Our responsibility to fair, ethical and inclusive business is a global responsibility, however, delivering on this must happen on the ground, in many regions across the globe. This would not be possible without the passion and initiative of individual employees in each and every office.
From advocating for women’s rights through the #ilooklikeanengineer viral campaign to a game changer in India, following we provide a round-up of recent recognitions highlighting Symantec employees making a difference for our industry, our employees and our communities worldwide.
Do you look like an engineer?
San Francisco’s primary newspaper The San Francisco Chronicle featured Symantec employee Geena Rollins in the August 25th article “#ILookLikeAnEngineer movement lasts after billboards come down”. The article reviews the viral campaign breaking down gender stereotypes of female engineers after controversial comments regarding an advertising campaign that featured a female engineer.
Geena was highlighted as part of this campaign, one of many female engineers featured on billboards across the San Francisco Bay Area showing engineers of diverse backgrounds. The article also highlights her work to continue the movement at Symantec by raising awareness about gender diversity and encouraging young women interested in STEM to pursue their passions.
[Geena Rollins, a senior principal software engineer at Symantec in Mountain View, didn’t want the movement to die when the events were over and the billboards, where she and other engineers were featured, came down. She decided to do what she could to make small changes at her own company and others. Rollins wears a pin with the hashtag on it as a reminder. She mentors young women and reaches out to managers to report discrimination when she sees it. She’s inspired events focused on women in tech, and pushed for reform and bias training.
But Rollins wishes she could do more to breathe life back into #ILookLikeAnEngineer.
“Companies need to step up and say we can’t lose this,” she said. “It really is helping people. It gave me the inspiration to overcome my fear when confronting discrimination — how could I be on this (billboard) and not speak up when these issues come up right in front of me?”]
India’s Game Changer
Symantec employee C Moulee was featured in India Today’s article – The Game Changers - on people inspiring change in the city of Chennai in India.
The article is about people who are transforming the city of Chennai and inspiring thought and hard work. It highlights C Moulee’s many accomplishments in his community and at Symantec to advocate for LGBT rights.
C Moulee created the first ERG at Symantec in Asia-Pacific, which has reached 12 members across Chennai and Pune, including some that don’t identify as LGBT. Additionally, as he writes about in a recent Medium article, he was part of Symantec’s collaboration with Sahodaran – one of Chennai’s first LGBTQ advocates - to develop an LGBTQ awareness event for college students and youth. And he has been part of the India PRIDE group’s efforts to start an LGBTQ employee awareness program.
“Despite the progress we’ve made, the feeling of inclusion takes time and is hard work. My aim is to bring about more awareness about LGBT people among our employees. I think ignorance is one of the reasons why queer individuals are ignored and harassed. To make my workplace more sensitive towards queer issues and people; this is at the top of my mind.”
You can follow many more stories of Symantec employees making a difference here on our Corporate Responsibility blog, through our #iamtech Medium publication, as well as by following us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.