New ERG Will Further Perficient’s Progress in Supporting and Empowering the LGBTQ+ Community and its Allies
At Perficient, we believe in developing a workforce that is as diverse and inclusive as the clients we work with. We are committed to fostering an environment where we celebrate all colleagues because our people make us unique, their perspectives make us stronger, and the label we all share is talent.
Perficient is thrilled to announce its newest Employee Resource Group (ERG) – PRISM – which stands for Pride, Raising Awareness, Involvement, Support, and Mentoring. PRISM aims to empower and connect LGBTQ+ employees and allies through community building, advancing inclusive business practices, and fostering a supportive environment where everyone thrives professionally and personally.
Starting a New Chapter
PRISM was originally founded as a grassroots special interest group when several queer employees sought to create a more intentional social network for LGBTQ+ and allied Perficient colleagues. Within months, the community had grown to well over 200 members and begun hosting regular social and educational events to support the increasing demand of its members.
We are thrilled to be partnering with our Executive Sponsor, Ed Hoffman, Senior Vice President, to support our ongoing efforts and advocacy for this community.
“Honored, excited, and humbled are just three words to describe how I feel about helping to launch and champion this new ERG. The work this group of colleagues has done to prepare for today — and the importance of what this means to its members, allies, and advocates – is not lost on me. Our Perficient core values stand for supporting our clients, teams, and people…and building a place and community for our LGBTQ+ colleagues is an important component of our values. I look forward to supporting and being a huge ally to this new ERG.”- Ed Hoffman, Sr. Vice President
Our ERG Leaders are Passionate About PRISM’s Purpose
PRISM aims to balance the core values it was originally founded on, while taking on more responsibility to ensure its community members can feel empowered to bring their 100% authentic selves to work every day. We hope to infuse everything we do with one or more of our new ERG goals.
GOAL 1: Support
First, we hope to support LGBTQ+ employees and allies by fostering a sense of pride in the wide spectrum of queer identities through visibility, networking opportunities, mentorship programs, and social engagements. Kat Juraschek, Programming and Events Lead of PRISM, shares:
“Pride to me has always been rooted in community building. It’s about being able to be your best and most authentic self and carving out spaces where we can support each other so that everyone can feel safe to be their best selves too. In that light, we are beyond excited to continue to strengthen and celebrate our LGBTQ+ community at Perficient through a variety of programming. Through PRISM we hope to provide a multitude of spaces to connect with each other – whether that’s to discuss experiences and issues in a more formal setting, to provide ongoing mentorship across teams and levels within our organization, or to just be silly together and bring the tea.”- Kat Juraschek, Solutions Architect
GOAL 2: Educate
Our second goal is to educate and welcome all Perficient employees through dialogue and outreach – elevating the voices of colleagues who model great allyship in the workplace and elsewhere. Rachel Kennelly, PRISM’s Co-Chair, explains how this is critical for the ERG’s success.
“Education stands as a cornerstone of PRISM’s mission. Through fostering dialogue and outreach, we transcend business units and borders, cultivating a vibrant community where everyone feels not just included, but truly welcomed. Whether you’re a lifetime member, a supportive ally, or simply curious about understanding the LGBTQ+ community better, PRISM offers a space for learning and growth. Through educational initiatives on LGBTQ+ history and ongoing issues, we not only contextualize the queer experience in the workplace but also shape its future together.”- Rachel Kennelly – Technical Consultant
GOAL 3: Strengthen
Our third and final goal is to strengthen business practice by working toward equality for LGBTQ+ Perficient employees through benefits, policy, and embodying respectful norms and conduct. Zack Everett, Marketing and Communications Lead of PRISM, explains:
“During our time building this ERG, we have heard from many colleagues about what this move means for them personally. Beyond that, our colleagues are also looking for guidance on areas for real business impact: talent recruitment and retention, professional development, and more. We’re eager to collaborate with Perficient leadership in these areas and make this an even more competitive workplace!”- Zack Everett – Technical Architect
The PRISM leadership team is already hard at work planning a busy year ahead packed with programming and community engagement. Eric Sanner, PRISM Co-Chair, shares more on the strong sentiment heading into the ERG’s launch.
“It has been really fun working with everyone involved to get us to this point. I’m so excited to finally share this group with the wider Perficient community as well as publicly. It is important that people know that Perficient stands behind us and supports our community.”- Eric Sanner – Solutions Architect
“Sin importar de dónde venimos, cabemos todxs aquí, este es un lugar seguro para toda las identidades y orientaciones.La unión hace la diferencia y la diversidad es riqueza, ya que genera más conversaciones, abre paso a formas de pensar y perspectivas, en este camino de integrarnos como ERG, celebramos esta riqueza en idiomas, culturas que coinciden para el mismo propósito, visibilizar, crear espacios, con el objetivo de ser más inclusivos, despertar la curiosidad de aquellos que desean saber más, integrar un continente entero, conectar LATAM, USA y el resto de países que nos conforman como compañía. Juntos trabajaremos en encontrar y crear espacios de orgullo para todos y un futuro mucho más equitativo.”- Alejandra Arias – Talent Acquisition Specialist, LATAM
“It is remarkable to see our community members to step up, volunteer, and lead a whole slate of initiatives that will lead us into this new chapter for PRISM. In the month of June alone, aka Pride Month, we have an LGBTQ+ film club, an educational forum on using preferred gender pronouns in the professional world, and a celebratory showcase of how different global team members celebrate Pride in their home cities and countries. It’s safe to say this community is hitting the ground running!”- Avi Fuld – Sr. Project Manager
Our other four ERGs, Women in Technology (WiT), Giving ERG, Cultural Connections ERG, and LiveWell ERG, have helped thousands of Perficient colleagues foster deep connections and give back to our communities. The PRISM ERG will continue to encourage dialogue about queer experiences, challenges, and achievements – in life and in the workplace – for those in our Perficient community and their allies. Together, we’re forging a future that is supports, educates, and understands the perspectives of the LGBTQ+ community.
We Are Just Getting Started
While we are so proud of all that we have accomplished until now, PRISM marks an exciting start to a fresh chapter. We hope to empower each other to grow professionally, recognizing the things that make us different also make us stronger. We hope to create meaningful social connections so that LGBTQ+ colleagues and allies know they have a community that will welcome them with open arms. PRISM is ready to welcome all Perficient colleagues and continue supporting Perficient’s People Promise of challenging, championing, and celebrating every colleague.
PRISM ERG Launch video from Perficient on Vimeo.
