Becoming an Ally

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There are so many things that happen around us every single day.  All of us face problems in some way or the other. Even if we are not direct victims, we tend to be witnesses. Some of us have the strength to raise our voices courageously, while some of us are hesitant to even raise our heads to see what is going on.

Wondering if you can do something to curb any sort of oppression? You are at the right place!

Here's a great opportunity for you to be an ally.

Well, Thinking about what you can do as an ally, or how you can be one?

The answer is pretty simple. Anyone can be an ally. This means you basically stand up for, encourage and support others, even if you don’t identify yourself within the group.

There are different ways in which you can be an ally and there are multiple ways in which you can contribute. Here are some simple ones:

• Identify and join employee network groups for Pride within your organization.If you think there's no group yet, you can take the initiative to talk to your HR. For example, at SAP, we have the ally group Pride@SAP which focuses mainly on spreading awareness, identifying requirements of the community that we can implement at our workplace, and much more.


• Many of you would be hesitant to show support on social media wondering if people may tend to identify you within the group. Break that wall, put your foot forward and start showing your support. It can be as simple as liking posts on Facebook or Instagram, sharing these posts as your stories, or even forwarding messages that you receive on WhatsApp.


• Are you in meetings throughout the day and feel that you have no time to support? Don’t worry, you can use virtual backgrounds that show some form of support, something as simple as the rainbow, a quote, or even a flag. You can also use email signatures with Preferred Gender Pronouns showing that you’re an Ally. Here's a virtual background that we use at SAP.


• There are quite a few events that happen across multiple cities throughout the year. There is a rise in the number of events in June owing to the Pride month. Identify events that best suit you, take some time off your busy schedules and show active participation. Ask your family and friends to join too... It’s going to be purposeful and fun at the same time.


• Today, most of the organizations are reviewing their policies and benefits to support the community. While a few of them might be aware, not all know. Get to know what's there in store at your organization and spread the word around. I'm sure you'll end up helping someone who's in need of this information. Here are some offerings that SAP has today:

           

 

Being an ally might not be a cake walk for all of us, but it's definitely going to be worth it.

All of us may not face social injustice all the time, but we can be a pillar to someone who needs just a little support. Let's all join hands and be that trampoline today, so that we can launch more beautiful people high up into the air with flying colors.

The Pride month celebrations at SAP went well this year too. In spite of the current situation in which most of us are working from home, we celebrated virtually, which is becoming the new normal. There were various awareness sessions, meetups, contests and much more! Here's a glimpse of what we did.

Let there be no barriers that stop us from spreading and celebrating love. We chose to overcome our barrier. Can you do it too?

Let's all join hands together and make this world as beautiful as the rainbow, today and every day.