TextNow ERG: Parents & Guardians

Employee Resource Groups are voluntary, employee-led groups whose aim is to foster a diverse, inclusive workplace aligned with the organizations they serve.

One of the five (so far) ERGs we have at TextNow is the Parents & Guardians ERG - whose mission is to improve the employee experience of parents and guardians working at TextNow.  

The Parents ERG (Employee Resource Group) strives to improve the employee experience of those who identify as a parent or a guardian at the company. We want to create a safe and caring community that supports and celebrates each other so that they can be their best at work, and at home. We want to provide a place where all aspects of a person's family life, from being a new parent all the way to navigating life with toddlers, tweens, teens, and aging parents are supported.

We also decided to christen July as Parents & Guardians Awareness Month, both as an opportunity to spread the word about the ERG to other employees, and as a way of highlighting the unique challenges facing parents & guardians in the modern workplace.

To kick things off for the Parents & Guardians ERG this year, we launched a "getting to know you" activity where people shared their stories and photos, if they were comfortable. After that, we tried something a bit different and asked the group members what they wanted to see from the ERG - what topics were interesting, what should we avoid, and how can we best support each other.

We continued the month with an Activity Bingo to encourage people to spend time and share pictures of them with their families. A subtle little reminder from us to make sure to find the balance between your work life and your home life.  

And wrapping up July we've also invited Dr. Laura Markham to come and speak with us about Parenting for Resilience in Tough Times, which is focused on how to help teach your children how to develop more resilience and emotional intelligence.

Curious about our other ERGs? Read about our Mental Health ERG, our Pride ERG for our LGBTQ+ employees, or our Women+ ERG!

‍