Mosaic is a big believer in the importance of establishing the right kind of culture when you’re trying to build a world-changing business. And, as we discussed in a recent blog post, “culture” isn’t just a vague idea for us – we’ve defined Mosaic’s culture in terms of eight core values, and we actively work to nurture them in our office life. One of our most important values is to Work With Joy. We believe that happy people are more creative, collaborative, and effective, so we’re committed to making Mosaic a company that people love to work at and with.
But much like ‘culture’, ‘joy’ is a word that means something different to everybody. So we seek to cultivate a workplace where everyone feels a sense of belonging and connectedness, with events that allow us each to be and share our diverse, authentic selves.
Pride Happy Hour
On June 14th, Mosaic’s LGBTQ Employee Resource Group (ERG) hosted an awesome Pride Month happy hour for the entire office – complete with rainbow drinks, cupcakes, and fruit and vegetable platters!
In addition to the pride-themed consumables, the happy hour kicked off with a wide-ranging presentation by the ERG members on LGBTQ culture, which helped to open up the event on an inclusive as well as educational note. Topics included the history of pride celebrations, the fight for LGBTQ civil rights, and the evolution of sexual and gender identities (including a discussion of the proper use of pronouns and why it’s important).
Between the festive (and incredibly Instagrammable) drinks and the engaging, timely discussion, it was one of the most fun Work With Joy events we’ve had so far. In fact, it was so joyful that some Mosaicians opted to keep the party going over at Beeryland, one of many great bars near the office.
Bring Your Kids to Work Day
The day after the Pride event, we followed up with one of our favorite Work With Joy traditions: Bring Your Kids to Work Day. This year we hosted our biggest group yet, with over 40 children of ages 1 ½ to 13. With so many kids covering a few different age groups, we made sure to provide an appropriately wide range of joy-inducing activities, including:
- Arts and crafts, including window art and sticker mosaics
- Singalong with members of the Mosaic House Band
Presentation by Wahleah Johns (wife of Mosaic co-founder Billy Parish) of “Our Father the Son”, a coloring book she created with her parents about Native American culture and the four seasons.
- Brainstorming ideas of steps we all can take to protect our environment
- A science project for older kids, who built salt water-powered cars
- After the event, many families took advantage of the opportunity to visit newly-reopened Fairyland, a classic destination for Oakland families right across the street from our office.
It was amazing and inspiring to see all these next-generation Mosaicians in our office, and a good reminder of why we’re doing the work we do. After all, when you’re building a brighter future, it’s incredibly motivating to see just who you’re building it for!
Working With Joy
Between Pride and the Young Mosaicians, it was a joyful week by even Mosaic’s standards, but we try to hold these kinds of events very regularly. For example, after a weekend to recover, we followed this up with our Great Cookie Bake-Off. Work isn’t always easy – after all, we’re trying to revolutionize the energy and financing industries at the same time – but we try to keep that joy of belonging and connectedness in our hearts every day.
We’ll be exploring how we manifest every single one of our values at Mosaic in a series of future posts – but if you’re already intrigued, we’re hiring!