How Eleanor Rugg is creating a safe place for new hires on day one

John Warnock and Chuck Geschke founded Adobe based on fundamental principles: Our people are our most important asset. Good ideas come from everywhere. Build a company where you’d want to work yourself. More than three decades later, Adobe continues to invest in building a diverse and inclusive environment for our employees, customers, partners, and the tech industry as a whole. We call our vision Adobe For All, and we work toward these core beliefs every day.

The Adobe Proud Employee Network is for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender colleagues and allies to share experiences, post links to relevant events and articles, ask questions, and spark dialogue and action to continue to make Adobe an inclusive workplace. Here’s what Eleanor Rugg, ANZ site leader for our Adobe Proud employee network, had to share about the importance of creating a safe place for all employees.

What is Adobe Proud and why is it important to you?

Adobe Proud is a community. It’s a community that comes together to support, educate and discuss LGBTQ+ issues. It’s open for Adobe employees who are diverse or allies who want to get better educated and gain a better understanding on how they can support their family, friends and colleagues who sit in that bucket.

Adobe Proud is very important to me. I started as an intern at Adobe and it was my first corporate role. Coming from a background where everyone wasn’t quite as accepting, it was daunting walking in the door and not knowing if it was okay that I was gay. Of course it was okay, but I didn’t know that at first, and it later became my goal to make sure that everyone celebrates each other’s identity.

When did the Adobe Proud community launch in ANZ and what impact has it had?

The ANZ Adobe Proud community was launched in February 2020. We held an event at the office, which was led by our ANZ managing Director, Suzanne Steele, and supported by our Diversity and Inclusion committee. I think Adobe Proud has a huge impact globally. It’s a way for us to make sure that everyone in the company is aware that this is a topic of conversation and that it is something that Adobe is actively supporting. Adobe is already a diverse and inclusive community, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t challenges. We need to figure out how we keep pushing the dial and how we keep making changes for the better.

Locally we want to have a community that has a forum to talk about and share ideas. If we see something that we think Adobe needs to adjust and change, we need to make sure we bring that to their attention.

What are the biggest opportunities for Adobe Proud? Are there any specific projects or initiatives you are working on?

Last week we ran an event for Wear Purple day on August 28, which was really around an education piece. We wanted to make sure that everyone is comfortable being an ally and understanding what that means.

Long term I’d love to see Adobe in Australia and New Zealand get a little bit more involved in the community. At events such as Mardi Gras, how is Adobe a brand that becomes synonymous with that event and how can we partner with some charities or groups?

Short term we want to make sure that employees, especially new employees, know that Adobe supports them and that they can be comfortable from day one. We also want to make sure that our hiring and interview practices are supporting diversity.

Learn more about Adobe For All on our Diversity site.