Yelp Employees Take The Stage: How Employee Panels Create Community

Employee panels have proven to be an effective platform for many teams, projects, and celebrations. Prior to COVID-19, these panels were often location specific and limited the amount of employees that could benefit from them. Being able to take these panels into a virtual space has allowed a record breaking number of employees to attend, learn, and cheer on their colleagues. 

Since March 2020, we’ve hosted employee panels celebrating Transgender Day of Visibility, Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, Pride Month, Latinx Heritage Month, and more. The goal of these internal events is to give our panelists the space to share their stories authentically, and to have attendees hopefully learn, connect, and sometimes even see themselves represented in a company wide activity. 

A common theme we saw was the celebration and education on numerous identities. Employees shared experiences that shaped their current views, opened up about limitations and triumphs, and explored their own definitions of allyship. From members of the AAPI community discussing others’ common misconceptions, to LGBTQ+ folks diving into their intersectionalities, to the power of language in the Latinx community, our employees are leaving no stone unturned. 

These panels continue to be well attended events that promote authenticity, collaboration, and community through the power of vulnerability.