Paragon One is a team out of MIT (and Y-Combinator) that facilitates remote Externships to empower your employees to launch strategic projects with diverse students at scale without burdening teams and budget.

We’re profiling industry leaders to gather their insights into the transforming worlds of DEI, social impact, and brand elevation. 

Ricki Wax currently works as a Global Equity Program Manager for Google Search and supports DEI initiatives across Google Assistant, Knowledge UX and Trust organizations. She’s responsible for operational rigor, end to end execution and influencing key decisions to create equity for all. Ricki has worked on some of the most critical foundational work at Google including the inaugural Consumer Tech Black History Month & Women’s History Month programming. She launched the first Black in Tech summit in NYC, and recently had over 180 students from computer science backgrounds across HBCUs participate in Google’s HBCU Hackathon in Atlanta.

Outside of work, Ricki has managed to turn her passion for solving complex problems into a successful career coaching business. She coaches new grads, marginalized groups, and women on how to build confidence and marry their passion with their purpose. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for Impact Austin and Co-Leads Austin's Black Googler Network. Ricki is a self published author of the book 99 Prompts to Mindfulness & Well-Being where she inspires you to find your why in life and transform your gifts into your work.

What is the most personally-gratifying aspect of working within Social Impact?  What motivates you to remain in the social impact field?

Having the privilege of working in Social Impact is the gift that keeps on giving. My work allows me to break down silos between age, race, gender and ethnicities. As a first generation college kid, who had two hard working parents who provided me the best opportunities to send me to school this work is personal. My parents would always tell me - go to school, get a good job, and one day you’ll take care of us. My mom raised me and my two brothers as a single mom in a two bedroom apartment and we shared a queen size bed. When people look at me, they don’t see that part of my story. I want people who feel like they’re different to look up and know being different is ok, to feel motivated that no matter where you start, it’s how you finish. My purpose for doing work in this space is to give voice to the voiceless and hope to the hopeless. 

Social Impact work allows for us unicorns to bring our super powers into a space where diverse voices matter.

Could you tell us about some of the employee volunteering programs and events that you've helped to facilitate at Google? How do you think volunteering initiatives have added value and support for Googlers?

As a Global Diversity Equity and Inclusion program manager, I have the responsibility of handling  operational rigor, end to end execution and influencing key decisions in the DEIB space. I’ve had the opportunity to work on some critical foundational work at Google including the inaugural Consumer Tech Black History Month & Women’s History Month programming. More recently I organized our first Google Assistant sponsored event with HBCUs across the nation in a Hybrid Hackathon. We had over 50 teams compete in both technical and non technical design, presentation and technology. There were more than 140 students who participated and 40 Google volunteers across Assistant, Search, Knowledge UX and Google’s Trust organizations. Having so many Googlers dedicate their time to investing in HBCU students to this scale shows how dedicated our employees are to promoting Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging in tech. Students had the opportunity to engage with software engineers, product managers, engineering directors in the Google Atlanta office while presenting some brilliant ideas on how to make technology more inclusive and connected for the future. The event was a huge success. We can’t wait to do it again next year.

What’s a key best practice for other Fortune 1000 brands to follow when it comes to elevating employee engagement through volunteering opportunities? 

My advice for other companies when it comes to elevating employee engagement through volunteers would be two things. 

1. Promote volunteerism as a part of your employee benefits package. Google allows 20 hours of volunteer service to any cause throughout the year and promotes company matching donations up to $10,000 to support causes we as Googlers believe in. 
2. Lead by example. I show up to social impact events, conference activations such as Afro-tech, Essence Festival or SXSW with my teams. I take time to invest in these conferences and others which show my colleagues, teammates and leaders it’s ok for them to show up as well. As leaders we have to show up to things which matter and lead by example.

What’s a DEI initiative that will be common in the next 10 years that many Fortune 1000 brands are not yet focused on?

The creator market is huge right now. People are making six figures from their phones, just by being their authentic selves and telling their story in reels or videos. Social media has allowed DEI to become less taboo to speak about. 

The workforce is changing, pay transparency, equity in the workplace, and calling out anti-racist practices are being talked about more prevalently in the corporate environment. People are using their platforms to tell their stories around DEI and companies should pay attention to how these stories are being told and adapt to the creator market.

How have you been able to combine your experience as a career coach and DEI professional to elevate your initiatives? What advice would you provide those looking to follow in your footsteps? 

Outside of work, I’ve managed to turn my passion for solving complex problems into a successful career coaching business. I believe in lifting as you climb. My number one struggle while in college was not being able to access different networks. I always felt like an outsider. Being raised by a single mom, not having the newest clothes, and being self conscious about needing free or reduced lunch in school. Oftentimes, it’s not about who you know, but who knows you. Surround yourself with people who believe in you and support you in life. That’s why I focus on opening the door to my network as a career coach. In my business, I meet a lot of new people who enjoy giving back or serving and I’m able to connect my clients to these opportunities.

I coach new grads, marginalized groups, and women on how to build confidence and marry their passion with their purpose. I’m on a mission to close the digital divide, create generational wealth in our communities, and decrease the wage gap for women. I’ve seen the power of how paying it forward creates transformative change in our lives. This is why I do what I do both inside and outside of work.  I’m living my purpose. 

My advice for people is to ask yourself, what comes naturally to you, lean into it and don’t be afraid to take the journey. You never know what opportunities will reveal themselves just by taking that first step.

Explore the Next Era of Social Impact

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My advice for other companies when it comes to elevating employee engagement through volunteers would be two things. 

1. Promote volunteerism as a part of your employee benefits package. Google allows 20 hours of volunteer service to any cause throughout the year and promotes company matching donations up to $10,000 to support causes we as Googlers believe in. 
2. Lead by example. I show up to social impact events, conference activations such as Afro-tech, Essence Festival or SXSW with my teams. I take time to invest in these conferences and others which show my colleagues, teammates and leaders it’s ok for them to show up as well. As leaders we have to show up to things which matter and lead by example.