June is LGBTQ Pride Month, a time when we celebrate and honor the LGBTQ community around the world. Equality is a core value at Salesforce and we are deeply committed to driving positive change within our company and across the communities we serve. A big part of that value is the right for every individual — regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, race, ability, or any other facet of their identity — to feel welcome, included, valued, and proud.

At Salesforce, we strive to be a place where everyone can bring their full, authentic self to work and feel supported by our entire Ohana. That’s why I’m especially excited we are expanding U.S. employee options for voluntary self-identification (self-I.D.) (watch the film: "Proudly Me").

In addition to the usual self I.D. fields that most people recognize (e.g., marital status, race/ethnicity, abilities) we've updated self I.D. for veterans, and added three new voluntary fields for everyone: sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender pronouns. While individual’s information will remain private, we’ll use the data in aggregate to better understand our diverse Ohana and develop programs to promote Equality within our company and beyond.

We are particularly proud that the company is rolling out a way for all U.S. employees to share their gender pronoun. Everyone has a gender pronoun and it is usually a meaningful part of their identity. But, you can’t always tell what’s appropriate just by looking at a person’s name or image. Therefore, starting today, Salesforce employees in the U.S. will be able to publish their gender pronoun on their Chatter profiles so they are identified the way they'd like.

Equality begins with understanding — that includes gathering the data and committing to building a diverse community. But Equality doesn’t stop there — inclusion and empowerment is the next piece. As an example, a study by the Human Rights Campaign found that nearly one in ten (9%) LGBTQ employees left their job because the environment wasn’t accepting of LGBTQ identities. Taking the steps to ensure every employee feels confident in bringing their full, authentic self to work makes Salesforce a better company for all of our employees, customers and partners. 

I am immensely proud to be a part of this Ohana as we are actively working to create a path toward #EqualityforAll. To learn more about how our employees bring their full selves to work every day, view the "Proudly Me" film. For information on our Equality efforts visit Salesforce.com/Equality.