Violent hate crimes targeting Asian communities have risen in the last few months and especially during the pandemic. As communities continue to be impacted, we encourage you to get involved using any of the avenues for support and involvement included on this page.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (January 18th) celebrates the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a prominent leader in the Civil Rights Movement and advocate against racial inequality. MLK Day is a federal holiday in the US and is often observed with church services, learning and community service.

2020 has been eventful - especially in terms of challenges related to COVID-19, social justice and politics. We’ve all had to adapt and learn to effectively address global events, ideas and policies. We’ve had tough conversations, strengthened ties with co-workers, and implemented or advocated for change across multiple mediums.

We strive to build Crescendo as a value-first and values-first company - that is, we focus on creating high value for our customers and our community, and we never compromise on staying true to our values.

Transgender Awareness Week is a celebration of trans lives and experiences that takes place every year, during the second week of November. Transgender Awareness Week takes place before the Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 20th, a day commemorating the lives lost to transphobia, violence and targeted hate.

This election probably won’t simply “come to an end.” It will likely live on and impact your day-to-day. To help you navigate what may come, here are seven easy-to-implement recommendations from the Dialogue Project. We hope that these will enable leaders to tackle the potential challenges of a protracted post-election cycle disagreement.

Here is a list of WOC writers who focus on topics such as women empowerment, structural racism, mental health, and more. Feel free to also submit other WOC writers that you know!

We’ve all seen a great amount of content surrounding the Movement for Black Lives surfacing online -- especially on social media. Here is a list of some of our favorite content creators and activists online:

To enact positive changes around anti-racism in the workplace, companies must go beyond one-off donations and instead bring their employees along a significant journey of unlearning, relearning, and confronting the structures of racism that underlie modern business.

The Black Voters Matter Fund’s primary goal is to increase power in marginalized, predominantly Black communities. By fighting for active voting, the Fund allows a deeply marginalized community to determine its destiny.

FREEDOMSCHOOL – Toronto is a youth and parent-driven initiative that intervenes to fight against anti-Black racism in the school system and to create educational alternatives for Black children.

The Okra Project is a worldwide collective that is diligently working to address the global crisis faced by Black Trans people by working to prepare and bring home-cooked, healthy, and culturally-specific meals and resources to Black Trans People wherever they are.

As Crescendo stands in solidarity with the movement for Black lives, we are intensifying the voices and histories of the queer people of colour and keeping our efforts to support the anti-racist LGBTQ+ community in any way that we can.

In Canada, it’s easy to brush off our own racist narratives because our history with slavery is not as long as our American neighbours. However, the reality is that Canada has long been a colonial country similar to the United States, the United Kingdom, and many other European nations.

In a time of crisis, revenue and customer growth become even more critical. One clear way to empower a company to find more growth opportunities is product inclusion. Crescendo has gone through this journey multiple times and identified a set of important steps for how to develop a product in ways that include people of all backgrounds.

We’ve compiled the conferences that we’re the most excited about for 2020 in this fun list. Find the one that fits best for you, and see you there!

Cultural competence is the ability to recognize that people have different experiences than you, understand the social, economic, or political reasons why those experiences are different and use that understanding to effectively empathize or build stronger relationships with people from those backgrounds.

International Day of People with Disabilities, or IDPWD, is observed on December 3rd each year. This is a day that aims to help everyone become more understanding and compassionate about the challenges that people with disabilities face. The spirit of this day is to ensure that those living with disabilities, whether it is physical or mental, have equal opportunities for work, health, play, and success. Those with disabilities can often be, and are, contributing and valuable members of society.

Work brings together people from all walks of life, all races and denominations. We should all strive to make our workplaces as equal and diverse as possible. To get there, companies must do the work to be aware of where there are pitfalls, i.e. with gender pay gaps. By building a diverse, inclusive and equitable workplace, companies can stay competitive and attract and retain top talent.

While rough days are all but certain when doing D&I work, it does not have to burn you out to the point where you can’t do the work anymore. Keep reading for practical tips on how to handle emotional exhaustion before it turns to burnout.