February 9, 2023
It’s the first full week of Black History Month – and Aledade’s Black & African Diaspora + Allies Employee Resource Group has plenty of events and activities in store for our month-long, company-wide celebration.
Meet Chelsea Graves, Director, Medicaid Network, and Kaize Adams, PhD, Industrial and Operational Engineer – two of the leaders on our Black & African Diaspora + Allies Employee Resource Group (or the B.A.D. ERG for short). Learn more about their experience with the ERG and what’s coming up this Black History Month below.
***
The B.A.D. ERG promotes being present, elevating our cultures, bringing awareness to the Black and African diaspora and providing a safe space for all Aledaders to gather, converse, celebrate and educate. We are alive and thriving all year long, but we like to step things up this time of year to commemorate our past, examine our present and plan for the future.
It’s difficult to capture in words just how rewarding it is to be part of the B.A.D. ERG – and to have this community in a company that is truly committed to celebrating the differences and the variety of cultures we have in our workforce. Neither of us had been part of an employee resource group before joining Aledade, and we’d never worked for a remote-first organization either. But B.A.D. has helped us acclimate and succeed in so many ways – broadening our network, authentically connecting with our colleagues and ultimately collaborating more effectively across the organization and all job levels. The more active we are in the ERG, the more we benefit as both people and professionals – and the more we enjoy our overall experience here at Aledade!
B.A.D. and every ERG has an important role to play across Aledade Nation. First of all, there’s an ERG for everyone, and we’re all committed to championing and celebrating one another, creating safe spaces, creating opportunities for experiential learning and adding color, spice and flavor to our company culture. Additionally, the ERGs play a critical role in our company mission, specifically within our core values of service and inclusion. We serve as thought partners – providing ongoing feedback about the employee experience and thoughts around how we can drive best-in-class service for practices and the patients they serve.
In that same spirit, this Black History Month we aim to go above and beyond a typical textbook approach that just focuses on the most visible and notable historical figures. Our celebration will 
be deeper and richer than that. We want to examine the common threads that unite the Black and African Diaspora group today and share our experiences with all of Aledade Nation. We’re sharing stories in fun and engaging ways through music, literature and pop culture…we’ve planned a thought-provoking panel discussion…we’re extending opportunities to translate and honor history in a way that is very present with where we are today as a society and as a workforce…and, staying true to our mission, we’re keeping health at the center of the conversation. With our themes of identity, community and legacy, we’ll touch on topics such as health care planning, generational wealth (including estate and end-of-life planning), community health (including Aledade’s work with community health centers), social determinants of health, food (including a debate on the best macaroni and cheese recipe) and more.
We invite you to keep up with our month-long celebration on social media (Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook), and stay tuned for more content right here on the Aledade blog – where a few other members of the B.A.D. ERG will share more details about our events and activities, as well as their own personal reflections. Until then, happy Black History Month! We hope you find a meaningful way to celebrate.