We have always strived to make Cloudflare somewhere where our entire team feels safe and empowered to bring their whole selves to work. It’s the best way to enable the many incredible people we have working here to be able to do their best work. With that as context, we are proud to share that Cloudflare has been certified and recognized as one of the Top 100 Most Loved Workplaces in 2023 by Newsweek and the Best Practice Institute (BPI) for the second consecutive year.  

Cloudflare’s ranking follows surveys of more than 2 million employees at companies with team sizes ranging from 50 to 10,000+, and includes US-based firms and international companies with a strong US presence. As part of the qualification for the certification, Cloudflare participated in a company-wide global employee survey — so this award isn’t a hypothetical, it’s driven by our employees’ sentiment and responses.

With this recognition, we wanted to reflect on what’s new, what’s remained the same, and what’s ahead for the team at Cloudflare. There are a few things that especially stand out:

Helping to build a better Internet.

If you speak to any member of the Cloudflare team about why they’re here, they’ll almost certainly talk about our mission. Whether it’s in our careers, or our lives more generally, so many of us have been positively impacted by the Internet. It is an incredible resource for humanity, and being able to contribute back to it is definitely a draw for many Cloudflarians. In an internal survey from September 2023, 92% of our team stated that they are inspired by Cloudflare’s mission to help build a better Internet — and 88% said that their work is important to the company.

Working on these kinds of problems, at the scale Cloudflare is at, requires constant innovation and figuring out solutions at the frontier of technology. At the same time, Cloudflare for years has been giving back to the community and society — through programs like Project Galileo, Athenian Project, and Project Cybersafe Schools — that make us especially proud of the work we do.

Cloudflarians get a real sense of our company culture, team, mission, and how we work, right when they start interviewing with us. Candidate feedback paints a picture of what this looks and feels like:

“The entire process is really different from anything I’ve experienced before — and I’m enjoying it very much. Also, the informal tone makes it much more human and everyone is so approachable.”  

“I’ve never met a group of people at a company that are all consistently excited about the work they are doing.”

Before anyone gets an offer, every candidate in the final stage connects with one of our executive leaders including our co-founders. This has been part of our interview process for many years, and is designed to ensure candidates truly understand what they’re signing up for in their role as part of joining the Cloudflare team, and to make our executive team accessible to everyone starting on day one. Transparency is one of our core values, and we want all employees to have a direct line to our leadership.

Transparency also serves as our guiding light when we engage with the public. We are quick to share detailed reports amid and after incidents, in the hopes that they will benefit the Internet-at-large. And we share regular impact reports detailing our progress around key environmental, social, and governance initiatives.

We have continued to receive unmatched interest with close to half a million applicants in the first half of 2023, which is nearly a 300% increase from 2022. Our offer acceptance rate remained equally as impressive at a rate of 90%. We are continuing to hire worldwide with hundreds of open positions across the organization ranging from Sales to Engineering.

We are committed to developing a globally distributed team with a flexible working approach. Individual teams opt into: hybrid, remote, or in-office, depending on what works best for the folks on the team, and the team more broadly. As an example, we've seen less tenured folks on certain teams wanting to go into the office more frequently to work together in-person. For reasons across the board, we give teams the ability to choose what works best for them. We’ve found that this approach gives teams the opportunity to establish their optimal working arrangements that fit with their objectives and enable collaboration.

Our paid time off policy is on a take-what-you-need basis. We encourage employees to find a comfortable work-life balance by taking as many days off as they need while still being able to perform their jobs satisfactorily.

We want to empower and inspire our team members to do their best work every day — and this includes making sure they feel happy, healthy, and fulfilled both inside and outside of our workplace. Aside from comprehensive healthcare benefits, this also includes support for family planning like parental leave and Carrot Fertility, access to mental health and mindfulness programs through Ginger and Headspace apps, and three days of paid time off each year to volunteer in our respective communities.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion is a priority at Cloudflare to help ensure a sense of belonging and community for all of our employees and to best propel our business forward. Our 15+ Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) are employee-led and have designated executive sponsors of each group. These communities come together to support each other, celebrate their cultures, and help with initiatives to educate, support professional development, and more. We have a robust number of ERGs and this continues to grow as the diversity at Cloudflare expands.

Our employees believe that Cloudflare is a special place, with an especially meaningful mission. They believe there is no other place where a team so small is having such a large impact on the Internet. To keep up, it's critical that we have great people across the company to help us continue our mission. To learn more about the Cloudflare career opportunities, please check out Cloudflare Careers!

Happy International Women’s Day! The global theme for 2023 is #EmbraceEquity, which is part of an ongoing effort to raise awareness around “Why equal opportunities are no longer enough.” Today is a time to highlight achievements made by women, but also an opportunity to become better informed, and collaborate and brainstorm about the path forward.

“People start from different places, so true inclusion and belonging require equitable action.” — internationalwomensday.com

Consider taking a few minutes today to learn about pervasive challenges affecting women, including in the workplace. Since unconscious bias is a major driver of hurdles holding women back, it is beneficial for people of all gender identities to educate ourselves about the varied experiences of others.

Here are some resources to get help get you started:

• Recognize the difference between equity and equality and see why striving for equality can interfere with inclusion-related efforts.

• Read highlights from the Women in the Workplace report from McKinsey and LeanIn.Org to examine factors that are holding women back from advancement and in many cases making them decide to leave a company. One notable statistic: “For every 100 men who are promoted from entry-level roles to manager positions, only 87 women are promoted, and only 82 women of color are promoted.”

• Watch a five-minute video of the history of the concept of intersectionality, explained by Kimberlé Crenshaw, who coined the term. Intersectionality refers to the “double bind of simultaneous racial and gender prejudice.”

• Better understand challenges within the tech sector in the report What (and Who) is Holding Women Back in Tech? One finding from this survey, conducted by Girls Who Code and Logitech, is that 90% of women report experiencing microaggressions at work. The report describes key career drivers and the importance of communities of support.

Womenflare is a Cloudflare employee resource group (ERG) for women and people who advocate for women. We are an employee-led group that is here to empower, represent, and support.

At Cloudflare, we are continuing our tradition of building community and celebrating women’s achievements together throughout March. We are also encouraging discussion on equity vs. equality and how we can champion equity for ourselves and those around us with these internal events in the weeks ahead:

• Celebrating with comedy: We are kicking things off with some fun and jokes from Laugh.Events! Offering “Laughter as a Service (LaaS),” they will deliver stand-up comedy, musical comedy, and other comedic activities for a celebratory “Workplace Variety Hour.”

• Equity and allyship chats: After our celebrations, we are opening forums to discuss equity and what this means for each of us in our unique intersectionalities. We have invited some of our fellow employee resource group leads from Asianflare, Nativeflare, and Proudflare to share with us and dive into how we can be both supported and supportive.

• Equity leadership panel: Our internal leadership panels were always well received in previous years, so we decided not to mess with a good thing. This year, we will be inviting another group of inspirational women leaders in Cloudflare to share their experiences with us and explore the areas where we can promote equity in the workplace.

• And more: We have so much more planned for March! From Book Club and meetups to Cloudflare TV episodes and networking events, we are partnering across teams to ensure there are plenty of opportunities to participate and join in on the fun and discussions.

No matter how you plan to celebrate International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, consider how you can do your part to champion an equitable world. Join the #IWD2023 movement — #EmbraceEquity today (and every day)!

Learn more about how we are cultivating community, including through employee resource groups like Womenflare, via our careers page—and check out our open positions.

To read about our progress on the UN Ten Principles and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), download our latest Impact Report.

In this blog post, we’ll highlight a few stories from some of our 17 Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), including the most recent, Persianflare. But first, let me start with a personal story.

Do you remember being in elementary school and sitting in a classroom with about 30 other students when the teacher was calling on your classmates to read out loud from a book? The opportunity to read out loud was an exciting moment for many of my peers; one that made them feel proud of themselves. I, on the other hand, was frozen, in a state of panic, worried that I wouldn’t be able to sound out a word or completely embarrass myself by stuttering. I would practice reading the next paragraph in hopes that I wouldn’t mess up when I was called on. What I didn’t know at the time was that I was dyslexic, and I could barely read, especially out loud to a large group of people.

That is where I began to know the feeling of isolation. This feeling compounded year after year, when I wasn’t able to perform the way my peers did. My isolation prevailed from elementary school to middle school, through high school and even into college.

In college, I found a community that changed everything called Eye to Eye - a national non-profit organization that provides mentorship programs for students with learning disabilities. I attended one of their conferences with 200 other students. It was a profound moment when I realized that everyone in the room shared the experience of anxiety and fear around learning. Joining this community made me feel that I was not alone. Community for me is a group of people who have shared experience. Community allowed me to see my learning disability as an asset not a deficit. This is what I think the author, Nilofer Merchant, meant in the 11 Rules for Creating Value in the Social Era, when she said "The social object that unites people isn't a company or a product; the social object that most unites people is a shared value or purpose."

When I came to work at Cloudflare, I decided to become an ERG leader for Flarability, which provides a space for discussing disability and accessibility at Cloudflare. The same deep sense of community that I felt at Eye to Eye was available to me when I joined Flarability.

Globally, 85% of the company participates in ERGs and this year alone they hosted over 54 initiatives and events. As the pandemic persisted over the last year, Cloudflare remained a hybrid workforce which posed many challenges for our company culture. ERGs had to rethink the way they foster connection. Today, we are highlighting Persianflare, Afroflare, Greencloud and Desiflare because they have taken different approaches to building community.

Persianflare is our newest ERG, and in a very short amount of time, ERG Leader Shadnaz Nia has already brought together an entire community of folks who have created lasting impact. Here's how…

Persianflare: Amplify the voice of Iranian peopleShadnaz Nia, Solutions Engineer, Toronto

**“**Persianflare is the newest ERG which strives to nurture a community for all Persians and allies, where we perpetuate freedom of speech, proudly celebrate rich Persian heritage, appending growth and Persian convention. We have assembled with a desire to amplify the voice of the Iranian people, and bring awareness to human rights violations there, during unprecedented and unbearable times in history.

Cloudflare’s mission is to build a better Internet and one of our initiatives this year was to support building a better Internet that provides a more private Internet for the people of Iran. At Cloudflare, we are fortunate to have executive leadership that takes action and works tirelessly to provide more uncensored and accessible Internet in countries such as Iran. We’ve done this by offering WARP solutions in native Farsi language for all Persian-speaking users, empowering them to access uncensored information and news, in turn, strengthening the voice of Persian people living in Iran.

This project was accidentally routed to my team by the Product Team when they needed a translator. At the time, myself and other Persian employees were feeling powerless as a result of Mahsa Amini being murdered in the custody of the Iranian morality police. This was the birth of Persianflare. Through this project, I started collaborating with other employees and discovered that many of my colleagues really cared about this cause and wanted to help. Throughout the course of this initiative, we found more Persian employees in other regions and let them know about our progress. Words cannot describe how I felt when the app was released. It was one of the purest moments in my life. By bringing together Persian employees, allies of Persianflare, and the Product Team, this community was able to create real change for the people of Iran. To me, that is the power of community.

We plan to circle together to celebrate the global Human Rights Day on December 10, 2022, to continue discussing and growing our community. As the newest ERG, we are just getting started.”

Afroflare: Sharing experiencesSieh Johnson, Engineering Manager, AustinTrudi Bawah-Atalia, Recruiting Coordinator, London

“Afroflare is a community for People of African Diaspora to build connections while learning from each others’ lives, perspectives and experiences. Our initiatives in 2022 centered on creating and cultivating community by supporting and echoing Black voices and achievements within and outside of Cloudflare. Earlier in the year, given that the pandemic was slowing down but still active, we provided curated content that would allow members and allies to create, contribute and learn about cultures of the African diaspora at their own pace.

For our celebration of US Black History Month, we aggregated lists of Black-owned businesses and non-profit communities in various cities to support. We also hosted internal chats called “The Plug,” which highlight the immense talent of our members at Cloudflare. Lastly, Afroflare worked with allies to present an Allyship workshop called “Celebrating Black Joy- An Upskilling Session for Allies.”

As 2022 progressed, we shifted to a hybrid of in-person and virtual events in order to foster more interaction and strengthen bonds. Our celebration of UK Black History Month included a cross-culture party in our Lisbon office. We collaborated with Latinflare & Wineflare on an International Wine tasting event featuring South African wines, and an African + Caribbean food tasting event called “Taste from Home. We wrapped up the festivities with a Black Woman in Tech panel to discuss bias and how to navigate various obstacles faced by the BIPOC community in tech.

Virtually or in-person, this community has become a family – we laugh together, cry together, teach each other, and continue to grow together year after year. Each member’s experiences and culture are valued as we forge spaces for everyone to feel free to be authentic. Afroflare looks forward to continuing its goals of creating safe spaces, as well as educating, championing, and supporting our members and allies in 2023.”

Greencloud: A more sustainable InternetAnnika Garbers, Product Manager, Georgia

“Greencloud is a coalition of Cloudflare employees who are passionate about the environment. Our vision is to address the climate crisis through an intersectional lens and help Cloudflare become a clear leader in sustainable practices among tech companies. Greencloud was initially founded in 2019 but experienced most of its growth in membership, engagement, and activities after the pandemic started. The group became an outlet for current and new employees to connect on shared passions and channel our COVID-fueled anxieties for the world into productive climate-focused action.

Greencloud’s organizing since 2020 has primarily centered around “two weeks of action.” The first is Impact Week (happening now!), which includes projects driven by Greencloud members to help our customers build a more sustainable Internet using Cloudflare products. The second is Earth Week, scheduled around the global Earth Day celebration in April, which focuses on awareness and education. We’ve leveraged the tools available to Cloudflare employees and our community, like our blog and Cloudflare TV, to share information with a broader audience and on a wider range of topics than would be possible with in-person events. This year, publicly available Earth Week programming included sessions about Cloudflare’s sustainability focus for our hardware lifecycle, an interview with a sustainability-focused Project Galileo participant, a Policy team overview of our sustainability reporting practices, and a conversation about sustainable transportation with our People team. Covering a wide range of topics throughout our events and content created by our members not only helps everyone learn something new, it also reminds us of the importance of embracing and encouraging diverse perspectives in every community. The diversity of the Greencloud collective is a small demonstration of the reality that climate change is only successfully addressed through holistic action by people with many outlooks and skills working together.

As we embrace more flexible modes of work, the Greencloud crew is looking forward to maintaining our virtual events as well as introducing more in-person opportunities to engage with each other and our local communities. Building and maintaining deep connections with each other is key to the momentum and sustainability(!) of this work in the long term.”

Desiflare: South Asian delightsArwa Ginwala, Solutions Engineering Manager, San Francisco

“Our goal for Desiflare is to build a sense of community among Cloudflare employees using the rich South Asian culture as a platform to bring people together. The Desiflare initiatives that had the most impact were in-person events after the two long years of pandemic. People were longing for a sense of community and belonging after months of Zoom fatigue. It was a fresh breath of air to see fellow Desis in person, across multiple Cloudflare offices. Folks hired during the pandemic got an opportunity to come visit the newly-renovated office in San Francisco. Desis enjoyed South Asian food at the Austin office for the first time since Desiflare’s inception. Diwali was celebrated in Singapore and Sydney offices, and the community in London played cricket, a sport very popular and well-loved in the South Asian community. Regardless of country of origin, gender, age or cultural beliefs, and in the presence of a competitive atmosphere, everyone shared and rejoiced with memories from their childhoods.

We realize that Desiflare members have different levels of comfort regarding meeting people in person or traveling for in-person events. But everyone wants to feel a sense of community and connection with people who share the same interests. Keeping this in mind, it was important to organize events where everyone felt included and had a chance to be part of the community based on their preferences. We met virtually for weekly chai time, monthly lunches, and are now organizing virtual jam sessions for many Desis to showcase their talent and enjoy South Asian music regardless of where they are located. The community has been most engaged on the Desiflare chat room. It has provided a platform for discussing common topics that help people feel supported. Desiflare gives a unique opportunity to employees to connect with their culture and roots regardless of their job title and team. It's a way to network cross-functionally, and allows you to bring your whole self to work, which is one of the best things about working at Cloudflare.”

The ERGs at Cloudflare have helped us realize the power of community and how critical it is for hybrid work. What I have learned alongside our ERG leaders is that if we as individuals want to feel connected, understood and seen, our ERG communities are essential. You can check out all the incredible ERGs on the Life at Cloudflare page, and I encourage you to consider starting an ERG at your company.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a proud member of the HBCU (Historically Black College or University) alumni. The HBCU Smart Cities Challenge invites all HBCUs across the United States to build technological solutions to solve real-world problems. When I learned that Cloudflare would be supporting the HBCU Smart Cities Challenge, I was on board immediately for so many personal reasons.

In addition to volunteering mentors as part of this partnership, Cloudflare offered HBCU Smart Cities the opportunity to apply for Project Galileo to protect and accelerate their online presence. Project Galileo provides free cyber security protection to free speech, public interest, and civil society organizations that are vulnerable to cyber attacks. After more than three years working at Cloudflare, I know that we can make the difference in bridging the gap in accessibility to the digital landscape by directly securing the Internet against today’s threats as well as optimizing performance, which plays a bigger role than most would think.

A Historically Black College or University is defined as “any historically black college or university that was established prior to 1964, whose principal mission was, and is, the education of black Americans, and that is accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association determined by the Secretary of Education.” (Source: What is an HBCU? HBCU Lifestyle).  I had the honor of graduating from the nation’s first degree-granting HBCU, Lincoln University of Pennsylvania.

One of the main reasons that I decided to attend a HBCU is that the available data suggests that HBCUs close the socioeconomic gap for Black students more than other high-education institutions (Source: HBCUs Close Socioeconomic Gap, Here’s How, 2021). This is exemplified by my own experience — I was a student that came from a low-income background, and became the first generation college graduate in my family. I believe it is due to HBCUs providing a united, supportive, and safe space for people from the African diaspora which equips us to be our best.

There are a wide range of problems the HBCU Smart Cities Challenge invites students to tackle. These problems include water management in Tuskegee, AL; broadband and security access in Raleigh, NC; public health for the City of Columbia, SC; and affordable housing in Winston-Salem, NC—just to name a few. Applying skills with smart technology to real-life problems helps improve upon the existing infrastructure in these cities.

To solve these problems, the challenge brings together students at HBCUs to build smart city applications. Over several months, developers, entrepreneurs, designers, and engineers will develop tech solutions using Internet of Things technology. In October, Cloudflare presented as part of a town hall in the HBCU Smart Cities series. We encouraged local leaders to think about using historic investments in broadband buildout to also lay the foundation for Smart Cities infrastructure at the same time. We described how, with solid infrastructure in place, the Smart Cities applications that are built on top of that infrastructure- would be fast, reliable, and secure — which is a necessity for infrastructure that residents rely on.

Here are some quotes from Norma McGowan Jackson, District 1 Councilwoman of City of Tuskegee and HBCU Smart City Fellow Arnold Bhebhe:

"As the council person for District 1 in the City of Tuskegee, which represents Tuskegee University, as the Council liaison for the HBCU Smart Cities Challenge, as a Tuskegee native, and as a Tuskegee Institute, (now University) alumnae, I am delighted to be a part of this collaboration. Since the days of Dr. Booker T. Washington, the symbiotic relationship between the Institute (now University) and the surrounding community has been acknowledged as critical for both entities and this opportunity to further enhance that relationship is a sure win-win!"- Norma McGowan Jackson, District 1 Councilwoman of City of Tuskegee

"The HBCU Smart Cities Challenge has helped me to better understand that even though we live in an unpredictable world, our ability to learn and adapt to change can make us better innovators. I’m super grateful to have the opportunity to reinforce my problem-solving, creativity, and communication skills alongside like-minded HBCU students who are passionate about making a positive impact in our community."- Arnold Bhebhe, Junior at Alabama State University majoring in computer science

Attending an HBCU was one of the best decisions I have made in my life, and my motivation was seeing the product of HBCU graduates — noting that the first woman Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris, is a HBCU graduate from Howard University.

The biggest honor for me is having the opportunity to build on the brilliance of these college students in this partnership, because I was in their shoes almost 25 years ago.

Further, to help protect websites associated with HBCU Smart Cities projects, Cloudflare has invited students in the program to apply for Project Galileo.

Finally, the HBCU Smart Cities Challenge are continually looking for mentors, sponsors and partnerships, as well as support and resources for the students. If you’re interested, please go here to learn more.

At Cloudflare, we have strived to build a workplace where our entire team feels safe and excited to bring their whole selves to work, so they can do their best work. That’s why we are proud to share that Cloudflare has been named one of the Top 100 Most Loved Workplaces in 2022 by Newsweek and Best Practice Institute (BPI). Most Loved Workplaces recognizes companies where their workers love, and feel in sync with, the company they work for.

With this, and as we’re approaching the end-of 2022, we thought this was a good time to reflect on some of the things that go into being one of these Most Loved Workplaces and just some of what makes up our workplace and culture.

Something that really grounds our entire team is Cloudflare’s mission: to help build a better Internet. When you are solving some of the toughest challenges facing the Internet — helping make the Internet secure, fast, private, and reliable globally — you need a range of talented individuals to do this. The people at Cloudflare are exactly that, and are essential to our impact on the Internet.

The Internet wasn’t built for what it’s being used for today. In order for the Internet to work the way it does today, from powering critical infrastructure, to making it so that a busy working parent can order a healthy dinner right to their home, requires constant innovation on our part to make sure these online services can withstand the demand online, load quick, and not face cyber attacks and breaches. Cloudflare has a significantly large responsibility online, with about 20% of the web running through our network today — and every single team member here is contributing to this.

In addition to the results from Newsweek and BPI, Cloudflare additionally conducted an internal survey of its global team. This presented results of 94% of surveyed employees stating that they are inspired by Cloudflare’s mission to help build a better Internet. At Cloudflare, 92% of employees say their manager treats them with respect and 92% state that their work is important to the company.

“I've worked for so many Fortune 500, top companies in tech, and never have I felt more valued and grown so much than at Cloudflare. I love going to work, love working with my manager and team, we learn so much from each other and are motivated to smash sales goals and grow our presence in the world. ”

“...I love this company, management, and most of all my team. I am proud to be building a better Internet, and will continue to do so for years to come.”

“Honestly it is the best I've ever worked; it is a lot of work, and sometimes it can be stressful, but I'm sure I can count on my manager for support, and they take their time to explain again and again without making me feel bad for asking.”

“Having had the privilege to work at Cloudflare for the past five years, I can genuinely attest that our people are clearly our biggest asset. I personally feel empowered, respected, and yet intellectually challenged daily. It is impressive for any single company to assemble such a diverse and thoughtful group of co-workers. And it all starts with our leadership.”

Cloudflare offers a comprehensive total rewards and benefits package, and invests in supporting team members through a variety of initiatives and programs.

Examples of benefits range — from our commuter benefits program, for employees working in an office or a hybrid role, we help support the transportation costs associated with commuting — to health and family benefits programs including fertility, caregiving, childcare, and family forming/planning, as well as emotional and mental health benefits — and, we encourage everyone to find a comfortable work-life balance by offering a take-what-you-need vacation policy.

One example of programs is Cloudflare’s Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), employee-led and company-supported groups of underrepresented and/or marginalized employees. These groups are focused on key Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives with leaders, executives, and members for each group, who join together in the workplace based on shared characteristics, life experiences, or interests. ERGs are generally based on creating a community of support and belonging, enhancing career development of their members, and contributing to the development of a more inclusive culture at Cloudflare. Today we have 16 ERGs at Cloudflare ranging from Proudflare, Womenflare, and Afroflare to Cloudflarents and Mindflare (you get the theme!).

What’s been at the center of how we’ve approached supporting our team these past couple years is flexibility and experimentation. Cloudflare’s workplace shifted from completely in-office since the company’s launch and leading up to March 2020, to then an entirely new remote environment that we hadn’t had before. This has been a big experiment for us, and it’s an honor to be recognized among the top workplaces uplifting its people. We recognize that every team’s needs are different and that most of us want some level of flexibility in how and where we work. At Cloudflare, we support a variety of work environments that give teams the opportunity to establish their own optimal working arrangements. Whether that be hybrid, remote, or in-office that fit with their objectives and enable collaboration — each employee has flexibility.

Cloudflare has grown its global team by 93% over the past two years and has overall prioritized the recruitment, retention, as well as success of employees. To give a sense of this, in 2021 we received more than 200,000 competitive applications, extending 1,455 offers — while seeing a 92% acceptance rate across the board, and alongside continuously low attrition rates.

Now approaching the end-of 2022, we have over 3,100 team members globally. As our co-founder, President & COO Michelle Zatlyn says, “Companies are collections of people. One of the best parts of my job is the people I get to work with.” And we are continuing to hire worldwide with hundreds of open positions across the organization ranging from Sales to Engineering. To learn more about the Cloudflare career opportunities, please check out Cloudflare Careers! And an enormous high-five to the entire Cloudflare team for your continuous effort and hand in helping build a better Internet.

“I would venture to guess that Anon,who wrote so many poems without signing them,was often a woman.” - Virginia Woolf

Welcome to International Women’s Day 2022! Here at Cloudflare, we are happy to celebrate it with you! Our celebration is not only this blog post, but many events prepared for the month of March: our way of honoring Women’s History Month by showcasing women’s empowerment. We want to celebrate the achievements, ideas, passion and work that women bring to the world. We want to advocate for equality and to achieve gender parity. And we want to highlight the brilliant work that our women colleagues do every day. Welcome!

This is a time of celebration but also one to reflect on the current state. The global gender gap is not expected to close for another 136 years. This gap has also worsened due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has negatively impacted the lives of women and girls by deepening pre-existing inequalities. Improving this state is a collective effort—we all need to get involved!

First, let’s introduce ourselves. We are Womenflare—Cloudflare’s Employee Resource Group (ERG) for all who identify as and advocate for women. We’re an employee-led group that is here to empower, represent, and support.

Our purpose is not only to celebrate women’s achievements but also to shed a light on inequalities. That is why for International Women’s Day 2022, we’re joining in focusing on the theme of #BreakTheBias throughout our month of events and activities:

Internally, we are kicking off our celebration on March 8. We will be joined by several women from North Coast hip hop improv comedy group. We hope this fun and freestyle event will encourage participants to think about unconscious biases, breaking them down, and how they can get more involved in empowering the women around them.

Following our kick-off celebrations, we’re hosting open discussions about intersectionality and allyship alongside some of our fellow Employee Resource Groups including Afroflare, Asianflare, Flarability, and Nativeflare. It’s important to us to include other ERGs in these conversations since the goal of empowerment, representation, and support is shared among us and can’t be done alone. And we want to play closer attention to the layers that form a person’s social identity, creating compounding experiences of discrimination. “All inequality is not created equal,” says Kimberlé Crenshaw, the law professor who coined “intersectional feminism” term in 1989. Understanding the way different inequalities play a role in a person’s life means understanding the history, systematic discrimination, and the non-uniformity of it.

Last year, we brought together an internal panel of women leaders at Cloudflare to share their journeys and lessons learned. It was extremely well received, so we decided to build upon its success by inviting another group of internal women leaders to discuss their experiences and insights with us. Some important takeaways from these panel discussions have been the realization that most backgrounds and journeys are vastly different, paths to success are often rocky but rewarding, and perseverance, tenacity, and an open mind, often rule the day. What better way to learn from others and encourage more women to lead!

Allyship is integral to systemic change. An ally is someone who recognizes unearned privileges in their lives and takes responsibility to end patterns of injustice. At Cloudflare, we’re working hard to build more diverse and equitable teams, as well as create and maintain an environment that is inclusive and welcoming. There are many actions you can take as an ally; some include:

• Educating yourself: listen to the experiences of your women colleagues and work with them to understand their perspectives.

• Amplifying women’s opinions and advocating for them: speak up for others and champion them when they need support and encouragement.

• Taking action in the workplace: if you see inequality or discrimination happening, reach out to discuss further and understand what can be done.

• Advocating for diversity: talk with your peers and leaders about the ways you can get involved with improving diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Celebrate International Women’s Day and Women’s Empowerment Month in your own creative ways! And all throughout the year, remember to empower women and to recognize them in such a way that their work is no longer anonymous. Join the #IWD2022 movement — #BreakTheBias this month and beyond!

Today is the International Holocaust Remembrance Day. On this day, we commemorate the victims that were murdered by the Nazis and their accomplices.

During the Holocaust, and in the events that led to it, the Nazis exterminated one third of the European Jewish population. Six million Jews, along with countless other members of minority and disability groups, were murdered because the Nazis believed they were inferior.

Cloudflare’s Project Galileo provides free protection to at-risk groups across the world including Holocaust educational and remembrance websites. During the past year alone, Cloudflare mitigated over a quarter of a million cyber threats launched against Holocaust-related websites.

In the Second World War and the years leading up to it, antisemitism served as the foundation of racist laws and fueled violent Pogroms against Jews. The tipping point was a night of violence known as the Kristallnacht ("Night of Broken Glass"). Jews and other minority groups were outlawed, dehumanized, persecuted and killed. Jewish businesses were boycotted, Jewish books burned and synagogues destroyed. Jews, Roma and other “enemies of the Reich'' were forced into closed ghettos and concentration camps. Finally, as part of the Final Solution for the Jewish Question, Germany outlined a policy to deliberately and systematically exterminate the Jewish race in what came to be known as the Holocaust.

As part of the Final Solution, the Nazis deployed mobile killing units. Jews were taken to forests near their villages, forced to dig mass graves, undress, and then shot — falling into the mass graves they dug. This was the first step. However, this was “inefficient”. More “efficient” solutions were engineered using deadly gas. Eventually, six main extermination camps were established. They were extremely “efficient” at exterminating humans. Initially, the Nazis experimented with gas vans for mass extermination. Later, they built and operated gas chambers which could kill more humans and do it faster. After being gassed, prisoners would load the bodies into ovens in crematoriums to be burned. In one of the larger death camps, Auschwitz-Birkenau, more than one million Jews were murdered — some 865,000 were gassed and burned on arrival.

Seventy-seven years later, sadly, racism and antisemitism are once again on the rise and have gained traction across Europe during the pandemic and across UK university campuses. Earlier this week, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres decried the resurgence of antisemitism and said that “...the rise in antisemitism — the oldest form of hate and prejudice — has seen new reports of physical attacks, verbal abuse, the desecration of Jewish cemeteries, synagogues vandalized, and last week the hostage-taking of the rabbi and members of Beth Israel Congregation in Colleyville, Texas.”

It is through education that we will defeat bigotry and racism, and we will do our part at Cloudflare — through education and by supporting Holocaust educational organizations.

“Our response to ignorance must be education”- United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres

As part of Project Galileo, we currently provide free security and performance products to more than 1,500 organizations in 111 countries. These organizations are targeted by cyber attacks due to their critical work. These groups include human rights defenders, independent media and journalists, and organizations that work in strengthening democracy. Among them are organizations dedicated to educating about the horrors of the Holocaust, and preserving and telling the stories of the victims and survivors of the Holocaust to younger and future generations.

Over the past year, we’ve seen cyber attacks on Holocaust-related websites gradually increase throughout the year. These attacks include mostly application-layer attacks that were automatically detected and mitigated by Cloudflare’s Web Application Firewall and DDoS Protection systems.

In May 2021, cyber attacks on Holocaust-related websites peaked as they increased by 263% compared to their monthly average.

Cloudflare’s mission is to help build a better Internet. Part of this mission includes protecting free expression online for vulnerable groups.

The Internet can be a powerful tool in this matter. However, organizations often face attacks from powerful and entrenched opponents, yet operate on limited budgets and lack the resources to secure themselves against malicious traffic intended to silence them. If they are silenced, the Internet stops fulfilling its promise.

To combat the threats, Cloudflare’s Project Galileo provides robust security and performance products for at-risk public interest websites at no cost. Application to Project Galileo is open to any vulnerable public interest website. You can apply via our partners or apply directly to Project Galileo if you don’t have any affiliation with our trusted partners.

Many of us, like myself, are descendants of Holocaust survivors. My grandparents fled from Nazi-occupied Poland to survive. Sadly, my grandparents — as other elderly survivors, are no longer with us. Many of us have faced antisemitism in various forms. Together, we are part of Cloudflare’s Employee Resource Group for Cloudflare’s Jewish community: Judeoflare. We have a responsibility to make sure the world remembers and never forgets the atrocities of the Holocaust and what racism and antisemitism can lead to.

At Cloudflare, we have our eyes set on an ambitious goal: to help build a better Internet. Today the company runs one of the world’s largest networks that powers approximately 25 million Internet properties. This is made possible by our 1,900 team members around the world. We believe the key to achieving our potential is to build diverse teams and create an environment where everyone can do their best work.

That is why we place a lot of value on the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion. Diversity, equity, and inclusion lead to better outcomes through improved decision-making, more innovative teams, stronger financial returns and simply a better place to work for everyone.

To become more diverse, equitable, and inclusive, we believe it’s important to focus on communities within and around our company.

At Cloudflare, like most workplaces, there are built-in communities: your direct team, your cross-functional partners and (because we take onboarding very seriously) your new hire class. These communities, especially the first two, are important to help you get your job done. But we want more than that for our team at Cloudflare. We believe that community builds connection and fosters a sense of belonging.

Because of that, we have supported the growth of over 16 Employee Resource Groups (ERG’s). We use the term ERG broadly at Cloudflare. We have many ERG’s focused on traditionally under-represented groups in tech: Afroflare (Black, African diaspora), Latinflare, and Womenflare; groups that have been historically marginalized: Proudflare (LGBTQIA+), Cloudflarents (parents and caregivers); as well as interest and affinity groups like Mindflare and Soberflare. To read more about all of our ERGs, visit our diversity, equity, and inclusion webpage or read about them on our blog. In addition to creating a community of support and belonging, our ERGs also work to enhance career development of their members and contribute to the development of a more inclusive culture at Cloudflare.

We define an inclusive culture as one where everyone feels safe, welcome and respected with a sense of belonging. We do not leave this to chance. We make investments in training and programs to develop and deepen the skills needed to nurture and preserve inclusive communities at Cloudflare.

One of our earliest offerings was Ally Skills training. The aim of this workshop is to help build awareness of the types of behavior and language which can be harmful to inclusivity at Cloudflare, and teach simple, everyday ways to support people who are targets of systemic oppression. During the workshop, team members share strategies on how to act as allies and how to create a long-lasting, inclusive culture at Cloudflare. As the program was being rolled out, the management team did the workshop together and quickly realized these were not skills reserved for ‘allies’ but it was our expectation that this was how all of our team members treated each other. These were necessary skills to be successful at Cloudflare. As a result, we reworked some pieces of the workshop and renamed it: How We Work Together.

We have also partnered with Paradigm IQ and Included to create a three-part Unconscious Bias Education Program. These workshops are a mix of eLearning and facilitated workshops where we learn about how to help mitigate unconscious bias and make our company a more welcoming and inclusive place for everyone. tEQuitable is an additional comprehensive resource which helps us create a safe, inclusive, and equitable workplace. They provide an independent sounding board where our employees may confidentially raise a concern, access a just-in-time learning platform, and get advice from professional Ombuds. They also help us identify systemic workplace issues and provide us with actionable recommendations for how to improve our workplace culture. What we especially love about tEQuitable is that it’s all about empowering our employees with tools and resources to address issues that may be impacting them, or they may witness impacting others, so we all play an active role in maintaining and nurturing our culture.

One other program worth highlighting is our Week On: Learning and Inclusion. This program came as a response to the murder of George Floyd in the US at the end of May 2020. Our Afroflare global leaders suggested we use Juneteenth as a full-day of deep learning from external experts on topics ranging from the history of race and racism to the psychological impact of racism on people of color. In 2021, we expanded it from a one-day program to a week full of programming with topics ranging from antiracism keynotes, inclusive people management workshops and inclusive recruiting practices.

Increasing awareness and skill-building is valuable, but it is not enough. We also have to hold ourselves accountable by analyzing data, setting goals and measuring progress objectively. Each year we set company-wide goals around our diversity, and for the last few years we’ve added individual goals for managers — one focused on building a more diverse team, and one focused on building an inclusive team culture.

We also place a high value on behaviors at Cloudflare. This is imperative because we believe that culture is defined by the behaviors we reward. So in order to have a healthy and inclusive culture, we must reward the behaviors that promote and preserve that. We have defined these behaviors as our Cloudflare Capabilities.

We screen for these Capabilities during our interview process, and they are used in performance and promotion conversations. We hold ourselves accountable by using a very simple formula: Performance = results + behaviors. Equally weighted.

Speaking of interviewing, hiring is an important part of our diversity story. We believe that diverse teams win, and we put in a lot of effort to build diverse teams across the company. We have many team members who took unconventional paths into tech, and we believe that makes us stronger as a company. In fact, many of our job descriptions read: We realize people do not fit into neat boxes. We are looking for curious and empathetic individuals who are committed to developing themselves and learning new skills, and we are ready to help you do that. We cannot complete our mission without building a diverse and inclusive team.

In addition to an inclusive and expansive mindset around hiring, we also have interviews dedicated specifically to fit against our Capabilities, as well as leveraging technology and tools to help identify great talent who help to increase the diversity of our teams.

We have also made investments in events and partnerships that help support our diversity recruiting efforts. In August 2016, Cloudflare was one of the first companies to partner with Path Forward when it first launched its program in California. [Fun fact: that’s how I learned about Cloudflare and became interested in working here]. In Singapore, we have a similar partnership with Mums@Work.

We also engage with organizations and participate in events that help us reach talent from underrepresented groups. We have sponsored and spoke on stage at events like Lesbians Who Tech and Grace Hopper, where our co-founder, President and COO, Michelle Zatlyn, delivered the keynote in 2020. We regularly attend events and conferences hosted by AfroTech, Women Who Code, Girls Who Code, TAPIA, NSN, and more.

Our ethos is to support and connect with external communities as well. Prior to the pandemic, when our offices were fully open and social and professional events were a thing, we regularly hosted external organizations to host events in our communal spaces. One example of such an organization is Wu Yee Children’s Services, a San Francisco Chinatown-based nonprofit that connects parents and caregivers to affordable childcare options, offers payment assistance to low-income families, and other family and community services. We were honored to host their orientation session. Another organization we hosted was Women Who Code SF. We regularly hosted their “ algorithm and interview prep” workshops, which helped women coders gain the skills they need to land good jobs in the tech industry. Unlike many of our tech company peers, we did not offer free lunch five days a week. It was important to us that our team members got out of the office and supported local businesses and restaurants. It is important that we do not isolate ourselves, but rather are part of a larger community.

We also believe in giving back to our local communities. Prior to COVID, Cloudflare dedicated one week every year to volunteer efforts. Coordinated across many of our large office locations, we would dedicate each day for a full week volunteering at employee-nominated, local non-profit organizations. Our participation pivoted to virtual during COVID, but we are anxious to return to in-person giving when we can.

While we are proud of these efforts, it is in using Cloudflare products and services for good that is truly special. Cloudflare’s mission to help build a better Internet means we are in a unique position to help vulnerable websites, applications and services be safer, faster and more reliable online.

A few to highlight:

Organizations working in the arts, human rights, civil society, journalism, or democracy, may apply for Project Galileo to get Cloudflare’s cybersecurity protection, for free. Since 2014, we’ve been leveraging our services to support vulnerable public interest web properties including, but are not limited to: minority rights organizations, human rights organizations, independent media outlets, arts groups, and democracy and voter protection programs.

Our support of one of these organizations has blossomed over the years. We are proud to announce our partnership with The Trevor Project. 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. We support the organization through monetary donations, a partnership with our LGBTQIA+ Employee Resource Group, Proudflare, and free Cloudflare services through our Project Galileo Program.

Since 2017, we have donated about $8 million in cybersecurity tools under Project Galileo.

Cloudflare launched the Athenian Project in 2017 to provide our highest level of cybersecurity services for free to state and local governments in the United States that run elections. The project is designed to protect these websites tied to elections including information related to voting and polling places, voter registration and sites that publish election results. And voter data from cyberattack, and keep them online. During the 2020 U.S. election, we worked closely with civil society and government agencies to share threat information that we saw targeted against these participants and protected more than 292 websites in 30 states, including the Missouri Secretary of State, Solano County in California and The Colorado Department of State.

In recognition that election security is a global issue, we recently announced our partnerships with the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, National Democratic Institute and International Republican Institute to extend our cybersecurity protections to election management bodies around the world, as well as organizations that support free and fair elections. We look forward to continuing our work to protect resources in the voting process and help build trust in democratic institutions around the world.

Around the world, governments, hospitals, and pharmacies are struggling to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine. Technical limitations are causing vaccine registration sites to crash under the load of registrations. At Cloudflare, we want to help. Cloudflare's Waiting Room feature allows organizations with more demand for a resource — be it concert tickets, new edition sneakers, or vaccines — to allow individuals to queue and then allocate access. Waiting Rooms can be deployed in front of any existing registration website without requiring code changes. As we watched the world struggle to fairly and efficiently distribute the COVID-19 vaccine we wanted to lend our technologies and expertise to help. Under Project Fair Shot, Cloudflare is providing Waiting Room to any government agency, hospital, pharmacy, or other organization facilitating the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine for free until anyone who wants to be vaccinated can be, until at least 31-December 2021.

We all need to work together to get past this incredibly difficult time worldwide and are humbled to have helped so many different organizations around the world such as the County of San Luis Obispo, Verto Health, and the Ministry of Health for the Republic of Latvia, and more!

At Cloudflare, we believe in being principled, curious and transparent. Publishing our diversity report is aligned with these values.

We are Principled: One of the Cloudflare Capabilities is “Do the Right Thing” — that includes long-term thinking about how we build an innovative and sustainable workforce. We have a fundamental belief that fairness is the right thing. We believe that equity is the right thing.

We are Curious: Creating a more diverse and sustainable workforce is hard work. We want to draw lessons from the things we try, and we want to learn from what others are trying. Sustainable communities is not a zero-sum game, and we believe we can all benefit as an active part of the broader community.

We believe in Transparency: For many years, we have been transparent with our team about our diversity data and our goals, and we have measured our progress regularly. Now we are taking the step to share publicly because we believe in accountability and accept the responsibility to build a diverse and sustainable workforce.

You can check out our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion webpage with our diversity report here.

While there is always more work to be done, we are grateful for the empathetic and curious team that makes Cloudflare what it is today. Together, we are optimistic we can build a better — and more inclusive — Internet.

Employee resource groups (ERGs) are important to a company’s success. They foster community and a sense of belonging, help drive organizational change, and improve the overall quality of an organization’s culture. Most importantly, they help organizations become more diverse, equitable, and inclusive. I’d love to share the history of ERGs at Cloudflare, as well as how they function and help influence the company.

When I joined Cloudflare in 2017, one of the first things I did was search “LGBTQ” in our company chat. A chat room of a dozen or so employees titled “LGBT at Cloudflare'' popped up. There was evidence of some historic chatter in the room, and it was clear some employees had gathered for drinks after work before. I immediately introduced myself to the group, and asked if they would be okay with me setting up a meet & greet event. We booked a conference room, ordered lunch, found an article to discuss, introduced ourselves, and collectively decided we wanted to continue hosting such events. In our second meeting, we decided we should make things official by deciding on a name. This was the birth of Proudflare, our employee resource group (ERG) for LGBTQIA+ employees and our allies, and the first official Cloudflare ERG. I was honored to serve as Proudflare’s first global leader.

Cloudflare employees have founded and advanced fifteen other ERGs since 2017. Afroflare, our ERG for people of the African Diaspora, was the next ERG to form, later in 2017. The most recent is Flarability, our accessibility ERG. All of our groups are focused on fostering community, celebrating diversity, supporting career development, and educating those around us, but serve different communities. We decided early on that if each ERG focuses on education, celebration, and inclusion, we’ll be successful in supporting our underrepresented communities and stimulating positive change at our company. We have come a long way and still have a lot of change to make, but I can safely say that we have definitely helped make Cloudflare more diverse, inclusive, and equitable.

Scroll down to read the mission statements of each of Cloudflare’s ERGs. You may also read more about our ERGs through blog posts they’ve published at Cloudflare.

Our definition: At Cloudflare, ERGs are employee-led and company-supported groups of underrepresented and/or marginalized employees or groups of employees who are focused on key Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives. These employees join together in the workplace based on shared characteristics, life experiences, or initiatives. ERGs are generally based on creating a community of support and belonging, enhancing career development of their members, and contributing to the development of a more inclusive culture at Cloudflare.

ERGs are led by passionate volunteer employees who serve in roles as global leaders, regional leads, initiative leads, communications leads, and executive advocates. We ERG leaders agreed early on to support each other in our work, so we formed an Inclusion Council. This council is made up of all ERG leaders as well as Cloudflare’s inclusion workshop facilitators and serves as a steering committee in order to surface and incite feedback on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) topics. We meet monthly, in rotating time zones so we may include leaders from all regions. Some of our most successful ERG partnership initiatives were forged in our Inclusion Council meetings between Womenflare and Afroflare, Asianflare and Desiflare, Mindflare and Proudflare, Latinflare and Afroflare, and more.

Most ERGs leverage executive advocates to help gain support from our senior executives and help those executives become more involved in DEI initiatives. Advocates meet regularly with ERG leaders, review company-wide or external-facing ERG communications, amplify the voices and visibility of ERGs through written communications and participation in events, and advocate for the ERG at the executive level. An example of a successful partnership between an Executive Advocate and an ERG is our CTO, John Graham-Cumming and Womenflare. John has held several meetings with Womenflare members to listen to their needs and experiences, share company decisions, and find ways to better advocate for the women of Cloudflare. He also meets with Womenflare’s leaders biweekly to help with major initiatives and any roadblocks to progress.

The most important function of an ERG is to create a sense of belonging and community amongst their members and allies through chat room conversations and regular connection opportunities. ERGs typically also produce initiatives around global education and celebration opportunities such as Women’s Empowerment Month, Black History Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, etc. These initiatives include DEI discussion events, company-wide presentations, company-wide emails, blog posts, social media campaigns, Cloudflare TV segments, publication of antiracism resources, spotlighting of underrepresented and marginalized employees, advising Cloudflare teams on decisions such as inclusive benefits package selection and accessible office space construction, and helping to promote inclusion education programs.

Through these connection opportunities and initiatives, ERGs influence the overall organization. They attract more allies and encourage them to take DEI actions, help educate employees on systemic barriers to DEI, and help make the workplace more inclusive and enjoyable for everyone. I see ERGs as impactful grass-roots movements within a company and I’ve witnessed their positive impact firsthand.

Thank you for reading about Cloudflare’s ERGs. Sixteen ERGs is a good number, but I’m really looking forward to supporting the foundation and growth of even more, and helping our existing ERGs flourish. If you are interested in starting an ERG at your company or learning more about ERG best practices, I encourage you to check out the Human Rights Campaign’s article, Establishing an Employee Resource Group.

Our mission is to help build a better Global Afro-community at Cloudflare and beyond. We support each other's growth, share our community’s stories, and help to make Cloudflare a more diverse and inclusive company.

We provide a supportive environment for all employees of Asian and Pacific Islander heritage, work to create more awareness of the struggles our community has faced and continues to face today, and celebrate our rich shared cultures.

We provide community and resources for parents and families, and welcome allies, people who are interested in becoming a parent, or who are family-oriented.

We foster networking and build a sense of community amongst Cloudflare employees using the rich South Asian culture as a platform to bring people together.

We curate and share resources about disabilities, provide a community space for those with disabilities and our allies to find support and thrive, and encourage and guide Cloudflare’s accessibility programs.

Greencloud is a sustainability-focused working group made up of Cloudflare employees who are passionate about the environment and addressing the climate crisis.

We provide a forum for the Jewish people of Cloudflare where we support each other and celebrate our shared heritage.

The mission of Latinflare is to help create a more diverse workplace, create a sense of community + belonging for Latinx employees, and connect with the communities where we work.

We provide the Cloudflare community resources around mental health, as well as increase awareness and destigmatize mental health more broadly throughout our communities.

With a shared goal of education, we recognize the heritage and cultural presence of Native American employees at Cloudflare and illuminate the historical impact of policies and racism that continue to fuel prejudice and injustice, even to this day.

Our mission is to Educate and Celebrate, Globally! We find ways to support and provide resources for the LGBTQIA+ community and make sure that the Cloudflare community is a welcoming, inclusive place for all.

Ensure the Cloudflare community is welcoming and inclusive to those abstaining from alcohol and/or drug use by increasing awareness and destigmatizing the decision to choose sobriety.

We encourage the recruitment and retention of veterans of military service from any military around the world. We also provide a supportive environment and community space for those who have served to network.

Our mission is supporting women's professional development and success within Cloudflare.

Our mission is to provide community experience and resources to help women in our sales organization to grow professionally and support each other collectively.

Womenflare's mission is to create a community where all who identify as women feel supported and represented at Cloudflare.

Hello, folks! I’m pleased to introduce myself and Cloudflare’s newest Employee Resource Group (ERG), Flarability, to the world. The 31st anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which happens to fall during Cloudflare’s Impact Week, is an ideal time to raise the subject of accessibility at Cloudflare and around the world.

There are multiple accessibility-related projects and programs at Cloudflare, including office space accessibility and website and product accessibility programs, some of which we will highlight in the stories below. I wanted to share my accessibility story and the story of the birth  and growth of our accessibility community with you.

Flarability began with a conversation between a couple of colleagues, almost two years ago. Some of us had noticed some things about the workspace that weren't as inclusive of people with disabilities as they could have been. For example, the open floor plan in our San Francisco office, as well as the positioning of our interview rooms, made it difficult for some to concentrate in the space. To kick off a community discussion, we formed a chat room, spread the word about our existence, and started hosting some meetings for interested employees and our allies. After a short time, we were talking about what to name our group, what our mission should be, and what kind of logo image would best represent our group.  

Our Mission: We curate and share resources about disabilities, provide a community space for those with disabilities and our allies to find support and thrive, and encourage and guide Cloudflare’s accessibility programs.

An example of how we have worked with the company was a recent Places Team consultation. As we redevelop our offices and workspaces for a return to what we are calling “back to better”, our Places Team wanted to be sure the way we design our future offices is as inclusive and accessible as possible. You may read more about how we have partnered with the Places Team in Nicole’s story below.

There is a lot of diversity amongst disabled people as there are many types of physical or mental impairments. Flarability includes employees with many of them. Some of us have intellectual disabilities such as autism and depression. Some of us have physical disabilities such as deafness and blindness. Several of us are not “out” about our disabilities and that’s definitely okay. The idea of our community is to provide a space for people to feel they can express themselves and feel comfortable. Historically, people with disabilities have been marginalized, even institutionalized. These days, there is much more awareness about and acceptance of disabilities, but there is a lot more work to be done. We are honored to take a central role in that work at Cloudflare.

I am not the only person with a disability at Cloudflare or who works to make Cloudflare more accessible to those with disabilities. We are proud to have many people with disabilities working at our company and I wanted to enable some key individuals with disabilities and supportive team members to share their experiences and stories.

Watson: “Accessibility means integration, having the same opportunities as everyone else to participate in society. My disability was seen as shameful and limiting, and it was only a few years before I started elementary school that New Jersey integrated children with disabilities into the classroom, ensuring that they received an adequate education. Growing up I was taught to hide who I was, and it's thanks to the self-advocacy that I am now proudly autistic.”

Nicole: “Workplace accessibility is one of the top priorities of Cloudflare's Places Team while we design and build our future office spaces. Feedback from our teammates in all our offices has always been a collaborative experience at Cloudflare. In previous years when opening a new office, the Places Team would crowdsource feedback from the company to adjust, or repair office features. Today, the Places Team involves a sync with Flarability leaders in the office design/construction process to discuss feedback and requests from coworkers with accessibility needs.

We also have an ergonomics and work accommodations program to ensure each of our teammates is sorted with workplace equipment that fits their individual needs.

Lastly, we want to provide multiple outlets for our teams to advocate for change. The Places Team hosts an internal anonymous feedback form, available to any teammate who feels comfortable submitting requests in a safe space.”

Janae: “Accessibility is important in the workplace. However, when people are not advocating for themselves, accessibility initiatives might not be leveraged to their fullest extent. When you don't communicate what is holding you back from being more productive, you are doing a disservice to the company, but most importantly you. Perhaps you work more efficiently with fewer distractions, yet your boss has assigned you a desk that is right next to a noisy area of the office. What would happen if you asked them for a different workspace? For example, I am hard of hearing. As an outsider, you may not notice, as I appear to be able to carry on a verbal, face-to-face conversation with ease. In reality, I am lip reading, attempting to filter ambient noise, and watching others’ body/facial movements to fully understand what is going on. I work best when in quieter, less distracting environments. However, I am able to work in loud, distracting environments, too; I am just not able to perform at my best in this kind of environment.

Lastly, I’d like to highlight that one day I was casually chatting with a co-worker about my struggles and a company co-founder overheard me. They offered to support me in any and all ways possible. The noisy, distracting office space I had was changed to a workspace in a corner, where less foot traffic and cross conversations happened. This simple adjustment and small deed that our co-founder acted on inspired me to help start Flarability. I want all employees to feel they can advocate for themselves and if they are not comfortable enough to do so, then to know that there are people who are willing and able to help them.”

We are looking forward to growing our Flarability membership, globally. We have already come a long way in our brief history, but we have many more employees to reach and support, company initiatives to advise, and future employees to recruit.

Thank you for reading our personal stories and the story of Flarability. I encourage all of you who are reading this to do some more reading about accessibility and find at least one way to support people with disabilities in your own community.

We would also love to connect with accessibility ERG leaders from other companies. If you’re reading this and are interested in collaborating, please hit me up at flarability@cloudflare.com.

Here at Cloudflare, we’re thrilled to celebrate International Women’s Day today! We have tons of events planned throughout the month of March, which is our way of honoring Women’s Empowerment Month. We’ll be making sure we acknowledge women’s achievements, raise awareness about women’s equality, and lobby for accelerated gender parity — Cloudflare style.

We take the International Women’s Day initiatives and its calls to action seriously. Then again, how could we not? The latest 2020 Global Gender Gap Report from the World Economic Forum indicates that it’ll take another 257 years to close the gender gap, if we continue at our current pace of progress. It’s going to take all of us to make a positive impact and accelerate the reality of a gender equal world.

Before we dive further into how we’re planning to celebrate International Women’s Day and Women’s Empowerment Month, we’d like to introduce ourselves. We’re Womenflare — Cloudflare’s Employee Resource Group (ERG) for all who identify as and advocate for women (Talea and Angela are the global Womenflare leads and John is the Womenflare executive advocate). We launched Womenflare on International Women’s Day in 2020, and it was one of the last things we did before we closed our offices due to the pandemic. To answer what you may be thinking: yes, it was a very awkward time to introduce a new ERG.

However, while sheltering-in-place we reflected, talked with the women of Cloudflare, and figured out what we wanted to do. And we were still able to partner with other Employee Resource Groups at Cloudflare and focus on discussions of intersectionality and how to be truly inclusive of all those who identify as women. After many thoughtful discussions, we landed on two themes for our overall objectives and guiding principles for everything we do. We want to make sure:

1. Women feel supported at Cloudflare, and

2. Women feel represented at Cloudflare.

These principles are represented in all the various initiatives we produce throughout the year, including projects to ensure women continue to have effective support channels and resources, a strong community at Cloudflare, and the opportunity to share their thoughts and opinions with leadership. International Women’s Day is not only a global celebration for us, it’s the one-year anniversary of Womenflare at Cloudflare. WOW — we have come a long way over the course of one complicated year.

Internally, we’re kicking off the celebrations across our global regions with Kat Hudson, one of the top female magicians in the UK performing close up magic, including on ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent!

Following this, we plan to hear from a number of women leaders at Cloudflare during several internal panels and workshops, as well as fireside chats that all, internal and external, can enjoy on Cloudflare TV. We’re excited to speak with many women at Cloudflare that we admire, including our very own co-founder, President & COO, Michelle Zatlyn and our SVP, Chief Product Officer, Jen Taylor.

1. Cloudflare TV: We have many new Cloudflare TV segments scheduled for all to enjoy in March — the #choosetochallenge edition. We’ll be inviting women we respect and admire, both at Cloudflare and from our networks, to chat with us about their journeys and celebrate their accomplishments. Just to name a few segments we’re excited about:

• There will be new episodes of Yes We Can hosted by Cloudflare’s co-founder, President & COO, Michelle Zatlyn. She’s got an amazing lineup including Christina Liu SVP, Chief Accounting Officer at Zendesk and Katherine Regnier, CEO and Founder of Coconut Software.

• Womenflare’s segment Unfiltered will feature new episodes as well. We plan to interview some incredible women. We’ll hear from Louise Story, Chief Product and Technology Officer & Chief News Strategist, WSJ and Alison Taylor, Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Jane, as well as many others.

• Keep an eye out for more Women’s Empowerment Month episodes on segments such as Silicon Valley Squares, Founder Focus, Recruiting Corner, and Delivery Management at Cloudflare!

2. Allyship Activities: It’s really important for all of us to promote discussion and foster opportunities around forging a gender equal world. First, we’re hosting our own internal women-focused Ally Skills panel and workshops to teach simple everyday ways to support women.

Second, we’re introducing the Womenflare Challenge. We realize it isn’t always straightforward to navigate allyship without additional guidance and education. To that end, we’ve shared the following:

• Forging a gender equal world is going to take all of us. One way to help is by actively taking ally actions. An ally is a member of a social group that enjoys some privilege and: (1) understands their own privilege and (2) is working to end oppression.

• Examples of acting as an ally to create gender equality for women could include amplifying women's voices, taking part in initiatives or work that strives to achieve gender equality, being an advocate for your women colleagues, speaking up when you witness gender bias, and more! As an ally, you are working to end the oppression of marginalized groups.

• We’ve created the following challenge card to engage our colleagues in allyship and celebrate our women colleagues. We encourage you to take at least one of the actions on the Women's Empowerment Month Challenge Card every week, but remember to be thoughtful with your actions throughout March and beyond! The goal is gender equality.

3. Interactive Activities: In addition to our celebration events, we have a number of fun internal activities planned, like Netflix Parties and a Pub Quiz across our global regions.

4. Hearing Women’s Voices: Lastly, we’re encouraging our women colleagues to present at our weekly All Hands meetings, write for our blog, and contribute their voices — throughout March and beyond.

We hope that you’ll be celebrating International Women’s Day and Women’s Empowerment Month in your own creative ways! Remember to #choosetochallenge this month and join the movement #IWD2021.

Today we are excited to announce Cloudflare has been named a “Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality” by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). This designation was earned by receiving a perfect score of 100 percent on the HRC’s 2021 Corporate Equality Index. The Corporate Equality Index (CEI) is a nationally recognized benchmarking tool that assesses the inclusivity of corporate policies, practices, and benefits for LGBTQIA+ employees.

Cloudflare’s mission is to “help build a better Internet”. An essential factor that helps us deliver on this mission is our people. When you are solving some of the toughest problems facing the Internet for users worldwide, you need talented individuals that contribute unique outlooks. We strive to build a workplace where our entire team feels comfortable and excited to bring their true authentic selves so they can do their best work.

2021 is the first year Cloudflare has been listed on the Index, but we have been paving this path for quite some time. Back in 2017 a few Cloudflare employees chartered Proudflare, Cloudflare’s first-ever Employee Resource Group (ERG). Proudflare serves as a community space for LGBTQIA+ employees and allies. Check out our Proudflare Launch blog to learn more on that process! Proudflare hosts educational events, celebrates LGBTQIA+ folks, and advocates for equality in the workplace and beyond. In 2019, right around the same time Cloudflare surpassed 500 full-time US-based employees, a requirement to be included in the CEI, a group of members took a look at how equitably LGBTQIA+ folks are represented in our policies, practices, and benefits.

As we set our sights on the CEI, it wasn’t enough for us to be included. In typical Cloudflare fashion, we set a lofty goal. If we were going to be listed we would hold ourselves accountable for being a truly inclusive workplace and receive the best score, of 100. This goal forced us to be diligent, proactive, and thoughtful. We organized a team of individuals across Proudflare, the Benefits, Legal, Facilities, Recruiting, and People teams, which led to the creation of some incredible new resources for employees.

The CEI ranking takes into account workforce protections (for sexual orientation and gender identity), inclusive benefits (equivalency for same and different sex spouses and domestic partners, and equal health coverage for transgender individuals) and specific guidelines around internal training for new hires and managers (that cover nondiscrimination, gender identity, sexual orientation) and best practices (such as gender transition guidelines) as well as efforts to recruit and reach out to the wider LGBTQIA+ community. The full report is here and includes details of everything that went into achieving the perfect 100 score.

Looking ahead, we will strive to maintain this score and continue to challenge ourselves to make Cloudflare an ever more inclusive place to work.

In February 2019, I started my journey at Cloudflare. Back then, we lived in a COVID-19 free world and I was lucky enough, as part of the employee onboarding program, to visit our San Francisco HQ. As I took my first steps into the office, I was greeted by a beautiful bouquet of Protea flowers at the reception desk. Being from South Africa, seeing our national flower instantly made me feel at home and welcomed to the Cloudflare family - this memory will always be with me.

Later that day, I learnt it was Black History Month in the US. This celebration included African food for lunch, highlights of Black History icons on Cloudflare’s TV screens, and African drummers. At Cloudflare, Black History Month is coordinated and run by Afroflare, one of many Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) that celebrates diversity and inclusion. The excellent delivery of Black History Month demonstrated to me how seriously Cloudflare takes Black History Month and ERGs.

Today, I am one of the Afroflare leads in the London office and led this year’s UK Black History Month celebration. 2020 has been a year of historical events, which made this celebration uniquely significant. George Floyd’s murder in the US increased the awareness of the Black Lives Matter movement across the world. The Nigerian #EndSARS movement against police brutality made global headlines and resulted in cyber attacks. The election of US Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris, the first female, African-American, and Asian-American to hold that position.

With the above mentioned, our approach during UK Black History Month was to celebrate the Past, Present, and Future of Black History. The past triumphs, as well as the contributions of people that are of African and Caribbean heritage, were celebrated through social media posts and internal emails, which documented their stories. Black History that is being made every day in the present was highlighted in fireside chats and interviews on Cloudflare TV for everyone to watch - at Cloudflare and the rest of the world. Finally, we wanted to take a look at the Future of rising stars and their actions that would make history by the strides taken today.

To showcase the incredible talent that we have at Cloudflare and highlight present contributions, we hosted knowledge share sessions delivered by experts in Business Development (Stephen Thompson), Customer Development (Jay Henderson), and Customer Success Management (Warren Rickards). All these talks are available as recordings on Cloudflare TV, and we encourage that you give them a watch!

We also had the honour of hosting phenomenal speakers through fireside chats on Cloudflare TV. These individuals are creating a positive impact in their communities today and are shaping the future of technology in Africa. My first chat was with Lungisa Matshoba, the CTO and Founder of Yoco, a payments company in South Africa that makes it easier for small businesses to accept payments and is positively impacting the South African economy.

Next, I spoke with Thando Tetty, the Head of Engineering at Investec UK, who shared stories from his career and the journey of immigrating from Eswatini to South Africa, then to the UK.  Finally, Cloudflare’s CSO and Afroflare’s Executive Advocate, Joe Sullivan, interviewed Ayotunde Coker, Managing Director at Rack Centre in Nigeria, who shared insights on the state of the Internet in Africa and spoke about African innovations contributing to technology at large.

By leveraging Cloudflare's infrastructure and using services like Cloudflare for Teams and Cloudflare TV, we were able to celebrate Black History Month UK for the first time as a company and remotely.

Coming from South Africa, where Black History Month doesn’t exist because Black History is made every day, it was crucial to surface these contributions and look beyond a single month, with the message of hope and by asking how we can celebrate Black History every day.

We aim to leave a legacy of hope and improve diversity and inclusion by believing that anything can be possible when you believe in yourself. In the words of the great Nelson Mandela,

“Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great. You can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom.” — London's Trafalgar Square in 2005.

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) in our workplace.

Is diversity recruiting the answer to anti-racism in the workplace?

Many Cloudflarians said we should increase our diversity recruiting efforts as part of the feedback we received after our Day On event. But recruiting more diverse candidates only solves one part of the problem. There are still two major hurdles to overcome:

• Employees need to feel welcome and have a sense of belonging

• Employees need to feel valued and have an equal opportunity for career advancement

Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) offer opportunities to foster community and a sense of belonging. But it is beyond the scope of an ERG to ensure all employees have equal opportunities for advancement. And honestly, this is where a lot of companies fall short. It’s the reason you see people sharing pictures and calling out management teams or boards of directors all over social media. Because there is a lack of visible signs of diversity at senior levels. Numbers can be misleading. A company might state, “We have 11% employees of this group or 8% of that group.” That’s great, but how many of these employees are thriving in their current roles and getting promoted at the same pace as their white counterparts? Or being compensated at the same rate as their male counterparts? The answers to those questions are much more telling, yet seldom shared.

Folks, if we are going to see meaningful change, we all need to get onboard with Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. It’s really not the type of thing that people can opt-in or out of. It won’t work. And even if, and when, everyone opts in to make DEI a priority, that won’t be enough. We won’t start to see real change until we are all living and breathing DEI day in and day out.

What does committing to DEI every day look like?

Doing something (anything) every day that flexes our DEI muscles and gets us closer to meaningful outcomes.

Examples include:

• Mentoring a person from an underrepresented group or asking someone from an underrepresented group to mentor you.

• Scheduling coffee meetings with underrepresented people around the company and finding out how you can help to amplify their voices.

• Providing candid, timely coaching to underrepresented employees to help them grow in their field or area of expertise.

• Learning to value the different approaches and styles that people from underrepresented groups bring to the workplace.

• Watching Cloudflare TV segments like, “Everyone at the Table” which airs weekly and promotes an open dialogue about everyday topics from the perspective of people with different perspectives.

• Hosting office-wide or team-wide “listening circles” where employees can share what a just and equitable workplace looks like to them.

• Requesting educational opportunities for your team or whole company such as implicit bias workshops or allyship workshops. Asking if your company’s leaders have attended similar workshops.

• Asking your manager/team leadership how you may help increase the diversity of your team.

• Suggesting ideas for building a more inclusive culture within your team such as running meetings in a manner where everyone has an equal opportunity to speak, keeping meetings and work social activities within working hours, and regularly hosting conversations about how the team can be more inclusive.

• And finally - asking the opinion of someone from an under-represented group. This one is especially important since so many of us are not present when critical decisions are being made.

Why is committing to DEI on a daily basis important?

• Because it’s easier for us to do nothing. Keeping the status quo is easy. Coming together to change the system is hard work. Especially if everyone is not on board.

• Because having a company full of underrepresented people who are not being heard, seen, celebrated, or promoted is not going to get us the outcomes we want. And trust me, it doesn’t take long to realize that you are not going to make it at a company. Racism, discrimination, and unfair treatment can be very subtle but under-represented people can tell when they are valued and appreciated. And when they are being set up to fail.

• Because we know too much. The system is broken. Underrepresented groups have always known this. But now that it is a fact most people acknowledge and accept, we can’t ignore it. A wise woman once said, "Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better." (Maya Angelou)

I’ll end my commentary with this: I view DEI as a journey that we must commit to every day. Here at Cloudflare. Across the tech industry. And in our world.

Notice I used the word journey. It’s not a destination in the sense that we do these 10 things and we have “arrived”. Instead, I believe it is a journey that we will always be on with milestones and achievements to be celebrated along the way.

To help you start flexing your DEI muscle, I’m kicking off a 21-Day DEI Challenge starting today! Every day, for the next 21 days, I challenge you to share in a public forum (bonus points for doing it on LinkedIn) how you are helping to move DEI forward. You can take a small step or a really big one. What matters is that you are flexing that muscle and challenging yourself (and others) to start the journey. #21DayDEIChallenge #BeAntiRacist #MoveTheNeedle

I hope you are up for the challenge that DEI offers us because the future of our company, industry, and society depends on it.

Postscript: This blog post is dedicated to the memory of the late Congressman John Lewis, a great civil rights leader and so much more, who challenged all of us to be brave enough to make noise and get into “good trouble” for the sake of justice and equality. Rest in Power, Mr. Lewis.

I came to the United States chasing the love of my life, today my wife, in 2015.

A Spanish native speaker, Portuguese as my second language and born in the Argentine city of Córdoba more than 6,000 miles from San Francisco, there is no doubt that the definition of "Latino" fits me very well and with pride.

Cloudflare was not my first job in this country but it has been the organization in which I have learned many of the things that have allowed me to understand the corporate culture of a society totally alien to the one which I come from.

I was hired in January 2018 as the first Business Development Representative for the Latin America (LATAM) region based in San Francisco. This was long before the company went public in September 2019. The organization was looking for a specialist in Latin American markets with not only good experience and knowledge beyond languages ​​(Spanish/Portuguese), but understanding of the economy, politics, culture, history, go-to-market strategies, etc.—I was lucky enough to be chosen as "that person". Cloudflare invested in me to a great extent and I was amazed at the freedom I had to propose ideas and bring them to reality. I have been able to experience far beyond my role as a sales representative: I have translated marketing materials, helped with campaigns, participated in various trainings, traveled to different countries to attend conferences and visit clients, and on.

Later, I was promoted as a sales executive for the North America (NAMER) region.

Cloudflare poster signed by colleagues after our Company retreat in 2018

I have been very fortunate to be able to closely observe the growth and maturity of the organization throughout my time here.

Today, Cloudflare has three times more employees than when I started, and I can say that much of what makes this organization unique has remained intact: Cloudflare's core mission is to help build a better Internet, to be transparent, to protect vulnerable yet important voices online through its Project Galileo, our open door policy, the importance of investing in people, among many others.

Myself with Matthew Prince and Michelle Zatlyn, co-founders of Cloudflare

In recent weeks I have participated in conversations around "how do we recruit more under-represented groups and avoid bias in the selection process" - This has really filled me with joy but is certainly not the first initiative of its kind at Cloudflare. The company takes pride in having several Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) created and led by employees and executive sponsors—and highly encouraged by the organization: Afroflare, Desiflare, Nativeflare, Latinflare, Proudflare, Soberflare and Vetflare are just some of those groups (we have over 16 ERGs to-date!).

At Cloudflare I have found a space where I can develop professionally, where my ideas count, and where I am allowed to make mistakes—this is not something that I have experienced in my previous roles with other employers. I am not afraid to admit that in other organizations I have felt the stigma of being a person of color and that the working conditions were unfair compared to my colleagues.

Cloudflare’s values have continued to shine through during the current COVID-19 situation ​​and we have strengthened overall as an organization.

Being an immigrant (a person of color) it is a challenge to make the decision to work for organizations that don't fully understand the value of adding more diversity to their workforce. Cloudflare is a company that does value diversity in its workforce and has demonstrated a genuine interest in recruiting as well as retaining under-represented groups and creating a collective learning environment for them and the rest of the teams within the organization.

The company is committed to increasing the diversity within our teams and we want more diverse candidates in our selection processes. To achieve this we want to invite you (or please encourage others) to visit our careers page for more information on full-time positions and internship roles at our locations across the globe and apply.

And if you have questions, I will leave you my email: pviera@cloudflare.com. It would be a pleasure to be able to guide you and put you in touch with the right people within Cloudflare to better understand our technology and where we are going. Your experience and skills are what we need to continue improving the Internet. Come join me at Cloudflare!

Our team culture lives inside and outside the company - Here is our Soccer team!

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.

Source: (https://www.milenio.com/cultura/la-batalla-de-puebla-minuto-a-minuto)

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 Mexican-American culture. These celebrations began in California, where they have been observed annually since 1863. The day gained nationwide popularity in the 1980s thanks especially to advertising campaigns by beer and wine companies. Today, Cinco de Mayo generates beer sales on par with the Super Bowl. WOW!

In Mexico, the commemoration of the battle continues to be mostly ceremonial, such as through military parades or battle reenactments. Cinco de Mayo is sometimes mistaken for Mexico's Independence Day—the most important national holiday in Mexico—which is celebrated on September 16th.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinco_de_Mayo

Photo credit: Gail Williams via Flickr.com (license information)

Before COVID-19, Latinflare members across the US were planning to host “dip contests” and “make-your-own-margarita happy hours” to recognize Cinco de Mayo. In our new “work from home” world, we decided to still celebrate the holiday, but in a new way. I asked members of Latinflare to share what the holiday means to them and their families. Here’s what they shared. Please feel free to share your own personal stories in the comments section if you'd like!

Having grown up in Mexico, my experience of Cinco de Mayo was quite different from many of my US-based friends and colleagues.

Originally_, Cinco de Mayo_ commemorated the Battle of Puebla, which took place on 5 May 1862. In that battle, the Mexican Army defeated the French Army, which later overran Mexican forces and conquered Mexico City. My experience of Cinco de Mayo was mostly as a bank holiday where you get to stay home from school or work. Other holidays like Día de la Independencia (Mexico's equivalent to 4th of July) get more headlines, fireworks, and celebrations. For the longest time, I didn't quite get when US-based friends would text me to wish me a "Happy Cinco."

One of the fascinating things about Latinflare, and other Employee Resource Groups at Cloudflare, is that you get to learn from colleagues and their collective experiences. Hearing stories -like the ones shared in this blog- about the significance of Cinco de Mayo to employees across the U.S. is fascinating. The Hispanic community in the US has augmented this day, which now celebrates the rich heritage of immigrant families from across Latin America. So from all our friends at Latinflare, I wish you a very happy Cinco!

About 7 years ago when I was still living in Guadalajara, Mexico, Cinco de Mayo was a regular workday (full of meetings) and I remember American co-workers asking me how I was going to celebrate!  I was like: “Why do you ask?”, “That’s not a Mexican holiday!", “We just had a holiday (May Day)”.  I had to Google it so that I could explain to Americans what this holiday was about: Cinco de Mayo celebrates the Mexican victory over France on that day back in 1862. It is also known as "Battle of Puebla”, referring to the state in central Mexico where the battle took place. That’s the only Mexican region where Cinco de Mayo is a major holiday.

I am still surprised how this minor holiday is more celebrated in the US than in Mexico, but celebrations are never a bad thing so, keep celebrating this date!! Viva Mexico!! Now that I live in the US, this is a great date to hang out with friends and share Mexican food (tacos, guacamole, nachos, etc.) so they can taste authentic Mexican food.

Unfortunately, in my experience, there are some misconceptions about this day: mainly that Cinco de Mayo is Mexico's Independence day (which it is not). Growing up in Mexico, Cinco de Mayo meant that I didn't have to go to school and got to stay home. In the US, however, it is a day to celebrate Hispanic heritage!

I don't really believe that Mexican families outside of Puebla are very aware of Cinco de Mayo. Even though I didn’t grow up in Puebla, I learned a bit more about the holiday due to the fact that my middle school in Ojocaliente, Zacatecas was named "Gral. Ignacio Zaragoza" after the general that defeated the French army in that battle in Puebla in 1862. This only made me try to be extra friendly to any French person that I've met. So even though we are not celebrating Mexican Independence Day,  I don’t have the heart to ruin the party for everyone.

Whatever your thoughts or experiences on the holiday, if you choose to celebrate it, we found some cool resources for celebrating the holiday at home. Here are just a few:

• Forbes “How to Celebrate Cinco de Mayo in Quarantine”

• Travel & Leisure “How to Celebrate Cinco de Mayo at Home”

• Do Awesome Stuff in Austin “How to do Cinco de Mayo at Home in Austin”

Wherever you are, we are wishing you a happy and healthy Cinco de Mayo!

Photo Credit: S Pakhrin via Wikipedia Commons ([license information](S Pakhrin from DC, USA / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)))

To learn more about Latinflare and how we got started, read our first blog post “Bienvenidos a Latinflare”.

Does Cloudflare sound like the type of place you’d like to work? We are hiring! Check out our careers page for more information on full time positions and internship roles at our locations across the globe.

Seven months ago, I joined Cloudflare to work on the Public Policy Team focusing on our democracy projects such as Project Galileo, Athenian Project and Cloudflare for Campaigns. Since I joined the team, I have learned a lot about how important cybersecurity protections are for organizations that are the target of sophisticated cyberattacks, while also learning about the complex election security environment in the United States and abroad.

It seems fitting that on International Women’s Day, a day people throughout the world are celebrating the achievements of women, we also celebrate the Centennial Anniversary of the Women’s Suffrage Movement which was the tipping point that gave many women voting rights in the United States.

Since I have been working on Cloudflare’s election security projects, this day means something extra special to me and many of my colleagues who believe that voting is the cornerstone of democracy and that having access to information regarding voting and elections is essential.

Here are five reflections that I want to share on International Women’s Day and the Centennial Anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment which granted women the right to vote in the United States:

The Women’s Suffrage movement burst into view in the United States in 1848 at the Seneca Falls Convention, where participants introduced the notion that women deserved their own political identity and that a righteous government cannot exist without equal rights for all. These organizers passed the torch to the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage, founded in 1913, which raised awareness through distributing pamphlets at street meetings, organizing parades, speaking tours, and petitioning Congress to pass legislation on the movement. In 1919, the Senate passed the Nineteenth Amendment and it was officially ratified on August 26, 1920.

With the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920, it technically granted women the right to vote. However, due to widespread inequality within the ranks of the women’s suffrage movement who primarily focused on white middle-class interests, many African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanics, and American Indian women did not receive the right to vote until later in the century. African American women were not guaranteed the right to vote until the Voting Right Acts of 1965. During the height of the civil rights movement, The Act was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson to prohibit racial discrimination in voting.

Much has changed since the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment. The Center for American Women and Politics in the United States reports that in every presidential election since 1964, the number of female voters has exceeded the number of male voters.

There has also been a historical increase of women in elected offices around the world. This is evident with the highest number of women ever elected to the U.S. Congress in 2018, Slovakia electing the first female president, the United Kingdom electing 220 female MPs to the House of Commons, women making up 49% of Senate of the Republic of Mexico and female Prime Ministers in Denmark, Norway, and Finland. Foundationally, the right to vote is a nonpartisan issue that benefits the interest of the country, strengthens our democracy, and with more women in office, it promotes diversity of thought and experience.

The way we share information has evolved dramatically from distributing pamphlets in 1913 to millions of people sharing information on the Internet across the world in 2020. State and local governments now use their election websites as the primary source to provide up to date announcements and information on how to register to vote, find designated polling stations, and access election results. Political campaigns use their digital infrastructure to release information about their policies, accept donations, recruit volunteers and give updates on the campaign to increase supporters’ engagement.

Voting is a crucial tenet of our democratic system and regardless of circumstance, individuals should have access to the information necessary to exercise their rights without outside interference. At Cloudflare, our mission is to build a better Internet and part of that is ensuring that users have access to accurate, trusted information, in a safe environment. With many upcoming elections in 2020, it is important that we have confidence in the democratic processes and that starts with ensuring their website infrastructure and internal teams are secure against malicious efforts to take them offline and shake voter’s faith in democracy.

Cloudflare has made election security a priority, investing our time in the Athenian Project and Cloudflare for Campaigns as political campaigns and state and local government election websites are the first line of defense in election security. In 2016, it was reported by the Department of Homeland Security that state and local government election infrastructure in all 50 states were targeted during the Presidential election. Fast forward to 2020, we are protecting more than 170 state and local government election websites and providing services to 18 of the 32 U.S. Presidential campaigns.

Therefore, it seems fitting that we celebrate the Centennial anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment and International Women’s Day, highlighting the achievement of women throughout history and the importance of voter confidence in the democratic institutions that many fought to participate and have their voices heard.

Working at Cloudflare has allowed me to learn how important access to information is to Internet users, and voters across the world, and I am proud to work for a company that supports strengthening democracy.

If you are interested in learning more about our election project, please visit cloudflare.com/athenian/ & cloudflare.com/campaigns/usa/.

Competing for security talent in the tech industry - where every company is investing heavily on security - isn't easy. But, in 18 months, we have grown our team 400% from under 10 people to almost 50 (and still hiring). We are proud that 40% of our team are women and 25% are from an under-represented minority. We believe from experience, and the research shows, that more diverse teams drive better business results and can be a better place to work.

In honor of International Women’s Day this Sunday, we wanted to share some of our lessons learned on how to build a diverse team and inclusive culture on a modern security team.

• Our effort to build a diverse team starts from the moment we draft a job posting. We try to choose language that will resonate with a broad set of candidates, and question proposed “prerequisites” for a role such as college degrees or a minimum or maximum set of experience. For example, we choose language that invites people looking to grow, and avoid militaristic terms often seen in security job descriptions.

• We are open to considering multiple locations where a role can be based. Cloudflare has 13 offices around the world. We have been flexible in which office our team members can join.

• We don’t rely on one hiring source. We strive for multiple hiring sources. We appreciate employee referrals and do company-wide presentations frequently to keep our team’s open positions top of mind across our 1200-person company. We love candidates who apply through Cloudflare's online careers site because they read a Cloudflare blog post and find it interesting, or are a happy Cloudflare customer in some way. We help fuel this source of candidates by writing blog posts on a wide range of topics like here and here. We also believe in proactively reaching out to potential candidates (see more in the next point). Having three strong channels in which we are meeting candidates makes hiring a bit easier.

• Proactively reaching out to passive candidates can be hard for some hiring managers. We work hard to make everyone on our team better at this. We partnered with our recruiting team to train our security team on how to use LinkedIn and Eightfold to find potential people to reach out to, and we encourage our leaders to go to meetups and the networking components of conferences and to ask respected industry peers for referrals. Our hiring managers then reach out directly with a personalized message. Our response rate is over 10% when we take the time to personalize the messaging to fit the particular possible candidate.

• We think long-term about team-building and know that it might take six months to a year to close promising passive candidates. We build a relationship by sharing updates on the company as well as new problems we are trying to solve, and over time we have seen these candidates come to appreciate the company and work and then join our team.

• We do proactive engagement at a number of conferences and events such as the Grace Hopper conference, AfroTech, and the International Association of Minority Cybersecurity Professionals events. We also look to build relationships and hire through organizations dedicated to placing minority candidates such as Path Forward.

• We leverage our internship program to broaden our candidate pool and change perception about viable backgrounds for roles. It is easier to convince people to consider candidates from less “pedigreed” schools or with skills developed outside traditional educational paths through direct exposure to those who’ve taken different routes but share the same passion for security. We’ve found some amazing interns who’ve proven themselves on short intern stints with us, and already progressed into full-time roles.

• We make sure we put together the right interview panel for the candidate: that means not only evaluating the candidate thoroughly but also giving the candidate the opportunity to look across the table at someone they feel comfortable asking “can someone like us succeed here?” You are not just using the interview process to evaluate the candidate, you are showing the candidate who you are as a team.

• We hold ourselves accountable by reviewing metrics on hiring and retention. Our company leadership team gathers once a week to review data on how the entire company is doing, including looking at how we are doing at building a diverse workforce and what we can do to improve. And we don’t just look at diversity in general, we look at diversity across management, and for those in management, we also consider things like span of control.

• We also get great support from our co-founders and other executives directly in our hiring process. They are always willing to spend extra time introducing people to the company, our mission, and our values. One of them will always be the last person to meet the candidate on their final interview. You can’t beat a welcoming message from the top.

The work doesn’t stop with getting a great set of people with complementary skills to come work at Cloudflare. To us, diversity is a means to the end of developing a highly productive team, not an end in itself. And, it turns out that hiring a diverse team is not a moment to celebrate success, it is a moment where leadership responsibility increases. A diverse team - made up of people from various backgrounds who don’t automatically feel at ease with one another - is not a guarantee of success. To cultivate a truly productive team requires a culture of openness to differences and a willingness for people to share their unique perspectives with people who are different.

We obsess over making sure all these great people who decided to join will also decide to stay for the long-term. We identified a number of ways we could build a community that welcomes people from different backgrounds and celebrates open debate.

• We’ve moved on from the media-favored image of security professionals as “hackers” and instead focus on innovation and empathy as our core values. We believe our role is more akin to a scientist designing a cure for a disease, a teacher helping a student solve a hard problem, or a nurse responding to a person in need of treatment. While we still need the skill to be able to break things and consider the attacker mindset we are responsible for combating, we will not succeed if we cannot stand in the shoes of our customers and empathize with their plight when we roll out painful security requirements.

• We talk regularly about how team members must have a stronger than usual commitment to developing the “psychological safety” necessary for everyone to believe their opinions are welcome and valued and will contribute to the greater good.

• We counter the risk that security work can become very reactive by promoting a spirit of innovation. That has led to us already open sourcing multiple solutions, contributing to development of Cloudflare products, and presenting at security conferences. We are strategic about what solutions we should build ourselves and what we should buy from other vendors, always staying current on what’s new.

• Our team decided to pick a logo, and we ended up choosing an orange-to-pink hued phoenix because they represent resilience and optimism: A phoenix never dies; instead, she always rises from the ashes and becomes more majestic each time around. This embodies the security mindset -- we help Cloudflare bounce back from attacks and security incidents, reemerging stronger and more secure than ever. It's easy to feel like you never "win" against constantly evolving adversaries. Knowing that we are the phoenix, destined to bounce back from whatever setbacks we face, helps us stay optimistic no matter what we face. And of course, the image of a phoenix also fits well with the core Cloudflare name and brand. Not your typical security imagery, but something that we are proud to wear on our t-shirts because it represents our team.

• We encourage every member of our organization to work on something that is outside their sub-team’s subject area so they interact with the broader team and also have a sense of personal career development.

• We take our work very seriously and know when to say “Let’s get down to business” like Mulan in the Disney movie (which we’ve heard team members sing), but don’t take ourselves too seriously. We keep it light around the office.

• We change our seating arrangements regularly to encourage expanding relationship circles.

• We ask team members across the organization to lead meetings and give presentations to the whole group.

• We promote from within. Five team members have been promoted into first-time manager roles.

• We have open-ended manager round-tables to discuss vulnerable topics relating to growing a diverse team.

• We support our team members playing active roles in company Employee Resource Groups such as here and speaking up on topics outside our core areas of expertise.

• We take time for team-building activities. Some of our best practices are to keep the events during business hours and limit those that include alcohol.

• We celebrate success. In the security world, external recognition is more often given for failure than success. Most companies don’t celebrate the prevention of harm, they celebrate new products and new business. If you are not careful, a security team can feel isolated from the rest of the company because its work is not directly tied to generating revenue and even worse can be perceived as blocking progress.

One of our favorite meetings was an informal risk review session we had with our engineers during which we white-boarded what we all thought were our biggest risk areas. It was great in the moment because it was such a collaborative session where everyone felt comfortable speaking up about their fears. No two people saw things the same way, but all were open to hearing other perspectives and many of us in the moment changed how we thought about priorities. And what made it an all-time experience was how even though we may have left the meeting a bit discouraged about all we needed to do, within a week every team member had stepped forward and volunteered to work on one of the hardest challenges. Looking back a bit over a year later, we have made strong progress in reducing all the risks identified in that meeting, and we did it together as a team.

Security is hard work, and the work is never done. But bringing together a diverse team with a positive culture has helped our team get a lot of hard and stressful work done well. There is a lot more we can do to keep things moving in the right direction for our team members and company and we welcome additional suggestions for improvements in our approaches.

Black history is not only relevant, it is how we ensure that our heroes are not forgotten and that we have a viable future in our respective industries. As Carter G. Woodson famously said, “If a race has no history, if it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated.”

As the US leaders of Afroflare, Cloudflare’s employee resource group (ERG) for employees of African descent, we made a personal commitment this month and beyond to effectively represent, build, and grow at Cloudflare and in the tech industry.

To honor that commitment, we decided to tackle some commonly asked questions about the state of African-Americans in tech.

The latest report on diversity in high tech from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in May 2016, indicated African-Americans made up 7.4% of the high tech workforce, with less than 1% in Manager or Executive roles.

An updated report hasn’t been released, but according to USA Today, Wired, and Fortune, Black workers made up between 1% and 6% of Black of the tech workforce from 2018-2019.

According to the EEOC, some factors driving the lack of diversity in high tech include:

• The "pipeline" problem - traditional recruiting efforts depend heavily on individuals’ personal networks, which in the US, are typically not diverse.

• The inhospitable culture in relevant industries and occupations forcing women and minorities to tolerate the environment or leave the field.

• The reluctance of high tech companies to train new employees.

• The fast-changing nature of the industry.

The future of African-Americans in tech is dependent on the concerted and consistent effort of all high tech employees and departments.

Recruiters can build a more diverse pipeline by building relationships with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), attending events like Afrotech, or partnering with organizations whose mission is aligned with increasing diversity in tech. We have highlighted a few notable organizations below.

Black Girls Code, founded in April 2011, focuses on teaching young African-American girls how to code in several programming languages. They hope to “bridge the digital divide” in a society that pits underrepresented, young, aspiring, girls against more privileged individuals. They aim to “provide African-American youth with the skills to occupy some of the 1.4 million computing job openings expected to be available in the U.S. by 2020, and to train 1 million girls by 2040.”

/dev/color is a non-profit foundation led by supporters of inclusion in the tech industry with a mission to “empower Black software engineers to help one another grow into industry leaders.” /dev/color does this by focusing on helping individuals find new jobs, assist with start-ups, and most importantly, ensure that engineers find a sense of purpose in their careers and in tech.

Project Include uses data and advocacy to push diversity and inclusion initiatives in high tech. They work with companies to implement diversity initiatives that focus on three core concepts: inclusion, comprehensiveness, and accountability. Project Include shares a powerful message about what it takes to ‘walk the talk’ when it comes to diversity:

“Change is hard, especially around a multidimensional issue like diversity. It is easy for all of us to become defensive and emotional, to shift the blame to others, and to feel fundamentally unheard or misunderstood. It is so uncomfortable for us to talk about the diversity problem that we have not been able to acknowledge it in full.”

These are a few of the many tech events and organizations working to solve this problem. However, doing this work takes more than just money. It involves having difficult conversations, training employees on ally skills, and supporting ERGs to celebrate and educate tech companies on different experiences, which is what we do here at Cloudflare.

As Cloudflarians, we come to work every day to build a better Internet. As Afroflarians, we want to acknowledge the current industry problems around inclusion and work tirelessly to build a better tech industry that welcomes and supports everyone. Not just during Black History Month, but always.

We urge you to do the same.

Afroflare at Afrotech in Oakland (November 2019)

Afroflare at Afrotech in Oakland (November 2019)

Afroflare at Afrotech in Oakland (November 2019)

“Diversity leads to better outcomes… better decisions, increased innovation, stronger financial returns, and a great place to work for everyone” said Janet Van Huysse, Head of People at Cloudflare during our Q1-2020 kickoff. Veterans, people who have served in the military, are a vital element of a diverse workforce. We come in diverse shapes, sizes, colors, genders, and orientations. We bring diverse skillsets, experiences, and perspectives.  

If you haven’t served in the military and haven’t worked with many veterans, here are some of the things that you can expect from your colleagues or direct reports that are veterans.

Veterans know what it means to SERVE. Indeed, it is a truism that living in service to others is a life well-lived, and that service to others is a foundation of esprit de corps. Though relatively few of us have seen combat, we have all signed a blank check to our nation made payable for any amount, up to and including our lives. This is what it means to become part of something bigger than oneself. This translates to putting our common shared interests ahead of our personal interests even when that means becoming an instrument of a foreign policy we might not agree with.  

Veterans know what it means to be part of a TEAM. The phrase “I’ve got your back” means a lot when it comes from a veteran because they’re referring to the blank check. Just about every veteran you ask will tell you they really miss being part of something bigger than themselves. Companies and organizations in the civilian world that can connect the dots in this way, like Cloudflare’s mission to help build a better internet, unlock the magic that accomplishes the seemingly impossible. We see this at Cloudflare in the incredible pace of product releases AND product improvements. We see this at Cloudflare when people go to the mat for their customers and when people come together to fix a problem.  

Veterans know what it means to focus on a MISSION. When people have bought into the mission, everything and everyone aligns to achieve it. We know that together, as part of a team, with solid leadership, strategy, and tactics we can accomplish the mission. Veterans will help you drop things that are extraneous to the mission and help you focus on the things that will get the mission accomplished. When a veteran on your team asks, “What problem are we trying to solve?” or “Why are we doing this?” you can bet a paycheck that they’re trying to draw a straight line to the goal of the mission.  

Veterans know what it means to COMMIT. Most people view the military as a top-down, hierarchical organization because, well... it is.  But most people don’t realize the level of consensus-driven decision-making that happens prior to an order being given. “Because I told you so” is just not enough of a reason for people to risk their lives or for them to effectively execute their part of a mission. So the military involves their people in mission planning where alternatives are thrashed out, often with great conviction. But when time is up and the mission commander makes their call on how the mission will be carried out, veterans know it’s time to put aside their personal opinions, get onboard, and do whatever it takes to make the plan successful. Jeff Bezos famously calls this “disagree and commit” and veterans are well-practiced in this skill.

Veterans know the importance of MORALE. We’ve seen the unit with everything going for it fail, and we’ve seen the underdog come out on top. We’ve seen troubled units turn themselves around, seemingly overnight. Veterans know how the days drag on endlessly when morale is low, and we know the joy that comes from playing their part in a group that is proud to be doing what they’re doing.

Veterans know how to make DIVERSITY work. We had to because we had no choice in who we worked with in the military. Every year one-third of the people in our units left and new people showed up out of the blue. So veterans get good at onboarding themselves into new organizations and onboarding new people to their teams. Veterans get good at figuring out what people have to offer and where they have gaps so the team can reshape itself to maximize performance.  

If you’re a veteran reading this, know that Cloudflare has a seat at the table for you. This can be your opportunity to transition into the civilian world, transition into tech, or accelerate your career in tech at a rocket-ship that appreciates what you have to offer.  

Supporting veterans is distinct from supporting their country’s foreign policy. Most Americans recognize the mistake we made in not welcoming home veterans of the Vietnam War because we didn’t support the war at-large. Nowadays, “thank you for your service” is a meaningful phrase most veterans hear with some regularity and I’m here to tell you that it means a lot. And it especially means a lot to those veterans who carry the lifelong burden of combat action.

So we Cloudflarians that are also veterans also want to say thank you to all of YOU for welcoming us into this company, this culture, and this team that is doing so much more than helping to build a better internet.  We are proud and grateful to serve alongside you at CLOUDFLARE.