Originally published at saic.com.
The SAIC Equality Alliance Employee Resource Group (ERG) has been a champion for SAIC’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and other employees, raising LGBTQ+ awareness and promoting equality and understanding. Driven by the ERG’s mission to support the well-being of the communities SAIC serves, Equity Alliance members act as responsible corporate citizens and help ensure that the company continues to be a great place to work for LGBTQ+ equality.
Celebrating LGBTQ+ Pride
SAIC is proud to celebrate LGBTQ+ Pride Month. Each year during June, SAIC employees, families, friends and volunteers participate in LGBTQ+ Pride-related events in their communities, supported by company-sponsored activities.
Through the Equality Alliance, SAIC sponsors, volunteers and supports employee activities at a host of regional Pride celebrations, including:
- Youth Pride Fest in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
- Upper Cumberland Pride in Cookeville, Tenn.
- Capital Pride Festival in Washington, D.C.
- San Diego Pride Festival in San Diego
We also take part in Major League Baseball LGBTQ+ events, such as the Washington Nationals’ Night OUT and the San Diego Padres Out at the Park celebrations. More than 100 employees, family members and friends gather for these celebrations each year.
Advocating LGBTQ+ equality
The SAIC Equality Alliance actively works to ensure that SAIC’s corporate practices and policies reflect the ERG’s commitment to our LGBTQ+ workforce. The ERG provides forums for dialogue around issues that are critically important to our LGBTQ+ population. It also equips SAIC managers and employees with tools and resources to support their lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender co-workers, and it creates visibility for our LGBTQ+ employees.
As a result of the advocacy efforts, SAIC was named one of the “Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality” by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation. For the fourth consecutive year, SAIC earned a perfect score on the HRC Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index, a national benchmark tool measuring policies, practices and benefits pertinent to LGBTQ+ employees and a driving force for LGBTQ+ workplace inclusion.
In June 2022, Equality Alliance Executive Sponsor Jeff Raver received a “Business of Pride” award by Washington Business Journal, an award that honors business leaders who are advancing LGBTQ equality and leadership in the workplace.
“Ensuring that every member of our SAIC workforce has the freedom to be their authentic selves is at the core of being recognized as a best place to work for LGBTQ+ equality,” said Raver, business development director for SAIC’s Naval Business Unit. “HRC has set the standard with the Corporate Equality Index, and SAIC is pleased that HRC has recognized all we do for our LGBTQ+ employees.”
Fostering community well-being
A core tenet of SAIC is to harness our employees’ collective passions to improve the communities in which we live and work. The Equality Alliance has fully embraced SAIC’s partnership with Feeding America since 2013, helping the company raise enough money to donate over 20 million meals to people in need across the U.S. The ERG has also facilitated SAIC’s partnerships with historically LGBTQ-focused hunger-relief groups, regularly volunteering for organizations such as Mama’s Kitchen in San Diego and Food & Friends in Washington, D.C.
Our Equality Alliance has not only led the charge in celebrating Pride at SAIC each year and ensuring that we are steadfast in our commitment to LGBTQ+ equality, but it has remained sensitive to the needs of the communities we serve, exemplifying pride in more ways than one.
