3-day event spurs ideas and action on racial equity, women’s empowerment and the environment
The Cloudera Cares Global Day of Service – the annual tradition that inspires Cloudera employees from around the world to volunteer together – got a complete makeover this year. Over three days instead of the usual one, Clouderans came together to hear from inspiring nonprofit leaders on three prevailing social issues in the public consciousness: racial equity, women’s empowerment, and the environment.
At a time when employees are overwhelmed by the unending news cycle and suffering from Zoom fatigue, the Global Days of Service turned out to be an antidote of sorts that helped employees break, reflect, and gain the tools to make a difference.
The theme for this year’s Global Days of Service was “Embracing Different Perspectives,” and the events held on Oct. 6 to 8 gave everyone multiple opportunities to do so in an intimate setting that encouraged employees to learn from and engage directly with leading experts. Watch recordings from the event here.
NAACP’s Jacqueline Patterson was among the experts leading the panel discussion on racial justice.
Over the course of three days, we heard from:
- Speakers from the Vera Institute of Justice, the NAACP and King Boston during an opening keynote panel on race, equity and justice in the United States.
- On Day 2 , employees enjoyed three dynamic speakers during 30-minute lightning round presentations. Each speaker brought to life a facet of women’s empowerment, such as financial inclusion as shared by Mary Ellen Iskenderian of Women’s World Banking, girls’ education in India, and the power of women supporting women in Kenya.
- On the final day, we focused on the environment, and in particular on the Amazon forest. Clouderans joined a fireside chat with Nigel Sizer, senior program officer at the Rainforest Alliance.
The format and topics of each day were unique, and throughout employees were called to:
- Embrace different perspectives: To ensure Clouderans across the globe could join, the events were spread across different time zones and touched on topics that were relevant in the United States and internationally.
Acclaimed storyteller Mwihaki Muraguri kicked off the lightning-round talks on women’s empowerment.
On Day 2, we heard from Mwihaki Muraguri she shared a story about the Kenyan women who supported her. A listener remarked that although Muraguri’s story was personal she could relate to it in many ways and see how we are connected across different cultures and geographies.
- Learn: Employees had a chance to ask questions and educate themselves on key issues. You could almost hear a collective gasp when Nicholas Turner, president of the Vera Institute, shared that a black male has a 1 in 3 chance of spending time in jail in their lifetime. For a white male, there’s a 1 in 17 chance.
- Reflect: Imari Paris Jeffries of King Boston remarked that addressing racism requires a patience to “interrogate those old cannons and create new ones.”
- Take action – today and beyond: Each session ended with a call to action from presenters with actionable steps to take to make a difference. When Urvashi Sahni of the Study Hall Educational Foundation made a call for support, employees responded with over $2,000 in donations!
- Give back – today and beyond: Employees chose from multiple virtual volunteer opportunities, including mock interviews with Braven fellows. The Cloudera Foundation also offered employees a special 2-to-1 donation matching during the event, helping employees raise $18,500 to support 49 nonprofits. Additionally, the Foundation provided grants to each of the presenting nonprofits in recognition of their meaningful work.
Going fully virtual this year did not diminish the Global Days of Service’s ability to unite employees around the world to focus on social challenges in their communities and give back. We’re eager to see what next year brings.
For more information about past Global Days of Service and the work of Cloudera Cares, check out the recently published Action Report.
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