Co-Chairs of 84.51°’s Men Advocating Real Change (MARC), Nick Erby and Joe Puchala, are doing progressive work to build awareness, advocacy and community at 84.51°. In an interview with Women of Cincy, the duo share their passion for MARC.
Sharing the goal for MARC across 84.51°
Joe explains that the MARC group came about after gaining inspiration from 84.51°’s Women’s EDGE Associate Resource Group which supports and encourages women within the organization.
"Originally, we just wanted more men to come to some of these Women’s Edge events because for a lot of it, we talk about workplace change. Only half the company is at these meetings. That’s enough people to change the company, but it’s just a lot harder when you don’t have the whole company at the table. We started talking about what we could do to bring more men, and we talked to some people from Procter and Gamble (P&G) who had a MARC group. We talked about what they were doing to get men involved in diversity and inclusion. So that’s what spurred us to create our own chapter," shares Joe.
"I think one thing that brought Joe and I together was motivation to put focused efforts on getting more men to participate and join the conversations, showing them that a lot of the discussion is a two-way street, and we need to be part of the dialogue as well. With that motivation came the whole MARC group," Nick adds.
Photo by Nicole Mayes
Awareness, advocacy and community: MARC's main pillars
MARC's main pillars are awareness, advocacy, and community. Nick and Joe want the whole company to be aware of the issues around diversity and inclusion, how it affects people, and what the result is in the workplace.
"We want them to feel empowered to be advocates for change. We also want to create a community because I think lots of times when you stand up for this at work, it can feel really isolating. So we want them to know, ‘Hey there’s a bunch of other people out here who believe in this too. You’re not alone; you can stand up for it; you’re not going to be shunned for it,’" says Joe.
Photo by Nicole Mayes
MARC events are opening discussion
A lot of MARC's events have been discussion sessions where small groups discuss a topic. There was also a gender bias panel where people talked about their experiences and then allowed the group to reflect on them.
"We’ve definitely seen success with small group discussions. I think it allows men to be a little bit more open because they feel more comfortable," says Nick.
Besides the small group discussions, MARC has held a fireside chat where about 200 people joined from Kroger and 84.51° to discuss diversity and inclusion with Rodney McMullen, CEO of Kroger, and Stuart Aitken, CMO of Kroger and CEO of 84.51°.
To read the full Women of Cincy interview, click here.
Photo by Nicole Mayes
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Disclosure: Where Women Work researches and publishes insightful evidence about how its paid member organizations support women's equality.