Schreiber Foods PRIDE Business Resource Group

Pride Month is a recognition of the LGBTQ+ community and its history of fighting for rights and acknowledgment. It’s also a time where many employers coordinate events and publicize their support of their employees identifying as part of the community. But, what happens when the Pride Month flags are folded and the parades have ended? Are those same employees embraced during the other months of the year?

LGBTQ+ Inclusion in the workplace is a key component of attracting top talent. The PRIDE Business Resource Group (BRG) at Schreiber Foods is a great example of recognizing employees of the LGBTQ+ community, understanding their needs and changing to meet those needs to retain valued employees and welcome diversity in its talent pool. This group meets monthly and its participants come from outside of the home office, internationally in fact. The PRIDE meetings are meant to be a safe space where Schreiber members can discuss what’s happening in the community. The topics can range from details in planning for Pride Month activities to what’s happening in government policy and how individuals are impacted. In turn, these discussions assist Schreiber’s leadership in addressing issues that affect LGBTQ+ partners (Schreiber’s term for employees) and make their work environment feel more secure. For example, within Schreiber’s HR management system, partners were asked to self-identify gender with male or female being the two options. A PRIDE BRG meeting addressing how this affected some members led to a corporate discussion that compelled a system change without those limited options.

“Everyone should have the right to be who they are and to bring their whole self to work,” states Deneen Tachick, Co-Chair of the PRIDE BRG. “That’s the statement our BRG stands behind and works toward every time we meet.” It was important to Deneen to be a part of this BRG even though she doesn’t identify as a member of the LGBTQ+ community. “You don’t have to be a community member to stand with them,” she notes. “I wanted to branch out and get involved in a group that doesn’t represent me, but one I’m passionate about.” Being a part of this group has opened Deneen’s eyes as well to the importance of inclusion in the workplace. Last year, for the first time, Schreiber rose a Pride flag outside of their headquarters. She didn’t realize how significant that truly was until she looked into someone’s eyes who represented the community and saw tears. “It showed me the impact on someone in a usually marginalized community feeling heard, seen, respected by their company no matter what they are seeing on the news. This is why we volunteer and do what we do,” said Deneen.

For Nick Dombrowski, the PRIDE BRG is very personal. When the PRIDE BRG was created, Nick didn’t immediately join the group. Initially, he wasn’t comfortable identifying with the group and held his personal life very close. “It became apparent to me that in order to build meaningful relationships at work, I needed to be more open about who I was,” says Nick. “If I wanted the company to grow and become more diverse, I needed to let down my walls and communicate to the entire organization who I really was.” When Nick was eventually approached by a member of the PRIDE BRG, he knew “it was time to step up to the plate.”

As Nick became more involved in the PRIDE BRG, he also became more comfortable with his place within Schreiber professionally. Seeing that the company itself was growing and becoming more diverse made him more comfortable in expressing who he truly was. It’s also made Nick a better advocate for Schreiber outside of work. “I joined the PRIDE BRG because I needed to be more open about who I really was,” Nick states. He further explains while an organization may feel LGBTQ+ is mainstream in our society at this point, it isn’t. “There are still a lot of people within the community that are not ‘out’,” he continues. There are still many LGBTQ+ individuals who are not comfortable with sharing something so personal for fear of rejection from co-workers or being penalized in some way professionally. Nick explains, “Not everyone fits a specific mold, yet I felt that I had to try to fit that mold. The PRIDE BRG has made me realize that being different doesn’t mean not fitting in.”

As we celebrate Pride Month, certainly reach out to your LGBTQ+ co-workers in support. But, also remember to extend that hand during the rest of the year in actionable ways. If you have a resource group in your organization, ask how you can identify as an advocate. If you don’t have a resource group in your organization, maybe you’re the catalyst to start one.