“Close the Ally Gap”
During Pride season, companies use rainbow-washing for profit and corporate influence without doing anything truly productive for the LGBTQ+ community. To shine a light on this Ally Gap, LinkedIn is going grey and showing businesses how to be real allies, all 365 days of the year.
TIMES SQUARE GOES GREY
For 24 hours, LinkedIn takes over the monitors in Times Square to build awareness around what LinkedIn is doing to promote true allyship.
PRESS COVERAGE
News outlets like the Wall Street Journal pick up the story about the Times Square takeover.
THE GREY OUT
On June 1st, the LinkedIn interface loses color.
INSTANT COLOR
LGBTQ+-owned businesses instantly regain color.
True allies that are already doing a successful job will regain color after 1 week.
All others will have to earn back their colors.
EXAMPLES TO
EARN BACK
YOUR COLORS
During June and July, companies can prove true allyship by:
Setting up recurring donations to LGBTQ+ orgs
Making public commitments to LGBTQ+ figures and orgs
Adding LGBTQ+ friendly healthcare benefits (family planning, coverage for hormone replacement therapy and gender affirmation surgery, etc.)
PRIDE PARADES
LinkedIn will have grey floats in several Pride Parades (NYC, San Fran, Chicago).
Still celebratory, with pom poms, beads, and face paint, but with no messaging except for logo and QR code pushing to LinkedIn article.
THE ALLY ARTICLE
When people scan the QR code on the float, they’ll be taken to their LinkedIn news feed. At the top of the News section, the article about allyship will be permanently pinned.
ALLY LEADERBOARD
LinkedIn partners with Forbes to highlight and boost jobs for the top 20 companies meeting their ally criteria throughout the year.
THE ALLY BADGE
At the end of July when color fully returns to LinkedIn, any company that qualified will have a special Ally Badge on their company page.
THE ALLY AUDIT
Anonymous surveys will be sent to employees at top-performing companies to assess the workplace’s inclusivity.
Results will be publicly reported on each company’s LinkedIn profile page to demonstrate their true allyship score.
LINKEDINCLUSIVE
LinkedIn will have a built-in proofreading system called “LinkedInclusive” that encourages users to use more gender-inclusive language.
EXAMPLES:
Maternity/Paternity leave = Parental leave
She/He = you/they (when referring to a candidate)
DISCLAIMER: Please note that this is student work submitted to Edelman LA while attending book180 portfolio school.