Employee Resource Groups

Pride: Partnering for Respect of Individuality in the Dell Environment

About Pride
Employee Resource Groups — a program within the Dell Global Diversity and Inclusion strategy — represent a community of team members with common interests, such as ethnicity, gender, nationality, lifestyle, sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. ERG members give each other encouragement and an enhanced sense of belonging through informal mentoring and broader access to personal and professional development and growth.Pride

Background
Pride was founded in 2002 for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and ally (LGBT) team members. Pride's Executive Sponsor is Steve Felice, president and chief commercial officer. The group is currently composed of more than 400 worldwide members. 

Vision
We envision a world where lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) people are ensured equality and embraced as full members of the family at home, work and in every community. 

Mission 
To ensure equality for all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender team members within Dell so that they can grow and thrive, and where their talents are leveraged, so the company can grow and thrive. 

Values 
  • A global culture that encourages LGBT people to bring their whole selves to work 
  • Career development and social networking opportunities to allow us to thrive at Dell
  • Executive leadership that values Pride’s perspective/ influence on Dell products and business initiatives
  • Leaders at all levels who are educated about the challenges of LGBT employees in the workplace
  • Dell brand recognition as a supporter of the LGBT community
Support to Dell 
Pride members provide support to Dell through a number of program and initiatives: 
  • Participation in the Dell New Hire Buddy Program, which helps newly hired team members learn about and navigate within Dell. Buddies also serve as persons with whom new hires can network or start to learn more about Pride
  • Pride organized or Pride sponsored internal events open to all Dell team members, including networking and social events and observances for Gay Pride Month and National Coming Out Day
Cultural Awareness 
Pride leads the planning and execution of Dell’s annual observance of Gay Pride Month each June. This observance recognizes the contributions of LGBT each year. In 2011, as a response to the recent increase in suicide among LGBT youth, Pride launched an anti-bullying campaign to help spread the important message that we as adults must lend our hand in ending bullying among youth.

Pride featured a presentation by Joel Burns, city councilman for District 9 in Fort Worth, Texas, and Anne Wynne, founder of Atticus Circle. In closing of the event, Pride members released their “It Gets Better” video. In August of 2011, Pride announced grants total $20,000 to the following organizations — Oasis Center (Nashville), Out Youth (Austin), Cimarron Alliance (Oklahoma City) and The Trevor Project (US) — to support anti-bullying programs. 

Community Involvement 
Participation in the communities that Dell employees call home has been a fundamental aspect of Dell’s success. We encourage employees to get involved in their local communities and help make a difference. Dell also directly supports several issues that have special importance to the LGBT community:
  • Hill Country Ride for AIDS — Dell is a sponsor of this annual fund-raising ride, which benefits 10 organizations that provide HIV and AIDS services in Central Texas.
  • Out Youth Alternative Prom — Each year, Out Youth hosts an alternative prom for LGBT youth to which the youth can bring the date of their choice. Supporting this event is an annual favorite of Pride volunteers.
  • Austin Pride Parade — Dell is a regular participant in Austin Pride Parade and has marched in several parades with award-winning floats and teams of walkers.
  • Texas Swing — This event benefits Project Transitions, which provides services to people with HIV in Central Texas. The fun-filled event is held during the Friday of Pride weekend in Austin and Pride assembles a team of volunteers to help Project Transitions set up for the event.
  • Viva Las Vegas — This annual casino-themed event benefits AIDS Services of Austin (ASA). Pride provides a team of volunteers to ASA to help with the event.
  • Austin Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival (aGLIFF) — This annual festival brings the best of LGBT independent films to Austin. Pride supports the festival with event check-in and setup.
  • AIDS Walk Austin — This annual event raises money for HIV services in Central Texas and primarily benefits AIDS Services of Austin. Pride organizes a volunteer walk team and has volunteered representatives at the walk.
  • Holiday Swing — One of the most popular events in the Austin community, Holiday Swing is held every December and benefits Project Transitions. Dell Pride supports this event with volunteers to help with event setup.
  • Transgender Day of Remembrance — An annual event to memorialize those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. Dell Pride supports with attendance and donations to local charities that host the event.
Partnering With LGBT-Focused Organizations 
Dell diversity partnerships and community initiatives reach out to multicultural customer groups and benefit diverse communities in order to promote access to technology, talent, business and education in our communities. Dell believes that creating mutually beneficial partnerships with national civic organizations, professional development organizations, and multicultural business and community groups helps us exceed our customers' needs and remain competitive in the marketplace.

Some of the LGBT groups we partner with include:
Buying from Diverse Suppliers 
As one of the world’s leading technology companies, Dell purchases parts and components from suppliers around the world. One of the key drivers in our purchasing decisions is to work with diverse suppliers, including businesses owned by LGBT owners, whenever possible.

Click here for more information on Dell’s supplier diversity efforts. 

Awards and Recognition 
Dell has been recognized by numerous publications and multicultural groups for our diversity efforts, including several major awards from LGBT-focused organizations. Check here for a full list of Dell’s diversity awards. Some highlights related to LGBT employees or customers include: