What is one of your company’s core values that inspires diversity in both employees and job applicants?

To demonstrate how your company’s core values can be a catalyst for diversity in employees and job seekers, we asked HR and recruiting professionals and business leaders this question for their insights. From embracing uniqueness to prioritizing transparency, there are several ways that core values can inspire diversity.

9 Tips to Better Understand Bias

What is a tip to better understand unconscious bias when making a hiring decision?

To help hiring managers identify bias in their hiring efforts, we asked business leaders and founders this question for their best advice. From aligning your vision and values to following a standardized interview, there are several strategies that may help you reach hiring decisions with less bias. 

What is one step businesses need to take to form an effective employee resource group (ERG)?

To help small business owners form employee resource groups, we asked CEOs and business professionals this question for the best tips. From letting employees lead to recruiting a growth team there are several steps that may help you form an employee group for your business’ continued success. 

Here are nine steps to forming employee resource groups:

• Make It Inclusive
• Find Interested Parties
• Define Your Purpose
• Let Employees Lead
• Listen to All Members
• Recruit a Growth Team
• Create a Resource List
• Share Insurance Benefits
• Provide Financial Support

Make It Inclusive 

While we do not have an ERG in place, through our research, I believe a business would need a diverse group of people who are willing to be honest and open to new ideas. They also need to have the support of the business to be able to implement recommendations that come as a result of their work. 

Michael Martin, Tempe Tourism

Find Interested Parties 

Whether you choose to send a mass email or to use word of mouth, your first step is to find people who also share your values and interests in your organization. Once you're able to identify people who are interested in joining or leading the group, you will be able to efficiently create your ERG.

Brooke Wilson, Fabric

Define Your Purpose 

To have effective employee resource groups, there must be a purpose that its members can support. This can be anything from career development or mental health safety. Define the responsibilities of team members and their role in carrying out the mission. Center all events and activities around the mission statement to ensure the group doesn't stray from its goal.

Haim Medine, Mark Henry Jewelry

Let Employees Lead

Give employees full control over how the group is run. If they are completely in charge, it promotes accountability because the group's success falls squarely on the employees. It will motivate them to actively work to grow the group and ensure it sticks to its purpose.

Rym Selmi, MiiRO

Listen to All Members 

Employee resource groups (ERGs) can be a valuable resource for employees of various backgrounds who are looking for additional resources that can help them with their work and allow them to connect with colleagues on the basis of a shared interest or disposition. ERGs are the most effective when they’re run in a way that is democratic and lifts up the voices of all who wish to contribute.

Greg Hannley, Soba Recovery

Recruit a Growth Team

Build a team whose members are committed to their leadership roles. Develop guidelines, set goals, and communication expectations. Make sure members without leadership positions strongly support the ERG and will promote it throughout the organization to attract other employees.

Michael Scanlon, Roo SkinCare

Create a Resource List 

Have a long list of available resources for your employees. Do not only have one option for each category. Every employee has unique needs, try to provide different options for different people. Make sure it is covered by the company as well so you are not misleading teams either.

Guy Bar, Hyfit

Share Insurance Benefits

First, gather all benefits that employees can have with insurance. See what health groups can offer as bonuses for businesses to add and what wellness offers there are. Once all of these are found and gathered, lay it out in a document and organize the data. This will help to have one place for all found information before sharing it with the company.

Olivia Young, Conscious Items

Provide Financial Support

It is hard for employee resource groups to function without a budget. They are usually underfunded and purely voluntary. So what businesses can do is provide financial support. They can use such resources to develop and organize programs and activities that have relevant impact on inclusivity within your company.

Joe Flanagan, VelvetJobs

Terkel creates community-driven content featuring expert insights. Sign up at terkel.io to answer questions and get published. 

As business, religious, and civic leaders, who are deeply invested in our state, we strongly believe every Arizonan should have a voice in our democracy and that voting should be equally accessible and safe for all voters. In the arc of history, we should remember that Arizona was an early adopter of the permanent vote by mail list and our state has successfully utilized this system for over two decades and know it's safe and secure. A free and equal right to vote protects all other freedoms and rights that we hold dear as Americans and as Arizonans we believe deeply in a free and equal right to vote.

That is why we are grateful that our Maricopa Board of Supervisors have continually embraced and acknowledged Arizona’s long and proud history of voting by mail with no issues. They are on the front lines, studying this approach and know it has worked. As they have cited, multiple publicly conducted audits have already shown that Arizona’s 2020 elections were conducted safely and securely, with no evidence of fraud or other misconduct.

Earlier this year, we saw the reputational and economic damage done when Georgia passed discriminatory voter legislation. The MLB moved the All-Star game and corporations across industries spoke out against the measures. Sadly, some of our leadership at the Arizona Legislature are following this misguided and unsubstantiated approach. These continued measures aren’t just harmful for a vibrant democracy, but it will most certainly harm Arizona’s reputation once again. At a time when we are just beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel from the economic devastation because of the Covid19 pandemic, we don't need unnecessary roadblocks to a vibrant democracy and to a successful economic recovery in the form of controversial and divisive measures that will only bring negative attention to our state.

As individuals who hold our corporate responsibility and democracy in great esteem, we ask that we work together to identify common goals that will help us to physically, emotionally and economically recover as a united front. Democracy works best when everyone has the meaningful opportunity to participate, and we are grateful that our Supervisors at the risk of their careers care more about the future of Arizona over political expediency. This is not a time for additional barriers, but rather a time to seriously focus on real issues – economic growth and recovery, revitalizing industries damaged by the Covid19 pandemic, and policies that will help all Arizonans succeed.

Thank you to our Maricopa County Board of Supervisors for listening to the data and answering in a unified voice by urging that now this is a time to stop calls and efforts that continue to promote costly and baseless election audits. We are grateful for your leadership to shut down all audit efforts, graciously accept the outcome of the 2020 election cycle and instead follow our better angels and inspire one another to unite as Arizonans and Americans.

Michael Soto the Executive Director of Equality Arizona will leads our panel on LGBTQ+ Issues at the Capitol & Moving Forward featuring Mesa Mayor John Giles, Regional COO of AMR/GMR and the Chair of the Mesa Chamber of Commerce, Glenn Kasprzyk, Glendale Chamber of Commerce, President & CEO, Robert Heidt and Representative Daniel Hernandez Jr.

Scottsdale Becomes 8th City in Arizona to Pass LGBTQ Inclusive Anti-Discrimination Ordinance

Council Votes Unanimously to Adopt Ordinance

(Scottsdale ARIZ. April 20, 2021) - Tonight, the Scottsdale City Council took a historic step and became the eighth city in Arizona to pass an LGBTQ inclusive anti-discrimination ordinance. The Council vote was unanimous. This ordinance will fully protect LGBTQ families and individuals from discrimination in public accommodations, employment, and housing in the City of Scottsdale. This ordinance is the result of the leadership of Mayor David Ortega and Council and years of collaboration between city leaders, business, faith and community stakeholders.

In his comments in favor of the ordinance, Mayor Ortega said, “Tonight’s passage of the anti-discrimination ordinance confirms our commitment to a Scottsdale that is inclusive of all people. No matter who you are or who you love, you are welcome in Scottsdale."

The City of Scottsdale joins Winslow, Flagstaff, Sedona, Phoenix, Tempe and Tucson as municipalities with LGBTQ inclusive anti-discrimination ordinances in Arizona. The state has no statewide law barring discrimination against LGBTQ people in employment, housing or public accommodations.

Check out these ONE Community Business Members who are now hiring.

ADP

Alliance Bank of Arizona

Arizona AARP

Arizona Bank & Trust

Arizona Community Foundation

Arizona Coyotes

Arizona Diamondbacks

Arizona Federal Credit Union

Axon

Bank of America

Bayless Integrated Healthcare

Blue Cross Blue Shield Arizona

Cox Communications

JPMChase

Child Crisis Arizona

City of Chandler

City of Phoenix

City of Tempe

Design Pickle

Farmers Insurance

FastMed

Four Peaks Brewing Co.

Freedom Financial

Global Medical Response

GoDaddy

Goodmans Interior Structures

Hensley

Honor Health

Local First Arizona - Pipeline AZ

Midwestern University

Moutain Park Health Center

PayPal

PetSmart

Salt River Project

SARRC

Univision Arizona

Valle del Sol Community Health

Community Leaders Issue Statement in Support of LGBTQ Equality and Religious Freedom

(Mesa, AZ. March 20, 2021) – In an open letter to Arizona residents, United States Senator Kyrsten Sinema, Equality Arizona, ONE Community, and leaders from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist, United Church of Christ and Jewish faiths expressed support for LGBTQ equality and protecting religious rights. 

"My faith compels me to treat all people fairly and equally, with deep humility and respect.  As a person of faith, I believe that inclusive non-discrimination is the essence of the Golden Rule, which exists in most, if not all, religious teachings worldwide.  Its crux is that we should treat others as we would want to be treated,” said Robert T. Hoshibata, Resident Bishop, Desert Southwest Conference, United Methodist Church

“Simply put, protecting people from discrimination is about treating others as we want to be treated. LGBTQ rights and religious freedom do not have to be in conflict. Instead, we can come together to protect all people and unify our community on what has for too long been a divisive issue,” said Elder Dale Willis, Area Seventy, with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“As someone who grew up in the LDS Church in Mesa and is also transgender, this is an incredible moment of love and acceptance of the equal worth and dignity of LGBTQ people. This letter serves as a powerful rebuke of attempts to repeal the ordinance and divide our community using fear and lies. I hope Mesa residents will join Church leadership and decline to sign the petition seeking to repeal the ordinance,” said Michael Soto, President of Equality Arizona.

“We are proud to have support for non-discrimination from the LDS Church and faith leaders across the state,” said Angela Hughey, President and Co-Founder of ONE Community. “Equal protections benefit everyone in our community, LGBTQ people and people of faith included. Everyone deserves an opportunity to earn an honest living, have safe houses and access to services,” concluded Ms. Hughey.

As faith leaders in the community, we are writing in support of the recently passed non- discrimination ordinance that protects all people, including LGBTQ people, from discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations. This ordinance provides equal protection for those who visit, live, worship, and work in our great city. 

We also respectfully urge Mesa residents to decline to sign petitions seeking to overturn the ordinance.  People opposed to the ordinance are using falsehoods and wrongly invoking religion to create fear where there should be love. We want to be clear, as Christians, Mormons, Episcopalians, Methodists and more, we all agree that nothing in this ordinance violates religious freedom or endangers our community.

Statement from ONE Community and Equality Arizona on Historic Passage of Non-Discrimination Ordinance in Mesa, Arizona Non-Discrimination Ordinance Overwhelmingly Passes with 5-2 Vote   (Mesa, ARIZ. March 1, 2021) - Tonight, the Mesa City Council took a historic step and passed an LGBTQ+ inclusive non-discrimination ordinance. This ordinance will fully protect LGBTQ+ families and individuals from discrimination in public accommodations, employment, and housing in the City of Mesa. This model ordinance is the result of visionary leadership by the Mayor and City Council members, years of collaboration between city leaders and stakeholders. In his comments in favor of the ordinance, Mayor John Giles said, “Tonight we celebrate equality, respect and fundamental rights.” This ordinance is a major victory for fairness, equality for all, and for LGBTQ+ people and families in Mesa. It will have an immediate benefit for the City and its people.

The best way for small businesses and organizations (1 to 5 team members) to connect to our diverse and loyal LGBTQ+ community on a business to business level and a business to consumer level.

With over $917 billion dollars in buying power LGBTQ consumers are tech savvy, loyal and socially conscience. Regardless of profession, we are a community you want to connect with.

And here in Arizona, based on our State of LGBTQ Arizona Report:

— 63% of ONE Community’s constituents have bachelor’s degree or higher – compared to 27% of Arizonans
— 60% of our constituents have a household income of $50,000 or more. The median household income in Arizona is $48,510
— 51% of our LGBTQ+ constituents are in a committed relationship
— 59% are urban dwellers
— 92% have healthcare

We visit the theatre, we dine out, we are health conscious and love our pets!

If your business is travel related, it’s important that you know that the annual economic impact of LGBTQ travelers is over $100 billion per year in the U.S.

Ally Business Membership includes:

MEMBER PRICING: save up to 30% on tickets and sponsorship opportunities for our events.

BRANDED LISTING: Make your brand shine with our beautiful, customizable and self-managed listings.

JOB POSTINGS: Connect with our diverse & loyal user base. You can post unlimited job openings on our board.

EVENT POSTINGS: Let our users know what events your company has coming up by posting to our member calendar.

LEAD GENERATION: Receive user messages directly from your business listing via our messaging platform free of charge.

SPECIAL OFFERS: Post your special offers which will be featured on our deals page.

USER REVIEWS: You can earn user reviews that will make your business listing stand out from your competition.

RESPONSIVE DESIGN: Whether people are looking for your business on desktop or mobile devices, we’re ready.

ADVANCED SEARCH: Make your business easy-to-find by selecting up to 12 business subcategories.

GOOGLE MAPS: We make getting foot traffic to your location easier by linking every listing to Google Maps.

SOCIAL MEDIA READY: Keep the conversation going by linking your social media profiles to your business listing.

VIDEO INTEGRATION: Link an ad, introductory or how-to-video to directly to your business listing. It’s easy! You can post unlimited videos.

DIGITAL BROCHURE: Upload your swanky promotional brochure directly to your business listing.

Join US