Guest writer: Rabiah Khalid, Community Investments Manager at Comcast California
“Being an MC at our Black History Month event was scary and exciting, but because I’m not a quitter, I felt energized to celebrate Black people, including my ancestors.”
Chance, 4th Grader and Boys and Girls Club of San Francisco member
Supporting and building resilient and empowered communities is the core of Comcast’s DNA. In collaboration with our passionate workforce and community partners, Comcast takes a thoughtful approach to advance diversity and inclusion. This includes initiatives that support the needs of our partners to help uplift, empower and build the next generation of diverse communities.
On February 22, 2024, The Boys and Girls Club of San Francisco, Shamann Walton, San Francisco Board of Supervisors, District 10, and Comcast came together to host a unique and special cultural experience that amplified our commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging. With the drive and passion of our Black Employee Network Employee Resource Group and Comcast’s financial support, we were able to bring together an experience that empowered young members of the Boys and Girls Club, like the event emcee, Chance, to showcase their talents through dance, poetry, song and music, leadership and much more.
Comcast has a long-standing partnership with the Boys and Girls Club of San Francisco, investing in nine Lift Zone sites with the organization to provide Internet access on-the-go and digital equity programming. Lift Zones help students who, for a variety of reasons (including homelessness or housing insecurity issues), need somewhere to go during the day to participate in distance learning.
“Through our corporate partnerships, we can host events that connect our youth to programming in fun, interactive, and meaningful ways. We are grateful to companies like Comcast for their collaboration and for their commitment to creating memorable and rewarding experiences for San Francisco youth and families.”
Jamin McVeigh, Senior Vice President of Development, Boys & Girls Clubs of San Francisco.
Following performances by Boys and Girls Club members, Comcast volunteers engaged with the youth through various healing and uplifting activities that included candle making, rock painting, affirmation art, and more. Community support expands beyond engagement with community partners, it involves the local small businesses and families as well, which is why Comcast expanded its support by working with locally owned Black restaurant, Rome’s Kitchen, to serve the students, staff and families a special meal for the event.
Comcast Area Vice President, Tracye Mingo, rallied the youth at the event with an inspirational speech. She expressed gratitude for the experience, “building confidence and strength in diverse youth coming from a variety of backgrounds at an early age is crucial for their growth, and this event did just that. I love working for a company which champions thoughtful engagement, uplifting and empowering youth through their identities. Comcast not only invests in empowering diversity in the community, we also continuously invest in building a diverse workforce and leadership.”
Comcast fosters impact within the company and in communities through initiatives such as Employee Resource Groups and Project Up. These initiatives provide professional development opportunities to our diverse workforce and continued investment to advance digital equity through Internet connectivity, digital skills support, programming, and stronger pathways to economic mobility.
