For Black Americans, 2020 has been both the year of reckoning and trauma amid the COVID-19 pandemic and long-lead conversations surrounding systemic racism worldwide.
As emotions are still running high all over the country pending election results, Americans — Black Americans especially — have been grappling with anger, frustration and sadness as they attempt to navigate their day-to-day tasks to resume business as usual.
With another historic election still ahead of us, Black employees need a safe place to share our experiences and process our feelings in a productive manner.
To help provide access to mental health resources for Black & Brown professionals during this time, Mimconnect — the career networking platform — has partnered with Bright Ventures and KOKORO to host a free digital wellness session called BREATHE for the Black community post-election.
Mimconnect’s ongoing wellness series is designed to curate a safe, anonymized space to address employee concerns.
Private sessions are offered to Black employees, allies, and others. Following each event, they gather their insights to help leadership further evaluate immediate next steps and long-term advancement opportunities for said employees.
“Leader wellbeing is a key determinant of the operational, financial and cultural health of a company,” said Bright Ventures CEO, Lenore Champagne Beirne, in a statement. “We create leaders who are well by attending to their needs, and by facilitating deep and authentic connections between team members. The BREATHE session is the perfect opportunity to do that.”
According to a press release, a BREATHE session was held earlier today to allow Black employees a chance to address concerns they have adjusting to the new normal as a result of the pandemic.
“Research shows sustained high stress over time increases the risk of high blood pressure and other health concerns in the African American population. Yet the systemic cause of stress in the workplace, for too long, has been ignored,” said KOKORO founder, Nicola Brown, MSW. “BREATHE offers a place of solitude where we see the whole person and provide a place to rest, grow. and regroup. It was a no brainer for KOKORO, Mimconnect, and Bright Ventures to partner to build community and offer a safe space.”
For more information about Mimconnect and its upcoming initiatives, click here.
