In 2020, ShareThis established ‘ShareThis Cares’, an employee-lead program focused on promoting equality for all members of the company and communities at large. ShareThis is committed to fostering inclusive spaces and conversations, promoting equity, and advocating for social justice and has designed this program to concentrate on four internal areas of focus:
- Governance & Oversight
- Training & Education
- Community Outreach & Engagement
- Data for Good
Starting with Data for Good, ShareThis launched a Social Justice audience segment exactly one year ago in August to help brands align with audiences who actively support racial equality and the breakdown of systemic racism. The success and interest of this audience segment led to the expansion of 10 additional Data for Good audience segments centered around key issues including: Animal Welfare, Charity & Philanthropy, Climate Change & Environmental Issues, Education, Gender Equality, Poverty & Hunger, Social Issues & Advocacy, Social Justice UK, Well-Being (mental health), and Women’s Rights.
Focusing on Community Outreach and Engagement, ShareThis felt it was important to financially support social advocacy groups connected to the movements of these new audience segments and pledged to contribute 20% of the segment’s proceeds to organizations influencing change. This past June, in honor of Pride Month and Juneteenth, ShareThis Cares made its first Data for Good contribution to two inspirational nonprofit organizations: InnerCity Weightlifting (ICW) and The Trevor Project.
Over the past year, ICW has been instrumental in helping ShareThis with it’s Training and Education initiatives and organized educational panels and motivating workouts for its employees. In the same time frame, there has been a rise in LGBTQ youth suicide attempts and The Trevor Project is the leading organization expanding resources to meet the need. By making a contribution to these organizations, ShareThis hopes to continue learning from their expertise and support the expansion of their reach. You can learn more about these organizations at the bottom of this post.
Data for Good Insights
ShareThis’ Data for Good initiative not only encompasses new audience segmentation and philanthropic contributions, but also focuses on utilizing data to increase awareness around social issues.
When breaking down the most discussed social justice topics in the U.S. over the past year, “Racial Justice” made up 61% of interest while the remaining 39% of engagement contained discussions around affordable housing, healthcare, hunger and food insecurity, gender and gender identity equality, and various other issues.
Total Engagement (%) by U.S. ShareThis Audience (June 2020 – June 2021)
“All Other Issues” Engagement (%) U.S. ShareThis Audience
Looking at the month of June 2020, “Juneteenth” was a hot topic of discussion as it became a new federal holiday formally established to acknowledge and celebrate the end of the Civil War and the emancipation of Black Americans, and commit to the eradication of systemic racism that still undermines the founding ideals and collective prosperity in the United States. In addition, ShareThis audiences were, on average, engaging with topics around the Black Lives Matter and Stop Asian Hate movements more than they did prior to critical events such the death of George Floyd and the rise of anti-asian hate incidents in March. A sign that the incidents over the last year have had a strong impact and have shifted the perspectives of many.
Engagement with Racial Justice Topics from May – June 2021
From employee volunteer activities to contributions to non-profit organizations to partnerships with organizations using data to tackle society’s most difficult problems, ShareThis Cares continues to expand its efforts to promote equity among employees and communities at large.
Contact us if you are interested in using data for good.
Learn More About InnerCity Weightlifting and The Trevor Project
InnerCity Weightlifting
Mission
ICW’s mission is to amplify the voice and agency of people who have been most impacted by systemic racism and mass incarceration.
ICW partners with program participants through case management and careers in and beyond personal training. Individuals are elevated as experts in fitness and the social issues they’ve lived. ICW is a culture and community in which power dynamics are flipped, social capital is bridged, and new leaders emerge in the fight to combat long-standing inequities.
Year of Impact
During a year when gyms closed their doors, ICW continued to refine their four stage process — 1) earning trust 2) building hope 3) bridging social capital and 4) economic mobility — to engage with 231 students, offer 7,430 training session both online and onsite, and grow their corporate engagement by 37%.
How You Can Get Involved
Take action with InnerCity Weightlifting by donating to their cause, joining their e-club, training with them, and connecting students to your network.
The Trevor Project
Mission
Founded in 1998 by the creators of the Academy Award®-winning short film TREVOR, The Trevor Project is the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer & questioning (LGBTQ) young people under 25.
Year of Impact
LGBTQ youth are 5x more likely to attempt suicide compared to heterosexual youth. In the past year, 42% of LGBTQ youth, including more than half of transgender and nonbinary youth, seriously considered attempting suicide. Yet, nearly half could not access the mental health care they desired. The Trevor Project gets over 100K calls, chats, and texts per year and continues to expand its efforts to reach those who need support.
How You Can Get Involved
Take action with The Trevor Project by volunteering for their programs, attending one of their events (when they return in person), donating to their advocacies and movements, and connecting with them through email updates and social handles.
