NerdWallet Celebrates Juneteenth

What does Juneteenth mean for you?

That’s something we’ve talked about in NerdWallet’s Nerds of Color employee resource group.

For those who aren’t familiar with the federal holiday, Juneteenth celebrates June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers arrived in Texas and announced that slaves were free. The news came more than two years after President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, according to the Library of Congress.

I’ve celebrated Juneteenth at various workplaces for a long time. I’ve listened to people sing the Black National Anthem, I’ve seen Black performers do their thing, I’ve played Black history trivia for prizes.  

That’s what Juneteenth is to me. It’s fun. It’s a celebration of freedom.

The Nerds of Color ERG wanted our 2022 Juneteenth commemoration to be more than just a day of learning, which the company has done in the past. But our Black employees know our history. We wanted to have some fun.

To me, Juneteenth is like the 4th of July – a celebration of independence. It could be a cookout, eating barbecue, listening to music, drinking red pop, doing the Wobble (OK, in my case watching other people do the Wobble). 

We wanted to find a way to share that vibe. But, because we can’t all be together, dance and have a cookout, our ERG got creative.

June is also Black Music Appreciation Month, so I asked employees what their favorite cookout songs were on Slack and the conversation started flowing. 

Here’s a Spotify playlist of what employees and Nerds of Color ERG members, including our general counsel, E Lysonge, said they like to listen to at cookouts.

We took over NerdWallet’s internal Instagram account and asked Nerds about their favorite cookout foods, what we missed in the playlist, and what their plans were for the long weekend in an effort to get Nerds hype about our virtual Juneteenth watch party over lunch on June 16. 

We invited the entire company to come watch a short and fun video. We talked about what Juneteenth means, shared favorite cookout foods (baked beans with pineapple got a lot of attention), talked about what absolutely does not belong in macaroni and cheese, and we were just in community. 

And right in time for Juneteenth, we just added Nerds of Color-branded Zoom filters and backgrounds preloaded into all NerdWallet Zooms.

Nerds of Color ERG leaders wanted to make sure our Juneteenth celebration wasn’t boring or performative. There’s so much heaviness in the world right now, but we talked at a recent ERG meeting about the importance of taking the time to celebrate joy.

On June 20, NerdWallet will be closed in observance of Juneteenth, so no one has to work, and everyone can choose to celebrate in their own way. 

That’s what Juneteenth is for us. What about you? What does Juneteenth look like at your company?

Signed,

Nerds of Color Co-Chair

Pamela de la Fuente