May is recognized as Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month and Comparably wanted to shine a light on companies that are always supportive of their Asian-American and Pacific Islander employees and communities. Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month began as just a ten-day celebration in the late 70s but was reborn as a month-long recognition period in 1992. The month of May was chosen to commemorate the immigration of the first Japanese to the United States on May 7, 1843, and to mark the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869, which was largely built by Chinese workers.
Here then are six companies that pay real tribute and offer real respect to Asian-American and Pacific Islanders on their workforces, underlined this month especially in memory of all that these groups have brought to our shared American culture.
Why is it important for GE Power to support your Asian American employees and communities right now?
May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and an opportunity to recognize the contributions and influence of Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans to the history, culture, and achievements of the United States. GE’s latest diversity report indicates that 8.3% of GE Gas Power’s workforce identifies as Asian. With anti-Asian hate incidents on the rise in the U.S., support for these groups is more important than ever.
What are some specific ways that your company supports Asian American employees and/or communities?
Founded to support GE Power’s Asian Pacific Islander American (APIA) employees across North America, the Asian Pacific Allies & Friends (APAF) employee resource group offers education and mentoring opportunities to grow leadership abilities. The group promotes the value of the APIA community and works closely with APIA students interested in pursuing STEM careers. APAF has a strong community service component, organizing and participating in many activities with outside partners.
Check Out GE Power’s Careers Page Here!
Why is it important for Adobe to support your Asian American employees and communities right now?
With the COVID-19 pandemic, the Asian/Pacific Islander (API) community has suffered from anti-Asian sentiment and a recent series of racially motivated attacks on businesses and people in the U.S. At Adobe, we believe that everyone deserves respect and equal treatment, and we stand together with the API community against hate, violence, and racism. In recognition of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, Adobe has planned events in partnership with the Asian/Pacific Islander at Adobe employee network around the theme, Rising Together, in order to celebrate and support our Asian/Pacific Islander community.
What are some specific ways that your company supports Asian American employees and/or communities?
Throughout the employee engagement activities, we will address how employees can support, equip, and empower each other to drive action. This will include a virtual kick-off event with employee perspectives, musical performance, poetry reading, and videos showcasing the rich and diverse API culture. Throughout the month Adobe will also be hosting a cooking demo, inviting empowering guest speakers, launching an API online marketplace, and amplifying employee perspectives internally and externally.
Check Out Adobe’s Careers Page Here!
Why is it important for Karyopharm Therapeutics to support your Asian American employees and communities right now?
It is critically important for Karyopharm to support our AAPI community at a time when so many are feeling the negative impacts of bias, violence, and ignorance. We’ve all learned that it is so important to be actively supportive and not just passively neutral when it comes to matters of hatred and bigotry. At Karyopharm we are proudly one team that stands together to support one another. We are committed to listening, to learning, and to growing, and to having a positive impact both within our Karyopharm community and on our broader communities in which we work and live.
What are some specific ways that your company supports Asian American employees and/or communities?
First and foremost, Karyopharm works to lead with a value system that puts people at the core. We celebrate our diverse workforce, our varying perspectives, and our unique backgrounds at every opportunity. In relation to our AAPI community, we are proud of our internal AAPI community that mobilized and called for action! We welcomed guest speaker Judy Shen-Filerman, who offered our entire global team the opportunity to learn more about the history of the Asian American Experience and how that has impacted recent events. Our President and Founder immediately sent out a message of support to our employees after the hate crimes in Atlanta, and this was in addition to a message of support posted on our corporate social media channels. We want to be clear and open about our position against this wave of violence.
Also, May is AAPI Heritage Month, and we have many activities planned to involve as many employees as possible. Some of these events include daily trivia competitions, AAPI cuisine cooking classes, vouchers to employees to support local AAPI restaurants, AAPI informational books available to employees, Sake Masterclass learning event, Karaoke, Bollywood movie screening, and so much more! In addition, we are excited to be engaging in survey activities to ensure Karyopharm is meeting employees’ needs and expectations when it comes to diversity, equity, and inclusion. The organization is committed to our ongoing Dialogue on Diversity, and feel the more we can engage, communicate, and learn, the better we will be as a team ready to disrupt our industry in service to patients.
Check Out Karyopharm Therapeutics’ Careers Page Here!
Why is it important for Virbela to support your Asian American employees and communities right now?
Virbela, a virtual world for remote work, learning, and events, was founded on the principle of creating a diverse and collaborative environment with no boundaries of location, origin, or culture. Supporting Asian American populations, along with all ethnicities and cultures, is a critical part of our vision to create a safe and open community for all people.
What are some specific ways that your company supports Asian American employees and/or communities?
At Virbela, we offer a diverse range of avatar facial features, hairstyles, skin tones, and clothing choices that allow staff and clients of all ethnicities to be their most authentic selves. Within the Virbela Open Campus, we recently celebrated Chinese New Year by decorating the campus with traditional lanterns red and gold in color. Our HR team and diversity committee worked to highlight Asian American culture and history throughout the month to Virbela employees. Virbela further supports our staff and clients by providing language support for many Asian dialects including Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, and Japanese with support for more languages in progress.
Check Out Virbela’s Careers Page Here!
Why is it important for Leaf Group to support your Asian American employees and communities right now?
At Leaf Group, we firmly stand behind the belief that violence, racism, or the mistreatment of any group isn’t tolerated. In an effort to recognize the psychological impact on our people from the terrible events happening to communities — specifically the Asian American community — during these times, we equipped our managers with talking points on how to check in with their teams and provided employee assistance resources and other information to help our people process what has been happening.
What are some specific ways that your company supports Asian American employees and/or communities?
While we are always working to celebrate the voices of the myriad of backgrounds in our company, we do like to amplify them during observance months. In May, we will be holding a Model Minority Myth panel for AAPI Month to dissect and dismantle behaviors that harm those affected. Our DEI Council — comprised of team members from each of our Leaf Group brands and support teams — meets regularly with a focus on increasing innovation and knowledge sharing of our company-wide DEI programming, in an effort to foster a deep sense of community. We also offer educational resources to our people each month, including a DEI Reading Corner with a monthly book recommendation list curated by one of our team members — our May Reading Corner content will feature works from AAPI writers.
Check Out Leaf Group’s Careers Page Here!
The foundation of XPO is our inclusive work environment and our welcoming spirit toward colleagues, customers, and others. Our commitment to diversity and our inclusive culture means that everyone will be treated with dignity and respect. We have zero tolerance for racism or discrimination. As part of our Inclusion events, we celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, with the theme Solidarity, Community, and Celebration.
What are some specific ways that your company supports Asian American employees and/or communities?
In conjunction with our Multicultural Employees Across the Globe Employee Resource Group, we’re celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month to honor and pay tribute to generations of Asian American and Pacific Islanders who have enriched history, forged new paths for others and influenced a lasting change in society. We recognize the shared journey with our theme of Solidarity, Community, and Celebration. We also stand with our colleagues in India during the COVID-19 crisis and will send all staff and their immediate families PPE care packages over the next weeks.