Supporting the Black Community at Yelp: Introducing BlackBurst

This summer’s conversation around racial injustice wasn’t new to Yelp, but it moved us to take stronger steps to ensure our employees knew they‘re the priority. Black employees needed a way to support each other and build on their presence amongst the rest of their colleagues. 

In addition to our other initiatives to reshape how we support Black communities (and communities of color), both inside and outside of Yelp, we launched a new employee resource group (ERG), BlackBurst. BlackBurst builds on Diverseburst, our long-established ERG for people of color and their allies. It allows our Black employees to have space for conversation, a forum for employee and community interests, and an opportunity for shared learning and development. 

Since its inception, BlackBurst has hosted discussions about the meaning of “Blackness,” raised funds and awareness about breast cancer amongst Black women in the U.S., provided safe spaces for members to be open about current events, and maintained communication platforms covering an array of topics, from book recommendations to recent promotions within the community. 

A large part of working for equality is making sure you’re elevating the voices you serve. Centering the communities that have often been overlooked helps drive education, understanding, and empathy. By continuing to support communities like BlackBurst as part of our company wide commitment, we’re hopefully taking “belonging” from a feeling we crave, to a tangible result you live while being a part of Yelp.