Striving to be a better neighbor - MoLo

Striving to be a better neighbor


Today, we honor the life and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. Reflecting on his impact, we’re reminded of a quote from his 1967 sermon, The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life“Somewhere along the way, we must learn that there is nothing greater than to do something for others.”  

In June 2020, we published our stance against racism and discrimination. In that message, we stated that “the commitment we’ve made to our people is we will, first and foremost, hear them. We will empathize with them. We will do all we can to help them with the resources at our disposal and live up to the values of our business.” We made a commitment to listen, learn, and educate ourselves on ways to make a real impact, both short and long-term, to improve a broken system. 

One of our first steps toward this promise was to invest more resources into our Employee Resource Groups (ERGs). Our ERGs are employee-led and provide an opportunity and a safe space for deeper conversations about how MoLo can support our people and our greater community. We’re dedicated to providing the resources and tools to participate in our ERGs, which currently include our Philanthropy Committee, Women of MoLo, and our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, and our public speaking group, Speak Easy. 

Our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee (DE&I) is dedicated to leading the change we envision for our company and the global community. DE&I aims to be a catalyst for change within MoLo and its communities through volunteerism, recruitment, fundraising, and the furthering of education on inequality and social injustice. DE&I facilitates conversations about allyship, biases, awareness, and more. 

“DE&I provides an open, safe space for employee-led conversation across the company. Listening to each other and learning from each other are our top priorities. On top of that, we have the opportunity to support organizations and causes that align with our mission and pour resources back into our communities,” said Will Jenkins, VP of Strategic Partnerships at MoLo. “As a group, we’re all unbelievably different, but our impact is made stronger by moving towards the same goal: leading change, both inside and outside of MoLo” Jenkins concluded.   

Investing in our ERGs was a first step, but we also acknowledge that our work has just begun. We’re committed to continuing to listen and learn how to best support our team members of all races and backgrounds, and as we grow, we’re going to consistently seek out new ways to provide support and stability to our team. 

We also recognize that amid the countless challenges of the last year, mental health struggles have been on the rise around the world. In fact, a recent study by the CDC found that symptoms of anxiety have tripled, and symptoms of depression have quadrupled among adults. To better support our people, we launched a partnership with Boon, an online platform that helps businesses offer holistic, personalized mental health resources and one-on-one coaching sessions to improve resilience, inclusivity, and mindfulness.  

Today, we’re reminded of what truly matters: taking better care of ourselves and our neighbors. As we honor the life and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. this week, we’re encouraging our team to consider ways they can give back to their communities. If you’re interested in finding ways to volunteer in your community, you can use this tool and search by your zip code. We’re inspired to find new ways to do something for others and we hope you are, too. 

Sources: 

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute 

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention 

AmeriCorps