Rhode Island Commerce | Economic Development Professionals

Employee Resource Groups

Current Groups Available

Commerce Cares

CommerceCares logo

Commerce Cares ‐ established in 2017

Rhode Island Commerce employees are committed to making Rhode Island a great place to live and work. Commerce Cares is an informal group of RI Commerce employees who create monthly “Lunch and Learn,” volunteer opportunities, and fun employee hang-out opportunities.

The mission of Commerce Cares is: To create meaningful connections for RI Commerce Corporation’s employees with the community and with each other through events, activities and charitable programming.

Commerce Cares offers:

  • Positive impact on the community
  • Media opportunities for charitable gifts
  • Local reputation lift
  • Team member morale lift
  • Team building through events
  • Personal/Professional development opportunities

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To date Commerce Cares has held 33 events; has 6 non-profit partners; has donated 435 box tops to a local school partner; has donated 250+ lbs of food to pantries; has donated 150 + articles of clothing to dress for success partners; has rolled out a mixed-recycling initiative right at Commerce’s offices; has completed 250+ hours of volunteer service around the state; has donated dozens of books to the United Way’s Books are Wings drive; and more.

 

Equal Opportunity Advisory Committee

Equal Opportunity Advisory Committee (EOAC) ‐ established

in 2018

The goal of the EOAC is to guide and support RI Commerce on developing organizational changes and strategies that will advance the goals of diversity and inclusion in the workplace, as well as to assist in the implementation of approved strategies.

The EOAC also works hand-in-hand with the State’s administration and Human Resources departments to edit and adjust the Corporation’s Affirmative Action Plan to augment it accordingly for future plans, goals, and more.

To date this group has:

  • Updated the corporation’s Employee Equal Employment Opportunity statement to reflect a larger diversity, equity, and inclusion lens.
  • Successfully submitted updated affirmative action plan recommendations that have been approved.
Diversity and Inclusion Link Up

CommerceCares Diversity logo

Diversity and Inclusion Link Up ‐ established in 2020

The Diversity & Inclusion Link Up group is an informal employee resource group of Rhode Island Commerce.

Its goal is to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion conversations corporation-wide as employees see fit. We accomplish this by:

  1. Creating an open space for dialogue about diversity, equity, and inclusion topics as selected by Corporation staff and partners.
  2. Promoting diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
  3. Promoting the development and advancement of underrepresented groups in our team.
  4. Actively creating a productive work environment for our team that is free of harassment and racism.

This group meets monthly to discuss current events or explore a training, article, or video for the purpose of mutual learning & acceptance.

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