This week, Yext joined millions around the globe in celebrating LGBTQ Pride. Our LGBTQ employee resource group, Express, planned a full schedule of events aimed to educate, entertain, and enable employees of all orientations and gender identities to take pride in expressing their whole selves.
We kicked off the week with an in-office volunteer event, assembling kits for homeless youth on behalf of Safe Horizon, the nation's leading victim assistance program. Yexters from across the organization put together essentials such as toothpaste, bandages, and shampoo for more than 100 individuals in the New York City area. Many recipients of these care packages identify as LGBTQ and often find life on the street easier than life at home.
Every kit Yexters created included a handwritten note with words of encouragement and support.
On Thursday, we were proud to host longtime activist and LGBTQ rights representative, Melissa Sklarz for a YextTalk. Melissa is the Director of Development at the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund and is the former Board Co-Chair of the Empire State Pride Agenda, the LGBT state wide political lobbying group based in New York and in Albany.
In 1999, Melissa became the first transgender person elected to office in New York when she was elected Judicial Delegate from the 66th Assembly District. She also helped bring civil rights to transgender people in New York City when INT 24 became law in 2002. Melissa served on the Working Group with the New York Human Rights Commission to flesh out the law, and has been a lobbying leader for GENDA (Gender Expression Non Discrimination Act) since the bill was developed.
During the talk, Melissa spoke about the struggles she endured during her transition, her work to develop bills and negotiate change in New York City, as well as the shifting cultural norms and how this will impact the future of the transgender community.
Chief People Officer Skip Schipper discusses the impact Yext employee resource groups like Express have on the company as a whole.
Our own Nick Cassleman led a fireside chat with guest Melissa Sklarz.
Members of the Express leadership team pose with Melissa.
Later that afternoon, renowned drag queen Paige Turner put on an exciting show with songs, dance, and a few employee roasts.
Paige opens with a dramatic medley of pop songs.
Paige invites Yexters to the stage for a costume and dance competition.
Running through the audience with a rainbow flag, Paige paints with all the colors of the wind.
In the spirit of Pride, we also announce the release of three new Google location attributes:
Popular with LGBT
LGBTQ-Friendly
Transgender Safespace
Enabling businesses to accurately express themselves has always been our core mission at Yext, and we encourage our client network to make inclusive spaces more easily discoverable for members of the community by utilizing these attributes.
Yext customer? Log into Yext to add the LGBTQ-Friendly attribute and select from hundreds of others to help you get discovered.
We are so proud of the family we have built at Yext and give special thanks this month to our LGBTQ employees and the unique perspective they bring to our company.
