Yelp Celebrates Latinx Heritage Month

This year to celebrate Latinx Heritage Month, our offices and community managers came together to highlight Yelpers, local businesses, events, and contributions from leaders in the Latinx/Hispanic community. As someone who was born and raised in the beautiful island of Puerto Rico, having a front row seat to all the leaders and departments invested in these initiatives throughout the month was nothing short of heartwarming.

One of the goals we wanted to focus on throughout the month was education. We wanted this celebration to bring to light civil rights leaders, spread the word about correct terminology, and debunk stereotypes by showcasing all the facets that make up Latinx/Hispanic culture. Office TVs featured facts about Latinx leaders, like Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, Sylvia Mendez, Maurice Ferre and Nydia Velazquez. Flyers about the buying power of the Latinx community in the U.S. and highlighting local businesses and events for employees were also put up around each office.

To highlight our Latinx Yelpers, we collected nominations and recommendations across all of our offices of employees to showcase on social media. From ‘Take Over Tuesdays’ to internal newsletters, employees that identify as Latinx/Hispanic shared facts about their culture, what they love about it, and how it’s shaped their roles at Yelp. We also created a Bookmark Collection highlighting Latinx-owned local businesses in each of the cities where we have offices. Check it out here!

The backbone of our celebration involved the amazing ideas our Employee Resource Group leaders dreamed up for their specific offices. These included catered lunches supporting Latinx-owned businesses, salsa/bachata lessons, and visiting museums like the National Museum of Mexican Art. We wanted our employees to not only feel heard and celebrated, but also supported. We hope that campaigns like this will help everyone see more similarities between each other, and to gain more positive perspectives around what makes us different.

A true sense of belonging in a company isn’t achieved overnight. It is, however, the outcome of efforts over time. Efforts that people from all corners of an organization come out to contribute to, learn from and meet halfway with an open mind and a heart full of empathy. It’s been amazing to witness the genuine willingness of those in and outside of the Latinx/Hispanic community to step up and participate in something that may be outside their comfort zone, all in an effort to understand, serve, and celebrate those who are often overlooked. It is that same willingness and dedication that will lead to even greater celebrations, and I’m on the edge of my seat to see what’s next.

We hope everyone had a happy Latinx Heritage Month, and in the words of Paulo Coelho…

“El mundo cambia con tu ejemplo no con tu opinión.”