Who's Doing it Well? Rocketmiles Creates Company-wide DEI Newsletter
One of the most frequent questions we receive — and try and answer at Holistic — is “Who is doing it well?” It’s always been really informative to hear the good ideas others have. After all, as we say, there’s no IP in inclusion. This feature will highlight creative ideas from other companies. Check out the whole list here or submit your own suggestion below.
Employee resource groups (ERGs) are great for fostering inclusive spaces for discussion; from supporting diversity initiatives to promoting employee development, ERGs allow employees to come together to share ideas and passions, to create change, and educate others. Rocket Travel’s diversity, equity, and inclusion-focused ERG, the Voyager Group, recently put out their first company-wide newsletter sharing resources and DEI updates in efforts to increase transparency surrounding DEI at the organization. We talked to two members of Voyager, Maggie Gilbert (Sr. Manager of Marketing Operations) and Alex Doornbos (Experience Designer), to learn more about the impetus of the newsletter and their mission as a DEI committee (made up of all incredible people).
TL/DR: Rocket Travel’s DEI ERG, “Voyager,” shows us how to take an ERG one step further to create a more inclusive culture and accessible conversation about DEI through a company-wide newsletter.
Who: Rocket Travel (aka Rocketmiles), a travel company that partners with loyalty programs to make travel more affordable and rewarding for everyone.
What’s the big idea 💡: Rocket’s DEI employee resource group, Voyager, was started in 2019 when DEI became a stronger focus for Rocket Travel. Voyager recently shared their first company-wide newsletter which included DEI resources and committee updates in efforts to increase transparency surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion. Included were:
An update on a new partnership with Noirefy with the goal of attracting a more racially diverse pool of candidate
A highlight of a recent Trans-Affirming Workshop with Praxis Group and linking to a folder of resources.
Updated inclusive language for their job descriptions
Topics that Voyager is currently talking about–from pay equity to celebrating diversity holidays to employee retention data
Anonymous form for feedback
Why it works: Maggie told us, “We were brainstorming ways to distribute DEI-related information, resources, and updates on what Voyager was working on and talking about. A newsletter was an obvious choice and with my [Maggie] marketing background and Alex’s design skills, we felt excited to see how we could turn it out.”
By sharing this information in a company-wide newsletter, you can include folks in the conversation who aren't a part of the ERG, making DEI more accessible. Continued momentum with consistent internal communications reaches those who may not be directly involved in Voyager, but still want to learn more about how they can contribute to Rocket’s DEI journey and culture.
(Not so) Hidden Value: By sharing this newsletter, Voyager is supplying DEI information and elevating the importance of DEI at the organization. Keeping people at Rocket in the know and getting them excited about DEI is a perfect way to open up the discussion. This initiative makes it easy to participate in the DEI conversation and to educate yourself on matters you might not know about if you’re not a part of Voyager.
They’re hoping that continuing these newsletters will put the focus on DEI in front of the whole organization's eyes so they can solicit feedback and garner new ideas from the organization. One part that stood out was their special addition to their job descriptions, which sums up the culture they are cultivating: "At Rocket Travel, we're building a diverse team that values accountability, curiosity, and community. If you share these values and are interested in joining us, we'd love to talk with you even if you don't meet 100% of the requirements listed here. We don't expect anyone to have all the answers, as long as they're willing to learn and grow with us."
What’s next for the Voyager newsletter? Alex says,“We’re hoping to include updates on our DEI metrics in the future - to be transparent about where we stand and use as an accountability measure.” Thanks for sharing Voyager and congrats on “doing it well.”