Allies for Inclusion
Women and underrepresented groups of people alone cannot solve diversity and inclusion problems. An ally is a person who stands up for others to proactively build inclusion in our workplace. Be the Ally is a company-wide program that gives everyone who works at Facebook common language, tools, and space to practice being a stronger ally at work.Be the Ally offers several ways to participate. People can take Facebook’s Be the Ally learning and development course. They can participate in a Be the Ally Circle, where participants learn from each other and share their experiences. They can also choose to become trained to be a Be the Ally Circle facilitator, serving as an ambassador and bringing the program’s messages and opportunities to their teams. Be the Ally also provides resources for continued independent learning, and a Facebook Resource Group for ongoing conversation and collaboration.
Through Be the Ally, participants learn to:
- Build deep empathy
- If Managing Bias is our lecture, Be the Ally is our lab. Attendees bring real-life ally challenges to the table and learn about the impact that others experience when they are part of an underrepresented or “outsider” group.
- Fine-tune “ally radar.”
- Participants learn about all the ways they can be a stronger ally to their colleagues…and all the times they may have missed out on opportunities to do so.
- Build muscle memory
- Taking actions to be an ally often feels uncomfortable the first several times a person tries it. These sessions allow participants to practice, make mistakes in a safe environment, and even push their own comfort levels to build ally muscle memory so it’s easier to take action in the real world the next time an opportunity arises.
- Make an impact
- Rather than asking, “Who should have been the ally in that situation?” Be the Ally pushes people to ask, – “How can I play a small part in being an ally in every situation?” Creating a diverse and inclusive work environment is everyone’s responsibility, and it will take all of our ally actions, across all levels and functions.