SAN FRANCISCO — Friendfactor, the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights organization for straight friends, has announced that it is now accepting additional applications for its first ever Friendfactor Workplace Ally Challenge. The six month program challenges businesses to engage as many employees as possible in taking action to create LGBT-inclusive culture in their workplaces.
“Americans spend more time at work than in any other place in their lives, so activating people to speak up in support of their LGBT colleagues in the workplace can have a ripple effect on all the other areas of our lives,” said Joanne Sprague, re-founder and CEO of Friendfactor. “Over 75% of straight people support LGBT equality, but less than 15% have ever done anything about it. When we close that gap, we shift culture so that being a visible and active ally is the rule, not the exception.”
Ameriprise Financial (NYSE: AMP), 3M (NYSE: MMM), and PG&E (NYSE: PGC) have been accepted into the program and will serve as the pilot class for the inaugural year of this program.
“With hundreds of thousands of employees and locations around the world, the current group of participating companies has the power to truly affect change in the culture they each create and support within their workplaces and the community at large,” said Sprague. “We thank them for their willingness to step up and take on this challenge.”
The Workplace Ally Challenge is an expansion of Friendfactor’s successful MBA Ally Challenge, which has transformed culture at over half the top 20 MBA programs in the country. The program has activated over 3,500 students across 12 schools and generated 25-55% improvements in LGBT awareness and campus culture by providing student leaders with the resources and incentives to activate allies.
Now the Workplace Ally Challenge will utilize similar tactics to help companies build ally initiatives during the program’s January to June 2014 schedule. Each participating company will receive training and educational resources, best practices seminars, semi-monthly check-ins with Friendfactor staff and peer companies, and individualized troubleshooting to design and execute a winning ally engagement strategy.
Companies that are committed to making their workplaces agents of social change are invited to apply to participate. Applications must be submitted by December 31, 2013. For more information on how to apply, please visit www.friendfactor.org/workplace-ally-challenge.
