Atlanta’s Pride history dates back to the early 1970s, when the Georgia Gay Liberation Front organized a march from Peachtree Street to Piedmont Park. Today, the annual parade draws nearly 300,000 people—the largest Pride event in the southeast. The week-long festival is held in October to coincide with National Coming Out Day and culminates with a weekend parade through Piedmont Park.
MailChimp has participated in Atlanta’s Pride parade for 4 years. And this year, we decked out a truck with a cerulean unicorn and a rainbow version of Freddie, our beloved mascot. One of our employees, DJ Taradactyl, brought the house down as coworkers passed out stickers, koozies, and high fives.
“We celebrate Pride for many reasons, but I think it’s perfectly summed up by a saying we have around here: Being yourself makes all the difference,” says Ashley Wilson, our Employee Engagement Specialist. “The saying started as a brand campaign, and now it’s been adopted by our recruiting team. We believe in inclusiveness, diversity, equality and respect, and Pride allows us to celebrate our differences outwardly with the rest of Atlanta.”
But Pride is just one of the ways we support our LGBTQIA colleagues. MailChimp celebrates the community via organizations and events like GaymerX, Lesbians Who Tech, Southern Fried Queer Pride, and Wussy Mag.
Back at the office, MailChimp has offered domestic partner benefits since 2012. Our badges show our preferred names. We have no gendered dress code, employees have transitioned on the job, and everyone gets generous parental leave.
We also wanted to give employees tools to make positive change, so we formed an LGBTQIA educational program called Allyship. We’ve run 12 trainings in less than a year and included more than 80 people. You can read more about the program here.