Commit to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Every Day

The world is waking up
Protesting in the name of Black Lives Matter.
Reading the book “White Fragility”.
Watching the documentary “13th”.

The world is waking up to the fight against racism and I couldn’t be happier!

But let’s be clear: learning about anti-racism and being anti-racist are not the same things. Learning is a good first step and a necessary one. But if you don’t apply the knowledge you acquire, then you are not helping to move the needle.

Since the murder of George Floyd at the hands/knees of the Minneapolis police, people all over the world have been focused on Black Lives Matter and anti-racism. At Cloudflare, we’ve seen an increase in cyberattacks, we’ve heard from the leadership of Afroflare, our Employee Resource Group for employees of African descent, and we held our first ever Day On, held on June 18, Cloudflare’s employee day of learning about bias, the history and psychological effects of racism,, and how racism can get baked into algorithms.

By way of this blog post, I want to share my thoughts about where I think we go from here and how I believe we can truly embody Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Continue reading

Cinco de Mayo – What are we celebrating anyway?

Greetings from Latinflare, Cloudflare’s LatinX Employee Resource Group, with members all over the US, the UK, and Portugal. Today is Cinco de Mayo! Americans everywhere will be drinking margaritas and eating chips and salsa. But what is this Mexican holiday really about and what exactly are we celebrating?

About Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo, Spanish for "Fifth of May", is an annual celebration held in Mexico on May 5th. The date is observed to commemorate the Mexican Army's victory over the French Empire at the Battle of Puebla, on May 5, 1862, under the leadership of General Ignacio Zaragoza. The victory of the smaller Mexican force against a larger French force was a boost to morale for the Mexicans. Zaragoza died months after the battle due to illness. A year after the battle, a larger French force defeated the Mexican army at the Second Battle of Puebla, and Mexico City soon fell to the invaders.

In the United States, Cinco de Mayo has taken on a significance beyond that in Mexico. More popularly celebrated in the United States than Mexico, the date has become associated with the celebration of Continue reading

¡Bienvenidos a Latinflare!

Our Story

When I first began interviewing with Cloudflare in the Spring of 2019, I came across a Cloudflare blog post announcing Proudflare, the company’s LGBTQIA+ Employee Resource Group (ERG). The post gave me a clear sense of the company’s commitment to diversity and inclusion. I could tell this was a place that values and celebrates diversity, which really appealed to me as I progressed through the interview process with Cloudflare, and ultimately accepted the role.

Fast forward to my Cloudflare new hire orientation, two weeks of training and introductions at our San Francisco HQ. We learned about the various ERGs at Cloudflare including one for Latinx employees. While I had a strong desire to be part of a Latinx ERG, it was clear that the group was actually in need of someone to lead the effort and rally the troops. At Cloudflare, we have offices across the country and around the world. I wasn’t really sure how to launch an ERG that would be global in scope. After meeting with leads from other Cloudflare ERGs, understanding the landscape, and attending an external workshop, everything started to come together.

In early August, we officially gave ourselves Continue reading