backs our ERGs with structural, financial, and executive support. We ensure they have the tools to make a real impact without putting an unfair operational burden on our volunteers.
Here is how we actively champion them:
• Executive & Community Support: Our ERGs meet together monthly, providing an opportunity to share ideas, plan intersecting events for greater impact and learn from and support one another. Executive sponsorship ensures our groups have a direct line to leadership, a spotlight at company events, visibility in company-wide decisions, and an advocate in the room where decisions are made.
• Dedicated Budgets: We don’t expect ERGs to operate on goodwill. Each group receives annual funding allocated for guest speakers, cultural events, professional development tools, and community outreach.
• Recognized Contribution: We view ERG leadership as a core professional contribution. We actively encourage employees to include their ERG achievements in their annual performance reviews, recognizing it as vital leadership development.
• Streamlined Formation: We make it easy for new communities to form. Any employee can propose a new ERG through a clear, transparent process managed by our People team and ERG Steering Committee. We provide a startup playbook, initial funding, and help them connect with other ERG leaders to get them off the ground.
Check out the Certinia careers page here!
What Employee Resource Groups does your company currently have, and how do they align with your organization’s goals?
Invitation Homes currently has seven Employee Resource Groups (ERGs): Asian Alliance, GenNext, Juntos, Open Invitation, The Black Collective, Valor, and Women’s Impact Network (WIN).
Our ERGs help associates build connections, share experiences, learn from one another, and create community across the company. They also provide opportunities for associates to develop leadership skills, organize events, support important causes, and contribute ideas that help strengthen our culture.
At Invitation Homes, we see ERGs as an important part of how we foster connection, support employee growth, and create opportunities for associates to make an impact beyond their day-to-day roles.
How does your company support the formation and ongoing activities of ERGs?
We support our ERGs through executive sponsorship, funding, resources, and ongoing partnership from our Talent & Culture team.
Each ERG is supported by two senior leaders who serve as sponsors and help provide guidance, visibility, and connections across the organization. ERG leaders also have opportunities to collaborate with one another, share ideas, and access tools and resources to help their groups succeed.
We view ERG leadership as a valuable development opportunity. Associates who lead ERG initiatives gain experience in areas such as communication, project management, collaboration, and influencing others, skills that support growth both inside and outside of their ERG roles.
Our goal is to help ERGs create meaningful experiences for members while contributing to a culture where associates feel connected, supported, and engaged.
Check out Invitation Homes’ careers page here!
What Employee Resource Groups does your company currently have, and how do they align with your organization’s goals?
My name is Judy Park, and I’m the Outreach Engagement Lead for Employee Resource Groups at GE Vernova. In this role, I get to see firsthand the impact our ERGs have across the company, and I’m excited to share a little about how they’re growing and how GE Vernova supports them.
We currently have several active ERGs at GE Vernova, and each one connects clearly to the company’s broader goals and values. The Asian Pacific American Forum (APAF) focuses on wellbeing, volunteerism, cultural awareness, and community partnerships. It helps bring people together across different sites in a way that feels genuine and community-driven. Pride Alliance supports LGBTQ+ inclusion, allyship, advocacy partnerships, and global engagement across multiple regions. The Disability Advocacy Network (DAN) works to advance accessibility, inclusive hiring, accommodation advocacy, and disability awareness across the organization. DAN also partners with Disability:IN to help benchmark and strengthen workplace inclusion for people with disabilities. We also have the Sustainability Network, which focuses on climate action, everyday sustainability, and employee engagement. That’s especially meaningful at GE Vernova, since our business is centered on helping decarbonize the energy sector.
What really makes these groups stand out is that they’re not just side initiatives or symbolic programs. They have executive sponsorship, they operate across locations, and they play a real role in shaping the employee experience. Through our ERGs, people build relationships across teams, find mentors, and feel part of something bigger than their day-to-day role. They help create a workplace where people feel seen, supported, and connected — and that directly supports GE Vernova’s goals around inclusion, engagement, development, and culture
How does your company support the formation and ongoing activities of ERGs?
GE Vernova supports ERGs as an important part of the employee experience, not just something people do on the side. Each group has executive sponsors, dedicated funding, and the operational support needed to run programs across different sites and regions. That kind of support helps ERGs stay active and effective over time, instead of relying only on a small group of passionate employees to keep everything going.
For employees who get involved, ERG leadership is also recognized as a real development opportunity. People take on leadership and coordination roles, help plan cross-regional initiatives, and build skills that carry over into their day-to-day work and long-term careers. The company also invests in partnerships with outside advocacy organizations, which helps expand the impact of ERGs and strengthens their credibility both inside and outside the company.
Overall, GE Vernova has built the kind of structure that allows ERGs to do meaningful work and gives employees the support to be part of that work in a way that’s recognized and valued.