By: Shannon Myricks
As Mapbox’s new Diversity & Inclusion Lead, I wanted to share how we commemorated Black History Month this year and how tech companies with emerging Diversity & Inclusion programs can start to lay the foundation for embedding inclusion and equity into their workplaces.
Start at the top: Inclusive innovation
We kicked off the month with our VP of People, Zaina Orbai, hosting a Fireside chat on Inclusive Innovation with the DC Mayor’s office. Our Head of Global Communications, Leslie Nakajima, led the charge here. Our CEO, Eric Gundersen, and the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, Brian T. Kenner, focused on how tech companies can continue to create products that benefits those outside of the “tech bubble.” Eric and Mayor Kenner discussed how business and government could take the lead in building an ecosystem to enable founders, leaders, and individuals from all backgrounds equal access to opportunity. We looked at how the public and private sector can partner to be intentional about where we find candidates, who we hire, and how we treat people once they join.
This event was an opportunity for our leadership to make and affirm our commitment to building a diverse and inclusive team while elevating the conversation to include tips for startups to get diversity right from the beginning. Washington, DC — where Mapbox began — and the surrounding area is home to one of the largest concentrations of talented and educated people of color, and the fireside chat concluded with discussion of how this advantage can lead to better representation of minorities in tech.
Don’t dismiss the small changes: Raising awareness
Speaking of intentionality, our Employee Experience team handed over the reigns of our weekly “Friday Fun Facts” newsletter to members of our Black affinity group at Mapbox, Shades. This was a fantastic way to raise awareness around Black History Month by integrating it into our existing workflows.
Although this was a somewhat small development, I overheard hallway conversations like, “I had no idea Tupac took ballet classes!?”, appealing to popular culture or “I like how we’re shedding more light on Black explorers like Matthew Henson,” appealing to our company’s explorer culture. There’s nothing small about starting conversations and raising thoughtful awareness around minority community history and current events.
Draw inspiration from new places: An astronaut in kente cloth
At Mapbox, we think about the Black experience through the lens of the African Diaspora, meaning we view it as a global, varied experience. This year we aspired to commemorate Black History Month in new ways. We used this opportunity to create a curated item for Shades, the Black affinity group at Mapbox, to pay homage to the culture- past, present, and future.
We tapped Jazzy Winston, whose visionary style and thoughtful design process fit our objectives. Jazzy was inspired by the vibrant colors and patterns of traditional Kente cloth and fashion forward people of Wakanda in The Black Panther. Our point of interest marker was dipped in bright, contrasting patterns and colors, to point to African roots. The backdrop is jet black to inspire a sense of reflective pride in what it means to be Black in the United States.
A final touch was the addition of a quote from Dr. Mae Jemison, the first African American woman astronaut, “Never be limited by other people’s limited imaginations.” If you haven’t noticed, space and astronauts are a key part of our brand and identity at Mapbox. Historically, African culture and heritage was passed down by word of mouth from generation to generation, otherwise known as oral tradition. Thus, it was important to include the spoken words of an astronaut pioneer to speak to our present and pay homage to our past. We placed the quote on the shoulder to carry the oral tradition forward.
Engage first, recruit later: The Fresh Prince meets tech
Our celebration of Black life and culture culminated with a celebration of 90’s music and culture at the Nextplay’s Black History Month Jam Session, co-hosted with our friends at Optimizely. We deployed hiring managers, recruiters, and other team members whose mission was to simply get to know a culture different from their own, meet members of the Black and Latinx tech community, and build relationships with attendees after the event. This is long-game inclusive recruiting. The strategy here is to build relationships with budding talent in the Black and Latinx tech community — before the applications, before culture fit assessments, before placing them into an environment that may not be ready for them.
Eric Gundersen was the lightning talk r̶a̶p̶p̶e̶r̶/̶d̶a̶n̶c̶e̶r̶ speaker. Before his chat began, he jammed out to the theme song of 90’s hit TV show, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, while the mostly millennial crowd recited the lyrics like it was the pledge of allegiance to the 90s.
After the flashback sing along, Eric shared how Mapbox, from the beginning, has been deeply invested in building out the best teams in the world and that the best teams are made up of individuals that come from a wide range of cultural, ethnic, social, and economic backgrounds.
But, like, how did you get your CEO to actually show up?
Executive support is key to making Diversity & Inclusion work. That’s why we apply the top-down method. The members of our executive team are enthusiastic — and downright tenacious — about getting involved in Diversity & Inclusion initiatives.
There’s nothing humble about the brag I’m going to drop. As we ramped up for the Jam Session event, Eric earnestly stated, “Whatever you need, I’m there,” and he meant it. Mapbox has always been committed to building teams that represent the world we live in and engaging with underrepresented communities. Before we became one of the major players in the mapping industry battle, we were in the Congo, in Afghanistan, and in Nigeria helping local governments map out flooding, deforestation, and monitor elections, and we have not lost that as we’ve grown.
This is just the beginning…
Today marks the start of Women’s History Month. We’re kicking off the month by sponsoring and sending 16 team members to the Lesbians Who Tech Summit. Then we’ll celebrate International Women’s Day with a panel that raises the profile and celebrates the international women at Mapbox, followed by an open forum hosted by the Gender Minority ERG at Mapbox.
Follow @lifeatMapbox for an inside look at Mapbox and don’t forget to check out our current openings.
Finding Wakanda at Mapbox was originally published in Points of interest on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.