A look back at Pride 2023

This Pride Month, Calendly team members and customers came together to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community, learn about challenges and discrimination the community faces, how to be effective allies, and how our product helps queer owned customers and/or queer supporting businesses achieve their goals. Here is a look back at our Pride Month celebration at Calendly.

1. On June 1st, Product Specialist Trey Karrake set the stage for Pride Month by reminding us of its importance, why we celebrate, and how to be an active ally this month and beyond.

2. We recognized our amazing queer owned customers and/or queer supporting businesses, myGwork and Out Youth, and learned how Calendly supports their business and the LGBTQ+ community.

3. Our Pride @ Calendly Cal Pals shared their personal experiences, how they found their place at Calendly, and gave our team members 7 steps to become allies to the community. Thank you to our Pride members for being open and sharing with us Finneus, Rhiannan, Erica, Shane and Kellie!

4. Our belonging groups Pride @ Calendly, Black @ Calendly and Latine @ Calendly came together for a viewing and discussion of Paris is Burning, a movie about the Ballroom culture scene that arose in the 80s in New York. Pride @ Calendly team members led a month-long Slack campaign with our Cal Pals about historical facts and figures related to journeys of the LGBTQ+ community, such as the Stonewall Riots, the Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court case, and more!

5. Company -wide, we held a series of other internal events such as Pride Trivia, threading our favorite queer owned business and had the pleasure of hosting Mercury Stardust, a TikTok influencer Trans Handy Ma'am, who taught us home improvement tips and tricks while sharing her story and the importance of intersectionality, visibility, and allyship.

As we reflect on this Pride celebration, it was certainly a month of fun, but more importantly, it was a month for education, celebrating successes in LGBTQ+ inclusion and reflecting on our DEIB journey. “That was probably one of the most meaningful Pride events I’ve attended. Thanks so much for making this happen,” said one Cal Pal about the virtual Pride tour.. Another shared, “these [celebrations] have been really important to me. Thank you to all who made this possible!”

Harvard Business Review found that, “a high [sense of] belonging was linked to a whopping 56% increase in job performance, a 50% drop in turnover risk, and a 75% reduction in sick days.”  At Calendly, we know that behind our business and our product are the incredible people that make it possible. Through our diverse and inclusive culture, we live our value Start With Human for our people and our customers.