Hi, I’m Rauly, and I co-chair Lob’s Diversity and Inclusion Working Group (DIWG). Today, I am proud to announce that we’ve changed our blue logo to red, black, and green for the Pan-African flag.
As you know, February is Black History Month, an annual celebration of achievements by African Americans and a time for recognizing their central role in US history. As an Afro-Latino new to tech, it's been inspiring to see how important it is to my colleagues that we take the time to educate ourselves and celebrate Black experiences and excellence.
One of Lob’s core values is to Curate Experiences, and our employee-led DIWG is encouraging the team to take action this month. This includes donating to organizations supporting Black communities, engaging in timely conversations about voting rights and other relevant topics, attending our company movie night highlighting Black cinema, and supporting Black-owned businesses.
This internal programming is energizing, but after noticing other organizations changing their logos to support Black History Month, I immediately took the idea to our leadership team. It wasn’t because I wanted us to be like other companies, but because we’re walking the talk.
Two years ago, Lob committed to addressing racial injustice, taking measurable action, and leading by example. Since then, we’ve launched Lob.org, our dedicated social impact arm, including our Lob for Good initiative. Nonprofits and organizations whose work aligns with our focus areas of racial justice and civic action receive special donated and discounted pricing of our products.
Our talent team has also expanded its recruitment efforts to reach and attract a more diverse talent pool. We have a diverse panel of interviewers with DEIB training to help mitigate bias and fairly assess candidates. We review job postings to ensure the language of our job descriptions speaks to a broad range of candidates. We focus on bringing better balance to all of our teams by assessing demographic data and intentionally interviewing candidates from underrepresented groups.
While I am proud of our work so far, I also acknowledge that more work is needed to close the gaps in our executive ranks. Recent studies have shown that “85% of US-based executives and 83% of senior managers are white, compared with 64% of those in support and operations.” Lob is no exception here, but we’re honest about it and working hard to address that lack of representation.
Ultimately, we changed our logo for Black History Month because representation matters. Supporting our employees’ efforts to #EmpowerDiversity matters. Every action we take, big or small, that strives towards equity, inclusion, and belonging matters. And what has always and continues to be true - Black Lives Matter.
We encourage you to take any action and use Black History Month as a launchpad for action all year. Here are some ways to get started:
In solidarity, ✊🏿
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