Weaving the fabric of social community with PIndigenous

As we celebrate Native American Heritage Month, the Life at Pinterest team connected with Pinterest’s PIndigenous employee resource group to reflect on their community-led activations and initiatives throughout 2024. Although “Weaving the fabric of social community” is PIndigenous’ theme for the month of November, we’ve found that they’ve embodied this all year long. 

Hi PIndigenous! Thanks for joining us. How did this year’s theme come to life and what does it mean to the community? 

This year’s theme brings attention to the way in which our communities find new and innovative ways to stay connected in the modern world. It’s important to us that we build community amongst each other and the broader Indigenous community at large because we all have so many wonderful things to share with one another. By recognizing that there are so many great opportunities to pursue, we ensure that our communities continue to thrive and adapt to the modern world while weaving in our culture, traditions and language, discussions with one another, never forgetting who we are and where we’ve come from. 

What are some of the ways PIndigenous has showed up within local communities this year? 

Jordan Skye Paul, Director, Supplier Management: From a Recruiting perspective, Pinterest hosted an event titled, “Pivoting into Tech: Stories from Indigenous Business Leaders,” in March. It was a great opportunity to connect with Indigenous talent virtually and share more about what it’s like to work at Pinterest. In October, we returned as an AISES (American Indian Science and Engineering Society) National Conference sponsor. Attendees joined us at the Pinterest booth to meet Brodie Gullic and myself along with two of our university recruiters.  

Brodie Gullic, Software Engineer II: In June, we had the pleasure of being a partner to the 2024 Indigenous Fashion Arts Festival, one of the largest Indigenous festivals in North America. The event took place over four evenings with runway shows, an outdoor marketplace, a panel series, hands-on workshops on traditional practices, an art exhibition and more programming. You can discover content captured at the festival on Pinterest. 

Alison Quaglia, Software Engineer II: We partnered with our Global Content Org and Partnerships teams on 4Kinship’s Indigenous Futures 4Ever event held during the annual Santa Fe Indian Market. We were proud to highlight and support Indigenous-owned brands and merchants alongside our friends at Shopify’s Build Native, and worked with a Navajo photographer to capture this exciting event for a spotlight feature on Pinterest. 

Can you all share more about the initiatives and events PIndigenous has led within the company? 

Jordan Skye Paul, Director, Supplier Management: We’ve continued to prioritize mental health and wellness by offering our ongoing wellness series facilitated by Nazbah Tom (Navajo), a somatic practitioner. The techniques that Nazbah leads us through during these sessions are so unbelievably uplifting and energizing. We are so grateful to Nazbah and their practice!

In October, we partnered with PinAble, Pinterest’s employee resource group that advocates for and supports people with disabilities, to host Alaqua Cox. Alaqua Cox is an up-and-coming actress known for her breakout role as "Maya Lopez" / "Echo." Like the character she plays, Alaqua Cox is deaf and is of the Menominee and Mohican nation. She has become an inspiration to many and continues to be a strong advocate for the deaf community worldwide. 

Agustin Caso Jacobs, Sr. Manager, Content Partnerships LATAM: During Native American Heritage Month, we hosted a workshop live-streamed from our Mexico City office to make and learn more about alebrijes — Mexican folk art sculptures . Local and remote employees alike were able to create their own alebrijes and learn from Jacobo and Maria Angeles about their cultural significance.

Eric Lopez, Sr. Site Reliability Engineer: This month, we donated turkeys to the Intertribal Friendship House and set up donation matching for employees to contribute to causes through Pinterest Gives, our team’s one-stop-shop for supporting and contributing in an impactful way. 

Bonus fact: 

PIndigenous partnered with our Workplace team to include land acknowledgments in new Pinterest offices in North America. For those who are unfamiliar with this, a land acknowledgement is a statement or recognition made to honor the original Indigenous people whose land that location resides on. Here’s a snapshot of it being featured in the Pinterest Chicago office: 

What’s one message you’d like to leave us with as we near the end of Native American Heritage Month? 

Jordan Skye Paul, Director, Supplier Management: As we reflect on another meaningful Native American Heritage Month at Pinterest, I’d love to acknowledge the theme we chose this year as a final takeaway. The idea that our paths are all woven together in some way is so well connected to the saying we often hear in Indigenous communities, “We are all related.” 

Even in a world where we are connected online and not always in real life, we have the ability to bring each other to places, events, discussions and even create incredible opportunities in really creative ways; it’s also a privilege to be able to celebrate heritage moments together virtually. Having a flexible work model is a true benefit in the world we live in today. It allows communities, like ours, to decide on where you want to call “home” - whether that means your tribal homelands, your rural or urban rez’s. It’s all a place that Indigenous people deserve to thrive. I am so thankful that Pinterest gives us that opportunity. 

If that’s something that interests you, we also encourage more Indigenous people to consider Pinterest as a place to work! We would love to see our community grow and thrive here. It’s truly what keeps PIndigenous moving, the people who give it life and spirit. We hope everyone takes a moment to celebrate Native American communities this month. Sending our good medicine to all.

Discover more about PIndigenous in this video from Global Lead, Brodie Gullic. 

Explore inspiring opportunities to join our team. Forming connections that go beyond the workplace? It’s Possible.™