Reflections on Women@Convoy

As Convoy continues on its journey toward building a more equitable company, it takes the support of the whole Convoy community to make that vision a reality.  This was especially true in the formation of our Women@Convoy Employee Resource Group (ERG), Convoy’s first ERG, in 2018. Women@Convoy emerged from a groundswell of ardent and supportive women at Convoy who wanted to find ways for women to support each other and make Convoy a better, more inclusive workplace. This involvement from women and allies across the company has been the backbone of the ERG and the driving force behind Women@Convoy’s accomplishments. I am enormously grateful to these women, who led our company to create this group and to invest in these programs. I count myself among the many employees at our company who have benefited from the leadership of these women and the programs that they’ve created. 

Today, Women@Convoy is a company-sponsored, passionate collection of Convoy employees who work together to support the attraction, retention, and development of employees who identify as womxn through professional development, community building, and recruitment activities.

Women@Convoy has celebrated women in the Seattle and Atlanta communities (where Convoy’s offices are located), with speakers such as author and entrepreneur Rebekah Bastian, WNBA Seattle Storm CEO & GM Alisha Valavanis, Harvard Business School Professor Frances Frei, CEO of Women in Trucking Ellen Voie, Pioneer Square Labs Managing Director Julie Sandler, and The Riveter Founder & CEO Amy Nelson, among others. These speakers shared their career guidance and their advice on building successful, inclusive companies. 

One of the ERG’s largest events has been Women on the Rise, a TED-style event featuring speakers that focused on their experiences and lessons as women in the workforce, drawing nearly 200 attendees from the Puget Sound region. Check out the video below to see what it was all about:

Women@Convoy has also held training sessions for our allies, raising awareness of the discrimination women can face in both the freight and tech industries and providing tips on allyship to create greater equity throughout the company. They’ve held Lunch and Learn sessions open to all genders, centered on topics like reducing interrupting and ensuring that all voices are heard in discussions.

Women@Convoy features small groups that provide peer-supported mentorship to members, as well as book clubs and discussion sessions. Additionally, the ERG ran a fundraising event for Mary’s Place, a Seattle-based shelter for women in need, raising over $3,000.  

As Professor Frei described in her recent fireside chat at Convoy, building an equitable company starts with inclusion. When companies are truly inclusive, they attract a diverse slate of candidates. When a work environment is both inclusive and diverse, people are able to share their true wealth of knowledge and ideas. Then, the total information available to a team increases, and everyone benefits. As leaders, it’s important for us all to celebrate others when they say something different than what you were going to say and continue to seek out new and different perspectives.

While Women@Convoy has made some great strides over the years, the work is definitely not done, and we are still working hard to create a fully equitable Convoy community. Convoy will continue to highlight work done by, and lessons learned from, incredible women, with speakers, events, and participation with partners like Women In Trucking. Not only does this inspire better performance from us all, but it continues to reinforce the positive perception of women across the company. Thank you again to the incredible women that made, and continue to make, Women@Convoy possible. I’m so excited to learn even more from the next generation of these passionate leaders. 

If you are a women-owned trucking company and would like to learn more about how you can start hauling with Convoy, or if you currently haul with Convoy and would like access to additional opportunities, please reach out to supplierdiversity@convoy.com or visit our supplier diversity page for more information.