Night Out is a party with a mission. Sure, it’s a night of festivity, food, and fellowship. But we’re also there to party with a purpose: we celebrate our wins over the past year, and we marshal resources for our work in the year to come. And perhaps most important, we express our deep gratitude to the people and organizations who have championed LGBTQ families over the previous year.
We are honoring Salesforce as our private sector Ally this year, and for very good reason. The company is committed to equity and inclusion in the workplace, earning a number one ranking on Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” as well as Indeed’s “Best Place to Work” list and the Employee’s Choice award on Glassdoor’s “Best Places to Work” list. With approximately 20,000 employees, that adds up to a lot of LGBTQ parents and caregivers experiencing a strong, supportive workplace.
But Salesforce’s allyship goes even further than this. Their workplace equity advocacy is exemplary, with clearly articulated equality-driven values, and a record both of supporting LGBTQ relationship recognition and of fighting attempts to roll back protections of LGBT Qpeople in the states which have been doing so, signing a friend of the court brief in the Masterpiece Cakeshop case, and going so far as to cancel all corporate travel to Indiana and subsidize LGBTQ employee relocations when it proposed its Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
The leadership on this issue comes from the top: CEO Mark Benioff and “the other CEO,” Salesforce’s founding Chief Equality Officer Tony Prophet, who will be receiving the Ally Award on behalf of Salesforce. In explaining his work, Prophet has said,
Naturally, companies are going to stand for equality and non-discrimination in the workplace. That is imperative. We are also dedicated to standing for equality in the communities where we serve not just our own interests but for the interests our customers, the interests of our partners and for the interests of our employees and their families.
Prophet’s own commitment to LGBTQ advocacy goes deep, and indicates that he’s every bit as devoted an ally as is Salesforce:
My son is a proud LGBTQ advocate and a member or the LGBTQ community. I’ve been on this journey with my son as a father and I’ve come a million miles on that journey with all the things that I have learned and seen through the eyes of my son how it feels to be LGBTQ. When you hear statistics, there are abstract numbers — thousands and millions. But when you see one person that you love and you’re putting yourself in their shoes, you see how they’re experiencing life and the things that they celebrate and the things that cause them great heartache, how it feels, those are things that change your life.
Allies like this indeed change our lives. Join us on May 11 to help celebrate and give thanks. And if you have even more to give: some sponsorships are still available: contact jenny@ourfamily.org or call 415-981-1960 for more information.
