Our Reflection + Education
With the current environment of social unrest in our community and throughout the U.S., SIGMA announced that we as a company would be observing Juneteenth, the nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States.
We felt that it was important to give our team members an opportunity to support each other and our community during this profound time and we encouraged our team to take the day, or part of it, for reflection, volunteerism, education or activism in support of our diverse community and the Black Lives Matter movement.
In support of our team members, we provided a number of resources and suggestions, some of which were used by our team during their observance of Juneteenth.
The majority of the SIGMA team and their family members participated or donated to the Virtual Roc Juneteenth 5k Run/Walk to benefit the Rochester Civil Rights Heritage Site. Between donations and race fees our team was able to give $450+ that will go toward honoring local Civil Rights leaders. Some of these team members also spent the day exploring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Park in downtown Rochester, which has been transformed into a space for individuals to write messages of support.
Other activities that our team members participated in on Juneteenth included podcasts and videos. Some of our favorites included:
TED Talk: How we can make racism a solvable problem – and improve policing
TED Talk: What it takes to be racially literate
Click here for a list of additional resources including local opportunities and organizations in Rochester, articles, podcasts, documentaries, movies and book suggestions that were provided to our team.
An Open Conversation
Wednesday, July 1st also marked our first SIGMA Summit- a virtual internal conference that allowed our team members to share new ideas, processes, successes and included an open conversation about SIGMA’s support of inclusivity and diversity as well as a discussion of structural racism in our community.
“The Summit provided an opportunity for our team to hear each other’s thoughts, ideas and concerns about the current environment and it felt meaningful and impactful. I felt moved by the willingness of our team to share their honest thoughts and opinions. We will continue to recognize and integrate open conversations like this into our company DNA and ensure that our team members feel empowered to open up and share without judgement.” – Stefan Willimann, CEO.
