This month, we’re shining the spotlight on Zuora Black Network (ZBN), one of several employee resource groups (ERGs) here at Zuora. In this ERG Spotlight, we sat down with two of our community leaders, Myriah Thompson, Sr. Regional Marketing Manager and Charles Jones, Manager Global Services (a founding ZBN member) to learn more about their origin story and the importance of taking on a leadership role in an ERG.
You can catch the full conversation in the video above, along with some of the highlights below.
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In recognition of Black History Month in the United States, Myriah and Charles opened their dialogue to explore what the theme Black Resistance meant to them.
During the conversation, Myriah touches on the connection the theme carries to the idea of grit and determination. “It’s really trusting the process and understanding that we’re in a room because we have the strengths, the knowledge and the power to lead and guide others,” she says.
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Myriah hopes to close the gap with more representation of black women in tech: “I’ve been in tech for a few years now, and in my previous jobs I just found that there wasn’t someone that I could reach out to who represented diversity within the organization. And growing up, I just found that there was always a gap with representation with black women in tech. I just thought if I have the opportunity to do this, it would be great to just lead and make a difference and really change the narrative.”
Charles sees our global workforce as a ZEO family that ZBN belongs to: “With Zuora giving us the ability to create and lead ERGs—it’s creating opportunities, it’s creating families, creating bonds. It’s just letting us know that as ZEOs we are moving forward together.”
Bonus: Myriah and Charles shared their recommendations and favorite Black innovators/disruptors—check them out!
In Myriah’s words: He’s a British entrepreneur and creator of the podcast series The Diary of a CEO. The podcast gives others a platform to share their voice and life experiences in their own narrative, which is often quite different from what we imagine. He also stars on Dragon’s Den (Shark Tank in the US) where he invests in entrepreneurs, which just shows me that he’s leveraging his success to bring others up too.
In Charles’ words: It’s a podcast hosted by three men who speak every Monday night on business, entrepreneurship, stocks, personal finances, and more. I think it’s opening up the youth to get more engaged around how they handle money sooner rather than later, because the Black community historically couldn’t get access to subjects like this and often relied on what could be shared from friends and family.
To learn more about our ERGs and ZEO culture, head on over to our career site.