HP People Talk About Progress For Racial Equality And Social Justice
For more than 80 years, HP has stood up for diversity, equity, and inclusion-and leading with this purpose remains a priority today.
This year’s Black History Month celebrations are different and serve as a stark reminder of how much progress is still to be made in light of the devastating and daily examples of the dangers that Black and African American citizens face.
Progress has no finish line. And as we face an inflection point in our society, we are taking action to do our part to end systemic racism and inequality and to ensure everyone is treated with fairness, dignity, and humanity.
A Big Year Ahead For The HP Task Force On Racial Equality And Social Justice
This past summer, we created the HP Racial Equality and Social Justice Task Force to help us accelerate the movement towards a more just, equitable, and inclusive society.
We announced it to employees with an open call for volunteers and recently shared it externally to keep our work transparent.
“Our strategy involves identifying and executing on the biggest opportunities we have as a company to drive societal change, first in the US, then globally.” - Lesley Slaton Brown, Chief Diversity Officer at HP
Embrace The Journey – Progress Has No Finish Line
Read the stories of Black and African American employees at HP who are celebrating Black History Month, while connecting and collaborating to push our goals and strategy forward and embracing the journey toward progress.
How Do Employee Resource Groups Drive Important Changes? They Provide A Vehicle For Using Our Voices.
Celebrating Black History Month enables us to connect the lessons of history to advance our cause for racial equality today, and to pass on the record of these accomplishments and struggles to our youth who will frame our future.
HP’s Black Employee Impact Networks (BEIN) serve as vehicles for employees to align to a common goal and as an outlet for conventional discourse. They also unite a group in which I feel I belong because we can relate to one another with similar and shared experiences. BEIN members are willing to help and advocate for one another and for change based on the unique issues that we and those within our communities often face.
I appreciate that BEINs (as well as other Business Impact Networks) have a legitimate voice with leadership at HP. Whenever I have looked for ways to develop myself and my employees, I have found participation in the BINs as an excellent avenue to advance leadership and influencing skills.
Finally, I find it extremely valuable that, at HP, we are given space to have courageous conversations. The Racial Equality and Social Justice Task Force has enabled those conversations in order to achieve progress that eventually will have an impact not only within HP, but that will resonate throughout our communities as well.
Why Is The Racial Equality And Social Justice Task Force So Important? Because Of The Power Of “We.”
Since the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, I have been vocal and active in every way I can to support HP’s efforts to combat the racism African American and Black people face in the US.
As a co-lead of the Employee Experience chapter of the People pillar of the HP Task Force on Racial Equality and Social Justice, I’m eager to solve for how we can create a better employee experience, particularly for Black employees at HP.
And if we learned just one lesson last year, it’s that there is great power in the “we.”
When we work together, we can create all new products and services to help combat a global pandemic. We can support those who are given the least amount of privilege within our societies. We can create vaccines in monumentally short timeframes. We can muster record-breaking voter turnout even when we can’t vote like normal.
But we will only accomplish these things when we start thinking about this as a shared responsibility. It requires “everybody in” to stand up for equality. It’s up to all of us, together, united, to lead the fight for justice.
What Is The Importance Of The Racial Equality And Social Justice Task Force Amid Black History Month’s Celebrations? Because It Allows Us To Own And Reshape Our Story.
For many years, the Black community has faced unfair treatment and inequality. Celebrating Black History Month, allows us to appreciate the perseverance, faith, and hard work of the individuals who walked so that we can run, and encourages us to continue pushing for progress.
The HP Racial Equality and Social Justice Task Force plays a huge role in moving our goals forward. It allows us to not only use our voice but to own our story, create our table, and invite others to actively join us in developing plans that benefit everyone.
I’m proud to see HP walking the talk on its commitment to change. Thanks to the BEIN and the task force, there are opportunities to do the work within the company and pour the same efforts into the community.
What makes me proud of working at HP? Knowing the company values my life and lives like mine inside and outside HP’s walls.
I’ve been with HP for about 3 years and it’s been such a great pleasure being part of the Racial Equality and Social Justice Task Force. Not only does it show that HP values my life within these walls but lives like mine outside of them.
Whether it be engaging with the different employee resource groups, or through alliances with external organizations and non-profits such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), or in my case the Idaho Black History Museum, the task force continues to impact not only the ways in which we are reinventing our technology but also the daily lives of people in our community.
Keep pushing yourself and those around you to continue learning about the root causes of racism and injustice. Every action—every choice—is a chance to create change.” - Daryl Butler, Head of Marketing for Consumer Personal Systems, US
That’s what it’s like to be part of HP.
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