The United States celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month beginning Sept. 15, recognizing and celebrating the histories, cultures and contributions of Americans whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America. In the 2020 census, 62 million people identified as Hispanic or Latinx, making up 19% of the population, and the numbers are growing.
But more Hispanic Americans doesn’t neatly translate to more Hispanic or Latinx people working in STEM. A recent Pew Research study found that only 8% of STEM workers in the U.S. are Hispanic or Latinx.
“Hispanic” is a broad and disparate category, encompassing people whose heritage spans several continents and dozens of cultural milieus. This diversity can be a challenge for companies committed to encouraging and supporting Latinx folks in STEM careers.
At Fivetran, the company’s global footprint means they’re already incorporating broad diversity among their employees. Customer Business Representative Zeke Becerra, a leader in the company’s UNIDOS Employee Resource Group, sat down with Built In to share about how Fivetran celebrates Hispanic and Latinx employees during Hispanic Heritage Month and beyond.
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In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, what is your company doing this year to celebrate and honor the cultures and contributions of Hispanic and Latino Americans throughout history?
We are fortunate to have a leadership team that supports various employee resource groups (ERGs), including the UNIDOS ERG. The UNIDOS ERG's mission is to unite the Hispanic/Latinx community and allies at Fivetran and promote cultural awareness, foster professional development and create a safe space for the community.
For Hispanic Heritage Month, we partnered with a vendor who provides a virtual tour of the experience of some Hispanic and Latinx immigrants to America. The tour highlights historic places and points of interest around the U.S. and the lasting impact of immigrants in those locations.
It's not just a “sit-back-and-watch” tour, though; there is trivia throughout. We are very excited to provide this experience to anyone at Fivetran who wants to join and are counting on a fun time.
What other activities or charitable initiatives do you have planned for Hispanic Heritage Month?
One of our key considerations as the board of the ERG that represents Hispanic and Latinx cultures at a global company is to focus on inclusivity. To that end, we've made it a point to reach out to our colleagues in other regions of the world who identify as Hispanic/Latinx (or consider themselves allies) and include them both on our board and in our membership.
One of our newest additions to the board is Recruiter and our Lead for the EMEA (Europe/Middle East/Asia) region, Lydia Alegro. In short, Lydia is amazing and she brings so much positive energy and enthusiasm to our ERG. It has been such a joy getting to know her.
Lydia has brought a lot to our ERG — further proof that every effort at inclusivity matters and that the results are positive! Lydia has been instrumental in engaging employees in our EMEA region and as a result, we've gained members and allies internationally.
She will be organizing the viewing party for Hispanic Heritage Month in EMEA at our Dublin office and early next year she will guide our ERG's initiative to educate folks on Carnival and celebrate it together! We will also feature profiles of some members of our ERG in our social channels during Hispanic Heritage Month.
