For Pride Month, 1Password is bringing employees together to highlight intersectionality through a host of initiatives, including a keynote presentation by Canada’s Drag Race‘s season one contestant, Kyne.

“This year, we really wanted to focus on intersectionality and bringing the different visible minorities together in new and interesting ways,” says Ionas von Zezschwitz, the identity security company’s customer experience representative and a co-lead of its Pride employee resource group. “It’s nice to create those support areas and safe spaces for certain groups, but it’s really powerful when you start to create those links between groups and you start to see the commonalities.”

It’s been roughly two years since 1Password started introducing ERGs, and it hasn’t looked back since. It now has six ERGs and two employee community groups under its belt, and while each group has held several solo events, the event with Kyne was a cross-collaboration between its Pride and Asian-Pacific Islanders ERGs.

Read: Pride Month: How employers can create a more inclusive work culture

“As someone from the Asian community, the Canadian community, the math nerd community, as well as the drag community and LGBTQ2S+ community, Kyne demonstrated that an individual can be many things in one and bring myriad perspectives,” says von Zezschwitz, noting these unique perspectives can be enriching to a team environment.

Kyne’s discussion also touched on how pre-colonial society in the Philippines included more genders beyond the binary male and female, which highlighted the intersectionality between the Philippines’ culture and its deep connection to the LGBTQ2S+ community, says Ronan Lyver, a team coach in 1Password’s customer experience department, who is also a co-lead for its Pride ERG.

The event was designed to continue building allyship among the company’s many employees, they note. “There is so much overlap between our groups, there’s different things we can relate on. And 40 per cent of the [employees] who answered [the event’s feedback form] weren’t a part of any ERG, but they [came out for the discussion].”

Indeed, the event has spurred more interest in the Pride ERG among employees. Von Zezschwitz has had a number of people direct message them after events to say they’ve never worked for a company that was this affirming and that they feel seen and feel their workplace is a psychologically safe space.

Read: Pride Month: TD taking intersectional approach to supporting LGBTQ2S+ employees

The organization followed up Kyne’s discussion with a virtual trivia competition on all things related to the LGBTQ2S+ community. The event brought energy and had education value in the selection of questions and content, notes von Zezschwitz. “It really stressed how having some entertainment value and putting on fun events is another powerful way to engage folks. People just had a great time.”

At a time when the LGBTQ2S+ community is dealing with a lot of heavy politics in the news cycle, it was important to bring everyone together to have fun and celebrate the LGBTQ2S+ community and history, they add.

1Password is a fully remote global company, which can be isolating at times so bringing people together for celebratory and engaging events really creates a sense of community, von Zezschwitz continues. “It [gives] folks a place to . . . let down their hair . . . and have [positive] discourse . . . among fellow employees.”

The Pride ERG is also publishing a blog this month on progress on LGBTQ2S+ rights, featuring brief quotes from members and it shared a custom Zoom background for all employees to use. Additionally, it held a support meeting to honour those who may be experiencing challenges even amid Pride Month.

Looking ahead beyond Pride Month, von Zezschwitz says the ERG and the Black Caucus group are planning a mental-health event that would further foster community and bring perspectives from many of the different ERGs at 1Password.

Read: Manulife supporting LGBTQ2S+ employees’ mental health, hosting Pride Month events