Salesforce Equality Group Leader on Uplifting Indigenous Cultures, Voices, Traditions

Editor's note: This story is part of an ongoing series to spotlight our Equality Groups and how they serve Salesforce employees globally. Check out previous interviews with the leaders of Outforce, Asiapacforce, Southasiaforce, and Earthforce.

Indigenousforce is a Salesforce Equality Group dedicated to education, engagement, collaboration, and knowledge-sharing, with the aim of respecting and celebrating Indigenous peoples and their cultures around the world. The Equality Group brings together unique Indigenous experiences and perspectives, cultivates a psychologically safe community for Indigenous employees and allies, preserves culture and heritage, and gives back to the community.

We spoke with Margot Tollefsen, a product marketing manager and Global President of Indigenousforce, to learn more about the power of representation, bringing awareness to issues faced by Indigenous people, and uplifting voices within the community.

Q. How did you get involved with Indigenousforce?

I'm a proud member of the Cherokee Nation, and I've always been passionate about equality. As part of my undergrad, I studied Native American rights, and Salesforce's continued commitment to equality is what attracted me to join the company four years ago. When I started at Salesforce, there wasn't an Indigenousforce presence in Dallas, where I was based at the time, so I connected with another Indigenouscolleague in the area, and we started a local hub.

As part of my undergrad, I studied Native American rights, and Salesforce's continued commitment to equality is what attracted me to join the company four years ago.

Margot Tollefsen, a product marketing manager and Global President of Indigenousforce

For the next year, I helped organize events and got involved with the global team on a larger scale. I continued to take on more responsibility, and now as the Global President of Indigenousforce, I get to make an impact on a community that is part of my family's history.

Indigenous people are historically underrepresented in society and in tech. We're focused on uplifting and bringing awareness to indigenous cultures, voices, and traditions. We want to make sure that the indigenous community at Salesforce and in our broader ecosystem are represented in a way that feels authentic. This includes building a community that shares similar values, cultures, and family histories, and partnering with our allies to ensure they understand the indigenous cultures we represent.

Q. What are some of the challenges Indigenous communities face globally and locally?

It really depends on where in the world you are, but many indigenous communities face issues with land ownership, pollution, and a lack of resources, such as access to water and WiFi. We address some of these challenges through external partnerships, internal events centered on education and awareness, and giving back in our communities.

For example, we partnered with the Salesforce Sustainability team and the United Nations' Indigenous People's Platform to help the community have a voice on issues that impact them.

In the aftermath of the Maui wildfires, we helped lead a fundraiser, alongside our Philanthropy team, to support native Hawaiians who were displaced from their homes. Thanks to Salesforce's generous donation matching, we raised over $1 million for this effort.

We continue to look for ways to address the most pressing needs of indigenous populations around the world, while bringing our allies along in this work.

Q. How does Indigenousforce make an impact on our business?

Advancing representation is critically important in building products that serve our communities. We've partnered closely with Salesforce recruiting teams, and volunteered with the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES), and the Lakota AI Code Camp to help identify indigenous candidates interested in careers in STEM. And we've participated in events for native Hawaiian college students to help them learn more about Salesforce and our ecosystem.

We also work closely with indigenous tribes that run their organizations on Salesforce. During the pandemic, the Cherokee Nation invested in Saleforce technology to build the Gadugi ("working together") Portal - a grants management portal that the Cherokee Nation tribal government uses to engage its citizens. Indigenousforce has since partnered with Cherokee members to promote and highlight their work at Dreamforce.

Finally, members in our Australian hub worked with local Salesforce leaders and our Government Affairs, Philanthropy, Procurement, Marketing, and Employee Success teams to implement a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) - a framework that organizations like Salesforce can use to contribute to reconciliation efforts for Aboriginal and Torres Strait peoples. The RAP consisted of four main pillars: building relationships, establishing and demonstrating respect, creating opportunities, and governance. The Australian hub put this plan into action through ongoing education and training for employees and executives in Australia, setting hiring and recruiting goals for First Nations employees, incorporating appropriate cultural protocols within presentations, and creating and developing partnerships with First Nations-led organizations in Australia.

Q. Can you share why intersectionality and allyship are important in this work?

Indigenous people and communities span across the globe, and their identities intersect with almost every Equality Group we have at Salesforce. We lean on our allies to uplift our traditions and cultures, and we want to do the same for them.

We lean on our allies to uplift our traditions and cultures, and we want to do the same for them.

Margot Tollefsen, a product marketing manager and Global President of Indigenousforce

One example of this is the Native American belief of "two-spirit" people, or individuals who have combined traits of both men and women and occupy a distinct gender status. In many tribes, these individuals filled special religious roles, such as healers, shamans, and ceremonial leaders. Giving voice to this history can go a long way in elevating our allies in the LGBTQ+ community.

Q. What's the most surprising thing you've learned in your time as a leader?

I've learned how vulnerability can be a strength. It's much easier to say and harder to do, but when I've opened up about the challenges I'm facing, people have rallied around me in support. I've always admired vulnerable leaders and it's something I've tried to embody in my current role.

Getting to Know Margot

• What is your favorite book by an Indigenous author?
  • There There is a novel by Tommy Orange, a citizen of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma, that follows 12 characters from indigenous communities who have interconnected stories.
• What's been your favorite Indigenousforce event?
  • We partnered with Vetforce to host one of the four remaining Navajo Code Talkers, Peter MacDonald. Peter shared his experience during WWI and WWII and how the Code Talkers used their native Navajo language to create a code to transmit messages to the U.S. Marine Corps. It was an amazing experience hearing Peter's life story, and learning about the impact Native Americans had on these important historical milestones.
• Outside of your work, what are some of the personal interests or hobbies that bring you joy?
  • I moved to San Francisco recently and love to explore the city and the Bay Area by going on hikes, trying new restaurants, and going to the beach. I also enjoy discovering new music and boxing! I started boxing a few years ago and it's an amazing stress reliever and workout.

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