PRIDE MONTH
Happy Pride Month IATI!
This month we celebrate equality and the accomplishments of the LGTBQ+ community and individuals. As we move towards a more inclusive society, we take it upon ourselves to commemorate this challenge in the workplace, as well as in our daily lives.
Pride Month Celebration Ideas
Here are a few ideas how to celebrate this powerful month in your workplace, virtually or in person:
Lecture
It can be internal or external, by a public figure from the community or an outed employee sharing his or her personal story. The main idea is to bring awareness by all employees to the struggles and journey LGTBQ+ members often have to go through. You can finish this activity with an open question to the crown, challenging them to think what to do to get better, as the number of outed employees is still fairly low.
List of LGBTech Speakers 
| הכשרות מקצועיות של חוש״ן | הרצאות למגזר העסקי של איגי
Volunteering
Whether a one-time or on-going, Pride Month is a good time to volunteer with different organizations helping the LGBTQ+ community. It can be in Youth hostels and centers, or other organizations that help members of the community in different stages of their lives. Such an activity can prove extremely meaningful both for the community as well as the employees.
JDC Mapping LGBTQ Orgs.inIsrael-English Version Summer 2018
LGBTQ_Coalition_Israel_Appendix_-_the_LGBTQ_coalition_in_Israel
ERG Form unions/leagues
Do you have designated groups, guilds, or leagues in your company? Well, this is a great time to start! While there are countless groups you can have – from professional to location-based groups, an LGBTQ+ league can bring such employees together, promote more to join your organization, and give them a right place in the company. Just remember, starting the group is the easy part, but you need at least one active member who will work to create events and more. Another suggestion is to connect it to a senior manager, to give it a more formal appearance.
Change your Logo, Add a badge or change background
A great way to get employees engaged with a small gesture. Create e badge or a background and ask all employees to add it to their professional profile image or elsewhere. Having this sign everywhere for 30 days can really provoke thought that can lead to a real change at the end of the day, which is what this month is all about.
Why Pride branding matters | Zoom With Pride Using Our Digital Backgrounds 
Pride badge “Do it yourself”
Social awareness & targeted recruiting
Show the world what you do! Use the social platforms (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn etc.) to show you are taking equality and LGBTQ+ rights seriously. You can share the different activities you are doing and promote recruiting members of the community to create a more diverse workplace. Showing you are creating a tolerant atmosphere at work can bring new employees who actively seek such employers.
A New LGBTQ Workforce Has Arrived—Inclusive Cultures Must Follow
Partnerships / Sponsoring
You can create a long-lasting partnership with an organization that supports LGBTQ+ community members, and more specifically, organizations that support them in high-tech. you can do that with different activities, or even host or sponsor one of their activities, thus beginning a fruitful relationship with this organization.
Israeli: LGBTQ Organizations in Israel
International: 13 organizations that support LGBTQ+ tech workers
Activity: You Can’t Ask That (סליחה על השאלה)
A wonderful way to break the ice and allow an open conversation that otherwise gets tricky. Similar to the popular TV show, have employees submit questions anonymously and have LGBTQ+ employees answer them, live or on video. Of course, not every question should be accepted, but provides an opportunity for both sides to ask and answer questions.
Inspiration (Format) https://www.kan.org.il/page.aspx?landingpageid=1349
Send daily facts about Pride Month and the LGBTQ+ community
Do you have a company-wide communication channel? MS Teams, Slack, etc.? use this platform to send daily facts about the LGBTQ+ community, notable members and some that changed the world. You can also do it externally and share them on your social media.
This 6-minute-long video from Buzzfeed is a great introduction to Pride Month
Happy hour
Whether you have one regularly or not, this is a great opportunity to bring everyone together around a worthy cause. You can do it simply by mentioning it, or built an entire theme with colorful cupcakes, appropriate decorations and more. Uniting your company on the messages of tolerance, acceptance and community is always a blessed idea.
Activity: Colorful Shirt Day
A simple and cute idea, when all employees come with colorful shirts (or a one colored shirt for all) to come to work on a certain day. Note than maybe not all employees will be comfortable doing so, so it would be wise to “test the field” first before declaring this move. However, it can be a powerful display of solidarity with the community.
Watch party of a relevant movie
You can find a list of relevant movies here and invite all your employees who are interested to watch it, and perhaps follow-up with a discussion. A though-provoking activity, that can bring people
together in one place and one mindset.
Have more ideas? Anything you’d like to share?
Tell us!
Did any fun activities for Pride Month? We’d be so happy to see some pictures. Tell us!: [email protected]
People to talk to
Sivan Kamiel
CEO at LGBTech
Contact Her
Eyal Segal TLV LGBT Center
Contact Him
Hadas Almog
VP HR
Contact Her
Noam Paz
LGBTQ+ Career Community
Contact Her
