RingCentral’s WISE ERG hosts Women’s History Month events

Highlights:

• For Women’s History Month, RingCentral’s Women In SaaS Empowerment (WISE) ERG explored this year’s theme #InspireInclusion with events promoting women’s equity.

Women’s History Month is a time to celebrate women’s achievements, resilience, and contributions worldwide. Our RingCentral Women in SaaS Empowerment (WISE) employee resource group plays a vital role in fostering a supportive community to share experiences, uplift one another, and champion diversity. To honor Women’s History Month, WISE hosted events specifically designed to promote women’s professional growth and advocate for women.

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Advocating for change

Throughout history, women have faced significant challenges in the workplace: limited access to education and professional opportunities, unequal pay for equivalent work, and career restrictions that perpetuate gender stereotypes. These struggles, rooted in societal norms and systemic biases, have required persistent efforts and advocacy for gender equality. Despite progress, acknowledging and addressing these challenges is crucial for fostering ongoing change and creating workplaces that champion diversity and equality, providing women with increased opportunities and dismantling barriers to professional growth.

WISE ERG supports and promotes women

Understanding the inequities that exist, RingCentral’s WISE ERG seeks to create a safe space for women to bring their authentic selves to work. Through mentoring, professional development opportunities, special events, and support, WISE is transforming women’s workplace experience.

Inspiring inclusion

This year’s Women’s History Month theme was “Inspire Inclusion” so the WISE ERG focused on ways for women to empower one another in the workplace. Events addressed professional growth, pay equity, leadership attainment, and inclusivity.

Women’s History Month Events:

• March 5th: Women’s History Month Kickoff in Belmont, Denver, Dallas, Charlotte, and Remote.

WISE members organized both in-office and virtual events to kick off Women’s History Month. The virtual activities included a speed friending event and a raffle for participants. In the office, we set up inclusivity walls where participants responded to the prompt “How do you inspire inclusivity?” Those who participated were entered into a raffle for a book giveaway for “Imposter No More” by Jill Stoddard. Additionally, we supported women-owned businesses by providing treats for all offices. 

• Belmont: Cookies from Tracy Ma (RingCentral employee and part-time baker)
• Denver: Desserts from Maria’s Empanadas
• Dallas: Cupcakes from Kayleigh Michele’s 
• Charlotte: Pastries from Amelie’s French Bakery
• March 6th: WISE Book Club – Imposter No More: Overcome Self-Doubt and Imposterism to Cultivate a Successful Career by Jill Stoddard
• March 8th: Women in Leadership Panel with Mignon Clyburn (Board Member), Sonalee Parekh (Chief Financial Officer), Bobbie Grafeld (Chief HR Officer), Kira Makagan (Chief Innovation and Marketing Officer), Sandra Krief (SVP Strategic Partnerships), Esther Yoon (VP Product Marketing) and Jennifer Caukin (VP Global Communications)
  • The panel of esteemed senior women executives focused on the theme “What Got Me Here Won’t Get Me There.”
  • Our panelists shared their journeys highlighting the pivotal realization that their approaches to success, while instrumental in propelling their careers to their current heights, required adjustment to reach their next milestones. Employees gained insights into how panelists navigated through a transformative phase, transitioning from the “messy middle” to assuming senior leadership roles.

• March 11th: Equal Pay Day Panel – Advocating for your Salary

• • On average, women earn 84 cents for every dollar men earn. (Forbes, 2024). The disparities are even starker for women of color. Hispanic women make around 52 cents for every dollar men earn. Black women earn around 66 cents for every dollar men earn. Indigenous women make around 55 cents for every dollar men earn. To put it into perspective, A 20-year-old woman just starting full-time year-round work stands to lose $407,760 over a 40-year career, compared to her male counterpart. (Lean In, 2024)
  • To address these inequities, we observed Equal Pay Day (officially observed on March 12th) by hosting an “Advocating for Your Salary” session with Brandi Milewski, Emily Brennan, Gina Quinonez, Kyle Green, and Natalie Ryan. Employees gained valuable insights from senior managers and experienced recruiters on effective strategies for advocating for their salaries.

• March 20th: In-Office Personal Care Kits Donation Drive & Self-Care Activity

• • Access to period products is a fundamental need that many women and menstruating individuals struggle to afford. We invited everyone to participate in an initiative to assemble kits. We completed the goal of 50 kits per office, for a total of 200 kits donated across the US!
  • For each kit assembled, volunteers were given a self-care kit to take home. These were filled with items to help volunteers relax after donating their time.

Honoring progress while promoting change

We’re proud of the continued progress and advancement of women worldwide and are dedicated to advancing equity in all areas. We have been encouraged by RingCentral’s newest mentorship programs focusing on the promotion of women to senior leadership positions and the advancement of women companywide. 

“Women’s History Month has been an important time to honor and celebrate the impactful contributions of women throughout history and the present. It served as a reminder that while progress has been made, there remains work to be done in education access, pay equity and career advancement. Within the WISE ERG, our goal was to acknowledge and actively address these challenges. We also amplified the voices of our remarkable female leaders at RingCentral, while staying true to our theme of ‘Inspire Inclusion.’” – Laura Frasure, Sr. Program Manager, PMO and WISE President

Originally published Apr 02, 2024