On April 26, Etsy gave bring your kids to work day a whole new meaning at its DUMBO headquarters. In partnership with Take Our Sons and Daughters to Work Day, Governor Cuomo’s “If You Can See It, You Can Be It” initiative, and ScriptEd, Etsy offered a variety of activities for kids of all ages, including career-oriented workshops.
ScriptEd is a non-for-profit organization that teaches students from under-resourced schools fundamental coding skills and provides them with professional experiences that help make careers in technology more accessible to them. Cuomo’s initiative aimed to show girls what roles are available to them, specifically in leadership, and prove that anything is attainable for their careers, according to Governor.ny.gov. Across New York, companies participated in a day of mentoring and career-learning activities as a part of Cuomo’s 2018 Women’s Agenda for New York: Equal Rights, Equal Opportunity.
For young children, activities included arts and crafts and musical performances. Visitors took a tour of the DUMBO office, spoke to employees on a career panel, and had a chance to participate in the “pitch contest.” The students broke into small groups to develop an idea for a startup that could help solve a world problem presented by the employee judges. Topics students hypothetically explored include hunger, culture, and education.
“The pitch was my favorite because we got to create ideas as if we were proposing to real people to have our idea created,” says 15-year-old Cartomu, High School of Fashion Industries.
At the career panel, students were able to ask questions about getting a job in tech, internship opportunities within Etsy, college majors and classes, and more.
“The field trip in all was amazing. The building was beautiful and we got intel on Etsy’s workplace,” says 15-year-old Lucy, High School of Fashion Industries. “The competition and panel were really big eye openers to what is appealing to a business in our time. Having the panel gave us intel on our own futures and the idea that success isn’t one straight path, but rather a bunch of obstacles. The competition was my favorite part since we really threw our pitches out there and created an elevator pitch.”
Bonnie Broeren, senior manager of policy at Etsy and the co-lead of the Parents Employee Resource Group (ERG), helped plan the day’s events. As co-lead of the Parents ERG, Broeren also coordinates events for parents looking to get re-acclimated into the workplace after having a child or parents that just need a little guidance.
“Our goal is to support working parents not only at Etsy but in the rest of the community,” says Broeren. “We have speakers that help parents navigate the NYC school system, help navigate their finances, and general moral support for parents who are asking ‘what do I do in this scenario?’”
