I haven’t always worked in places that had Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), so when I learned there was an LGBTQ+ ERG at Doximity, I joined on day one. Within two months, I was messaging the current board members asking how to get involved. Fast forward to today – I recently attended my second annual ERG Summit at Doximity HQ.
After first joining Doximity, LGBTQ+@Dox, and subsequently the ERG board, I didn’t see the connection with my day-to-day role. I’m used to keeping my identity separate from work—not hiding it, but also not actively bringing it in. At the end of the day, it didn’t feel relevant. It wasn’t until getting more involved with LGBTQ+@Dox and attending the ERG Summits that I saw how critical it is to bring our whole selves into the workplace.
ERG Summits come from our offsite culture
At Doximity, attending offsites is an important part of our culture. It helps you become more familiar with our core values, people, and overall culture through meetings, workshops, social hours and team building activities. The ERG Summit followed a similar flow and was also very unique. What stood out to me was the intentionality around building trust and relationships that is needed to do equity and inclusion work. Every person at the Summit identified as BIPOC, a woman, or part of the LGBTQ+ community, and we were discussing issues that not only impacted our work lives, but the core of our identities. Dr. Jessica Tsadwa, who manages and supports ERGs at Doximity, knew it was crucial for us to feel comfortable bringing those parts of ourselves and openly discuss how we want to foster community at Doximity over the next year.
My experience at this year’s Summit
For this year’s ERG Summit, we were given dedicated time for team collaboration to identify our goals, initiatives, and opportunities for impact. This allowed us to immediately devote our energy toward LGBTQ+@Dox planning for the year, and we’ve already seen the results. In just our first month, we’ve completed a community survey, advocated for more inclusive health benefits and employee safety at offsites, drafted an internal speaker interest form, and created a welcome gift for new members.
ERGs offer professional growth
Having board members across many teams, the ERG Summit has helped us build relationships that may never have been possible otherwise. For me, this has led to a greater sense of belonging and deepened the work of my primary role. These new relationships have exposed me to how other teams operate and have helped me identify better ways to do my job. There are ideas that made it into client presentations that were a result of having met someone from the hospitals or editorial team. This work has also helped me feel more confident communicating with people in leadership positions through the support of our executive sponsor. It has also given me the opportunity to co-lead a professional development session at a team offsite about my participation in an Out in Tech youth mentorship program.
Bringing the real me
The ERGs and the ERG Summit are critical to our culture and the communities they represent. They have truly impacted me as a professional as well. While working at Doximity and being on the board of LGBTQ+@Dox, I’m able to say that I actively bring my identity as a lesbian woman into work. That’s a privilege that so many in my community desire and so few get.