Making a Broad Impact

Make a broad impact. Scott Schenkelberg (he/him), operations strategic analyst and the global chair of Emerson’s LGBTQ + Allies Employee Resource Group (ERG), set this goal for himself during his first rotation of Emerson’s Engineers in Leadership program. While working in Atlanta in 2017, he saw no one like himself at the company. He was enjoying the work and the opportunity to innovate, but the experience made him question: Was Emerson the right organization for him?

The answer revealed itself in China, when he saw the very active Women in STEM ERG and wondered where that support was for employees like him. When he couldn’t find one, he put Emerson’s “Consider It Solved” spirit to action and helped create the LGBTQ+ Allies ERG.

The story of this ERG, now 600+ members strong across the globe, moves well past its creation. To become a supportive community and make an impact, LGBTQ + Allies had to grow – starting with its team.

“Training and education is so critical to both the mission and success of our group,” Scott said. “We were eager to provide value to the organization and sharing different perspectives of not only our experience, but what it looks like to be an ally.”

This is where Maddie Neu (she/her), a marketing specialist on her 2^nd rotation of the Engineers in Leadership program, comes in. Now the training and education lead for the ERG, Maddie and her three-person training and education committee create a lot of content, sharing key information and resources with Emerson employees about being an ally to the LGBTQ+ community.

The most notable training is the creation of an  Ally training program in 2020 and an LGBTQ+ terminology training launching this June. The Ally training program is a 1.5-hour long training that focuses on helping Emerson employees become better allies through real-life scenarios. So far, the sessions have been extremely popular, with over 200 Emerson employees already attending the trainings, including many Emerson leaders. The team is currently working on expanding the training to two sessions, which will include a more in-depth look at terminology and introduce more complex scenarios. Maddie also plans to expand the training to various languages.

Education and training are key activities the LGBTQ + Allies ERG has implemented, but the group has accomplished much more. The team is very proud to work for a company that has evolved its parental leave policy to include primary and secondary caregivers. This simple change incorporates all family structures.

The LGBTQ + Allies ERG is working toward changes like these every day – and they aren’t alone. Allies like Mark Bulanda, the ERG executive sponsor and executive president of Emerson’s Automation Solutions business, also help push the mission forward to a better place for all. A place where everyone has the same sense of community that Maddie has, where “you can bring your whole self to work.”

This feeling is echoed across the ERG.

“I could be having the absolute worst day and then I have an ERG call and I'm excited, energized with renewed energy,” Scott said.

As he and the team continue to strive for a more inclusive workplace and make Emerson a premier organization and company for LGBTQ+ talent, there is no question – the broad impact is well underway.