Salesforce Equality Group Leader on What It Means to Be a Caregiver

Editor's note: This story is the final installment in a spotlight series on our Equality Groups and how they serve Salesforce employees globally. Check out previous interviews with Genforce, Indigenousforce, and Outforce leaders.

Salesforce Parents and Families is a Salesforce Equality Group focusing on driving equality and equity for employees in all stages of their unique parenting, family, and caregiver journeys. The group's goal is to raise awareness of the importance of family care and how it affects employees.

We spoke with Stephanie Adams, a portfolio leader for public sector customer success and the Global President of Salesforce Parents and Families. She opened up about the strength of community, the challenges of modern caregiving, and the many ways people can connect through their familial experiences.

Q. Salesforce Parents and Families is the company's newest Equality Group. How did this group get started?

Salesforce Parents and Families was formerly an affinity group called "Parentforce." It stemmed from parents across the company coming together on internal discussion boards to share things like where to find babysitters, how to pick the best stroller, or advice for navigating parenting milestones.

During the pandemic, we saw not only parents but also caregivers face even more pressure as they juggled the demands of both home and work. We became an official Equality Group in July 2022 and today have over 12,500 members.

Q. Why was it important to create a group like this at Salesforce?

Parents are facing more pressure than ever. The U.S. Surgeon General recently issued a warning about the stressors that impact the mental health and well-being of parents and caregivers. Twenty-three percent of U.S. adults in the workforce are also part of the sandwich generation, which is the population of people who care for their aging parents and their own children.

The pressures that compound for this group can be overwhelming. We have an opportunity to offer them resources, community, and help coach managers on how to best support their colleagues who are caregivers. We know parenting and caregiving are huge components of a person's identity, and when these individuals come to work, we want to ensure they know they're not alone in this journey.

We know parenting and caregiving are huge components of a person's identity, and when these individuals come to work, we want to ensure they know they're not alone in this journey.

Stephanie Adams, Portfolio Leader for Public Sector Customer Success and Global President of Salesforce Parents and Families

Q. What are your vision and priorities as Global President of Salesforce Parents and Families?

For me, this work is about creating a space for parents and caregivers to connect with colleagues who can relate to their unique experiences.

We do this across our global hubs to help our employees in culturally relevant ways. For example, in India, we had a photo contest encouraging members to share photos of their families celebrating Raksha Bandhan and Janmashtami. Our region-specific Slack channels allow people to post about their caregiving experiences, share their gratitude, and encourage others to use our family support benefits, like Cleo and Progyny.

We also engage people leaders to ensure they know how to best support their employees who are parents and caregivers. When we do this, we create a more inclusive workplace, and employees can perform their best.

Q. What's an example of how Salesforce Parents and Families has affected the business?

One of our key focus areas is ensuring that people returning from parental or family leave have a seamless transition back into the workplace. We've found that the experience can vary depending on many factors, including the team or whether or not the employee's manager has experienced returning from leave themselves.

We've partnered with our Employee Success team to help improve this process. We piloted a cohort program in Australia and New Zealand where we grouped new parents together with other individuals who had children around the same time to help navigate their return to work. Instead of having to consult online forums, we found that new parents prefer to connect with real people for guidance or ideas. It's a much more human and personal experience. And we're working to expand these efforts to other regions around the world.

Q. Can you speak about the role of intersectionality when it comes to supporting your members?

Intersectionality is everything! I'm a parent. I'm a woman. I'm a parent of neurodiverse kids, and I had my own ADHD diagnosis earlier this year. We bring all of these identities with us when we come to work. Salesforce Parents and Families is a unique group because everyone can identify with being part of a family.

Salesforce Parents and Families is a unique group because everyone can identify with being part of a family.

Stephanie Adams, Portfolio Leader for Public Sector Customer Success and Global President of Salesforce Parents and Families

We work closely with all of our Equality Groups to host events and conversations for our global communities. For example, we hosted an event with Outforce on how to support and understand a family member in the LGBTQ+ community. We also held an event with the Salesforce Women's Network and Southasiaforce about how awkwardness is your superpower at work. Personally, I love that I have a place at Salesforce to talk to the neurodiverse community and understand how to support someone with ADHD.

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Q. What events does Salesforce Parents and Families have planned for later this month?

We have several things in store across our global hubs. We'll host an internal event on building strong families and teams with Teri Hatfield, EVP of Sales at Tableau, who will speak about her experience in leadership and as a parent. We'll also host an intersectional event with Abilityforce in Australia and New Zealand where we'll discuss the careers of neurodiverse people and how they navigate everyday challenges and triumphs. And finally, we'll co-host a training session with Salesforce's health and safety team on navigating multi-generational living and how to navigate having different generations under a single household.

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

I've been surprised to learn how different cultures approach parenting and families. It's eye-opening how being part of a family resonates globally and how we interact with the family we are born into, our chosen family, and the connections we build every day. There are so many ways to be a family and being part of this Equality Group has shown me how we can all relate with one another.

Getting to Know Stephanie

• What is your favorite book on leadership?
  • The Gift of Failure is a gem of a parenting book, but it applies to all phases of life. I also enjoy 4,000 Weeks: Time Management for Mortals.
• What has been your favorite Salesforce Parents & Families event?
  • How do I pick just one?! A few years ago, we hosted an event with Outforce featuring LGBTQ+ families. It was a beautiful and raw sharing of stories by our colleagues. I'll never forget it. Another favorite is the Salesforce Adventure Club around the world. In recent years, we've partnered with internal teams to make our "bring your kids to work day" even better and more joyful.
• Outside of your work, what are some of your personal interests or hobbies that bring you joy?
  • I love spending time with family, reading, and thrifting.

More information

• Learn more about Salesforce's commitment to Equality and Equality Groups

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