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There is a quote I often refer to when this work towards equity and inclusion gets just plain hard. When I start to wonder if what I’m doing matters, or if anyone is impacted by my voice and my efforts to bring awareness, I think of it. The quote reads, “Be strong. You never know who you are inspiring.” These nine words are usually enough to spark me back into motion. In a sense, this quote serves to remind me of how important it is to feel inspired, just as I continue to work to inspire others. 

An article published in the Harvard Business Review by Scott Barry Kaufman very eloquently explains why inspiration is so important to the human spirit. Notably, it reads, “Inspiration propels a person from apathy to possibility, and transforms the way we perceive our own capabilities.” This gets to the crux of the issue: while we need to work to change systems, we also need to work to represent a possibility to someone who may not yet perceive themselves as being capable of that possibility. 

While we need to work to change systems, we also need to work to represent a possibility to someone who may not yet perceive themselves as being capable of that possibility. Click To Tweet

Inspiration keeps us all moving forward, and I’m fortunate enough to work alongside one of my greatest sources of inspiration. The Twin Cities Pride Festival is scheduled for the weekend of June 22-23 in Minneapolis. My employer, the Minnesota Vikings, will have an official presence at Pride for the second year in a row—largely thanks to the efforts of one employee. Amy Werdine is an out lesbian who just celebrated her third anniversary working for the team, where she is employed as a Guest Services Coordinator. 

When Amy joined the Vikings in 2016, she had been out to family and friends for about six years, and out to everyone for about four years. Even though this would be her first full-time foray into the professional working world, she had already decided that this was not going to be a step backward for her in terms of representing her true self. She came in day one honoring who she was. And while she wasn’t sure how her new coworkers would react, she says, “they all accepted me very quickly. It’s been very easy being out and I always feel comfortable being myself at work.” Read more of Amy’s story here. 

As a new resident of the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, Amy attended Twin Cities Pride in 2017 as a festival guest. She noticed that other professional sports teams were represented there, but not her employer. She raised the issue with the leadership team at work, and plans were set forth to have an official presence at the 2018 Pride festival. Amy will tell you that she cried tears of joy multiple times that weekend, when she saw her personal life being uplifted by her professional world in the most visible sense. 

At this year’s Twin Cities Pride, the Vikings are expanding our presence even more. Amy is a humble person and won’t spend a lot of time praising herself for speaking up about the Vikings’ Pride presence, but I believe her efforts are some of the bravest, and yes, most inspiring that I’ve seen in terms of using your voice for good at work. Without Amy, the Vikings may still be without a presence at Twin Cities Pride. And the fact that we do have a presence at Twin Cities Pride is of utmost importance if we want to walk the diversity, equity and inclusion walk. The Vikings deserve credit for creating a professional environment that enabled Amy to be her authentic self. In this case, the result is that Amy herself is inspiring authenticity across the organization. 

At a conference I attended last week called Proud to Work MN, I attended a breakout session about the future of LGTBQ talent and how to represent to LGBTQ candidates that your work environment is a safe one. One of the most common responses was to have visible LGBTQ employees working for you. Amy will tell you that she agrees, and that is part of what drives her to be authentic at work: so that new employees will know right away that they have an ally in the building. 

I attended a breakout session about the future of LGTBQ talent and how to represent to LGBTQ candidates that your work environment is a safe one. One of the most common responses was to have visible LGBTQ employees working for you. Click To Tweet

This Pride Month, I am proud to know Amy Werdine. In the spirit of the quote I opened this post with, Amy is one of the people that I hope will always remember to be strong, because whether or not she knows it, she is inspiring me, she is inspiring her workplace, and she is inspiring those who may someday have the good fortune of being her coworker.