Jack Blog
June 26th, 2019 By Natalie Ackerman
Here at Jack, we work like many other IPG agencies to embody the supportive culture of inclusiveness and allyship, under our broader diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts.
During the month of June, to celebrate Pride month, several of our Jack offices around the world showcased support for the LGBTQ+ community. We’ll take you on a quick tour of some of the activities.
Detroit:
In Detroit, the I Am Jack committee hosted Affirmations, a local non-profit supporting the LGBTQ+ community, for a 1-hour lunch and learn: “Being an Ally 201” (a continuation of last year’s 101 presentation).
Also, with 370,000 LGBTQ+ people in Michigan feeling vulnerable to discrimination – especially when it comes to jobs – employees from Jack’s Detroit office joined the recently formed IPGLBT Detroit chapter to march in the Motor City Pride parade. During the event, they passed out postcards to attendees informing them that IPG is a Best Place to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality and directed them to a site where they can find job postings for our various agencies in the Detroit-metro area.
Almost 100 IPGers, alongside friends and family, turned out for the event – despite a little rain!
The I Am Jack committee also presented a viewing session to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, and the Detroit chapter of IPGLBT+ is supporting a goods drive for Ruth Ellis Center, a local organization that provides residential safe space and support services for runaway, homeless and at-risk LGBTQ+ youth.
New York:
New York’s I am Jack team teamed up with their office’s summer interns to celebrate Pride by kicking-off the first-ever Pride T-shirt Fundraiser, in support of The Trevor Project, a national organization that provides suicide prevention and crisis intervention services to LGBTQ+ youth.
T-shirts are available in white or black – in both youth and adult sizes – and feature our official Jack Pride logo. All proceeds will go directly to The Trevor Project and donations are also accepted to support the cause.
San Francisco:
On the West Coast, the San Francisco Jack office created a Pride flag made up of sticky notes prompting individuals to fill in the statement “I _____ with pride”. They also hosted a collective learning and participation opportunity at a luncheon where employees created Pride swag kits for the upcoming San Francisco parade on June 30.
Hong Kong:
Hong Kong celebrated Pride month by asking colleagues to wear pride colors for one week. A color was assigned to each day of the week and everyone wore clothes that matched the color theme.
This year, IPG received a perfect score of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Corporate Equality Index (CEI) for the 10th time and was named the “Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality.” Learn more about the IPGLBT resource group, which works with MERGE, and their efforts to continue promoting a safe, inclusive work environment here.
All these activities, and more, continue to promote inclusiveness and help drive our allyship theme. Not to mention the extraordinary work we continue to do with our clients on their campaigns and activations that support DEI.