Honoring Juneteenth and Building Community with Procore’s Employee Resource Groups

Juneteenth, or Freedom Day, is the annual holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the U.S. on June 19, 1865. The day celebrates freedom and achievement in the Black community, while encouraging unity and respect for all cultures.

Last year, Procore’s African (Descent) Council (PAC) and Women & Allies (PW&A) Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) commemorated Juneteenth by launching an internal speaker series, called Daring Conversations and Allyship. The series amplifies the voices of our employees and provides a platform to share and learn from people’s experiences, while facilitating candid conversations about life, race, gender, and social equality. This year’s Juneteenth marks the one-year anniversary of the series.

Through the series, which was developed shortly after the tragic death of George Floyd, employees came together to support one another and build empathy. The social justice movement we witnessed globally was reignited internally as we grappled with hard questions and searched for meaningful ways to foster support. Many of us started with listening.

“We can all take action by coming together and learning from one another,” said Maggie Ngugi, Product Manager, Analytics and PAC member at Procore.

Employees from all backgrounds identified opportunities to lean into personal growth and social change. We also witnessed employees embrace allyship, the lifelong process of supporting an underrepresented group. Together, we created opportunities to process feelings, share stories, and learn different ways to be an ally – all in an effort to facilitate healing and drive meaningful change.

This year, Procore is observing Juneteenth on Friday, June 18 and it has been added as a global holiday for all employees. To share more about the holiday, we’re also providing employees with internal resources and programming throughout June.

In the coming months, members of PAC and PW&A hope to expand the Daring Conversations and Allyship series to amplify even more voices and stories from our employees.

“Daring Conversations and Allyship began with an intent to provide an open space to talk about issues that impact all of us. We want to engage more people and topics in the future,” Maggie said. “There will always be so much to talk about.”

Learn more about Procore’s ERGs and ongoing efforts to build a more diverse and inclusive future.