PRISM Shares Words of Wisdom for Others Creating Similar Employee Resource Groups

PRISM, Jack Henry’s LGBTQIA+ employee resource group, began as an informal Teams channel called “What About Us” in 2018 and officially became a group in 2019. Today, as PRISM celebrates its third Pride month, this group is 300+ members strong, and proud to have hosted successful educational events and to have advocated for inclusive corporate policy changes. The founding members of PRISM know there is more to achieve and hope to inspire and educate others working to create a similar employee resource group. Here are their words of wisdom:

1.??????“Making the business case in the beginning goes a long way with the leaders who are making the decision to provide you with backing. By positioning ourselves as an employee resource group, that gave us a lot of legitimacy. We identified a need that we could solve, and those potential employees, investors, and customers now have expectations around diversity and inclusion.”

– Allen Eaves, founding Development Officer

2.??????“Identify and get an investment from your initial founders who are out or who are willing to be strong and vocal allies. The onus is on them to push to make it comfortable for those who may need an extra nudge to come out, because not everyone is ready to be out at work. Every day we make little choices that tell people that it’s okay, and that’s how you win the marathon—and it is a marathon, not a sprint.”

– Andrea Tunia, founding Finance Officer

3.??????“Do your best to recruit early. I was going to every LGBTQIA+ person I knew at Jack Henry trying to get them to sign up and then seeing who they know. That early membership push is huge.”

– Bri Duncan, founding Membership Officer

4.??????“Make sure that the culture and policies and institutional support are there to allow the group to succeed. The culture should already be accepting and there should be an expectation that the work of the group and its members are valued; Human Resources shouldn’t drive that but merely be a backup. What an HR Business Partner can do is to make connections for who to go to for different needs, including leaders of similar groups that may already exist.”

– Kelly Borys, founding Human Resources Business Partner

5.??????“Education! In Pride Month 2020, we held our first event, and it was the first all-company educational event sponsored by any of our employee resource groups. It was a great introduction for people who wanted to learn more about PRISM and the LGBTQIA+ community. We got great feedback. And it was when we were having conversations about equity and inclusion after George Floyd, so the timing really helped put us solidly on the scene.”

– Andy Huynh, founding President

6.??????“There may be some pushback. It may not be public or overt but a simple ‘Oh we don’t need to do that’ and you have to be ready to react and keep advocating.”

– Andrea

7.??????“Ensure that your group includes people who are transgender and nonbinary. They have different experiences and perspectives, and they are the best advocates for what they truly need.”

– Bri

8.??????“We worked to integrate across geography and parts of the business. We want to establish partnerships in the communities we live in and the teams where we work. That allows people to be involved and form connections wherever they are.”

– Andy

9.??????“Remember that there’s a lot of room for outreach especially once you establish yourselves. Policies to advocate for, colleagues who turn to you for support if their children come out. As our corporate priorities evolve, we have a perspective – for example, looking at financial freedom for members of the LGBTQIA+ community. We can be resources and ensure that everyone is invited to the table.”

– Allen?

10.??“The work is never done. The founding members do the heavy lifting with the goal of seeing the next wave of leaders take the group and grow it. We early leaders walk so that others can run. And with that they push from a basic level of inclusion to hopefully being at the leading edge.”

—Perry Factor, Communications Officer