As a Latinx woman working in the tech space, it's exhausting to live and work in a world where not everyone can equally and fairly reach certain levels within an organization. Thankfully, employee resource groups (ERGs) are changing that with the mission to support people like myself to have the access and opportunities to reach the highest levels in the organizations. This has been my experience with the ERG groups here at Pega.
Everyone who joins an employee resource group (ERG) is searching for others to identify with. We all want to find other people who look like us, share the same culture, come from the same places, listen to the same music, and eat the same food.
For me, it's beautiful to look up and see Latinx leaders in a top-level position in my organization —they are examples of what’s possible. Let’s look at Carlos Fuentes: With the right support, great opportunities, and obviously his own passion, Carlos Fuentes is an inspiring leader and Chief Information Security Officer at Pega.
Young people in our community need more Latin examples like Carlos Fuentes because, unfortunately, the world is lacking good examples. All of us should have the same opportunities in life. It doesn’t matter the color of your skin, where you came from, or if you speak with an accent. We are all beautiful and perfect.
Establishing Latinx@Pega
I joined Pega over two years ago as the Talent Advisory Partner for Latin America. I’m so grateful that this company gave me so many opportunities to do different things and grow in my career, but I didn’t know that the best was about to come when I had the opportunity to help establish and lead a newer ERG group, Latinx@Pega. This is such a pleasure to me as a professional, but also as a human being. I feel honored to be the first to set the stone for the next generations of Pega Latinx members.
We’re breaking barriers and amplifying voices.
Large scale cultural change requires large groups of people. We bring our people together in different ways to create change from the inside out.
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Meet some members of Latinx@Pega!
I decided to join the Latinx@Pega ERG one year back because after 15 years of working for an American company, I guess Latinx community still had a few invisible walls to drop in the company. I thought joining the group would be the best way to give my little contribution and make Pega an even better place to work for everyone.
Alex Romero Garrido, Senior Director, Product Management for Financial Services, Pega
I’ve enjoyed the relationships I’ve developed as a member of Latinx@Pega. Being able to share food together, stories of shared cultural history, and exploring differences in our languages and experiences has taught me how rich and diverse our community is.
Alex Nicholson, Senior Director of Social Media and Impact, Pega
I joined Latinx@Pega and was inspired by other members that were part of the group. I saw their enthusiasm and I wanted to see how I could contribute to this new ERG as a Latina myself. Since I joined Latinx, my experience has been very rewarding! Not only was I able to contribute to various Latinx efforts, but I also got to learn a lot along the way! I had plenty of opportunities to meet and connect with people from different departments, which then allowed me to be part of other initiatives at Pega (such as the Allyship Reflection Sessions). Being part of Latinx@Pega has not only been a great networking opportunity, but most importantly, it has encouraged me to get of out of my comfort zone, get involved, learn about the resources available at Pega, and think outside the box on how I can support others!!
Andrea Gette, Senior Tax Manager, Pega
I decided to join Latinx@Pega to represent the Brazilian community in Poland. I believe we have a lot of great things to share and learn from other cultures and being outside of your country multiplies that feeling! Latinx@Pega will help me understand many concepts better to achieve this mission!
Pedro Ivo Raimundo, Senior Cloud Development Engineer, Pega
I have been lucky enough to be surrounded by vibrant LatinX communities in my personal life. It was exciting to see this ERG launch at Pega and immediately, I joined as an ally to continue to support the value they bring in our day-to-day here at Pega.
Chastity DeLorme, Strategy and Transformation Project Manager, Pega
Latinx@Pega team meeting!
Over the summer, we had a book club event in partnership with the Client Success Team where we discussed the book US, in Progress: Short Stories About Young Latinos. That was my first book club experience because we don’t have book clubs in Brazil (or maybe we do and I missed them). It was an awesome experience for me. We were a very diverse crew on that day, there were people from different places and cultures, and it was very interesting to see how each of them understood and processed the stories.
Like any other book club, the idea is to discuss the stories you’ve read. Right? Wrong! This book club’s objective was to discuss how those stories impacted us, how we felt after reading them, and how we can act differently and contribute so stories like that won’t happen again. On that day, I found a different way to deliver my message.
Latinx breakfast with Kerim Akgonul, Chief Product Officer at Pega
Proud to be Latinx@Pega
Every day I open my eyes and think, this is a new day and with it comes a new opportunity to start working to build a better future for my daughters. I know that with hard work, we will be able to break down the walls of bias. And those walls are tall and strong.
I wish that one day I’ll join a call and I won’t need to explain why or how I’m supporting a Global organization while being based in Brazil. I strongly believe that each of us should feel part of a bigger mission. And if we do our best every day as Latinx to elevate ourselves, we can help create equal opportunities for the future.