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CNO Proud at Indy Pride Parade: A Note from Yvonne Franzese, Chief Human Resources Officer
June 2022

 

June 16, 2022

Dear Colleagues,

This past weekend, CNO was proud to participate in the Indianapolis Pride Parade and be a sponsor for the Family Fun Zone. As an LGBTQ+ ally and the executive sponsor for our PRISM BRG, it was a great feeling to walk alongside our associates, their family and friends, and the greater Indianapolis community to both celebrate and support the LGBTQ+ community. 

As I reflect on last week’s event and the importance of Pride month, I wanted to share some thoughts about the importance of being an ally in the workplace. At CNO, we should take great pride in uniting with others in order to actively promote and advance the culture of inclusion through intentional, positive efforts. If being an ally can help make this happen, I AM ALL IN! I also think that being an ally is a journey; it does take effort. I encourage you to consider two things to expand and deepen the ways you can be an ally.

  • Educate Yourself and Others. Increasing awareness and education are the building blocks to allyship. Learning and asking questions help us to empathize with experiences we might not share. We are fortunate to have a lot of resources available at CNO. I also encourage you to share things that you read or experience with your colleagues. One of my personal favorites about the origins of the Pride Parade is a PBS segment that you can access with this link: https://www.pbs.org/video/how-did-pride-become-a-parade-okkqog/
  • Be an Active Ally. At CNO, we have many ways to navigate the journey to be a contributing ally. A couple of these are time relative for Pride month.
    • Join us at the PRISM (LGBTQ+ BRG) keynote speaker featuring R. Eric Thomas
    • Attend a Business Resource Group event
    • Download the Pride month or DE&I/BRG event video backgrounds
    • Discover communities on Yammer and engage in conversation
    • Quite literally, get active with Wellbeats’ Stride with Pride dance program
    • Endeavor to use inclusive language

Remember, our business is insurance, but our purpose is people. Happy Pride Month!

Click here to learn more about CNO’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion efforts.To view Yvonne’s LinkedIn Article, click here.