Our Commitment to DEI

Like many people and businesses, the Br8kthru team has spent a lot of time the last few years reflecting on our role in the world, our responsibilities to others, and how we can — and do — impact others. These reflections and conversations have led us to many places, but especially to the understanding that we need to make more of a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Not only is this the right thing to do for individuals, but there's a business case for investing in DEI, too.

Our values of Michelin-Star standards, collective accountability, continuous improvement, and empathy drive everything we do, and we believe DEI is a natural extension of that work.

To that end, we will be undertaking the following actions:

  • Continuing team-wide learning about diversity, equity and inclusion,
  • Creating opportunities to practice our new learning,
  • Adapting our hiring practices to be more accessible and inclusive and to build a more diverse team,
  • Sharing what we’ve learned and how we’re applying that knowledge right here.

We’re excited to share more about this journey with you, and hope you’ll join us, so we can all do better together.

We’re committed to supporting accessibility for people with disabilities, no matter their disability or accommodation needs. This applies not only to our digital footprint and work, but also to our in-person policies and procedures.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Br8kthru aims to create accessible spaces for disabled people by adhering to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In addition, we make additional accommodations when and where we can to make our spaces more accessible and inclusive. Employees will never be penalized for requesting accommodations for disabilities.

Additional Accessibility Measures

In addition to following the ADA and going beyond what is required by law, we take the following measures to ensure accessibility across our organization, including but not limited to, in our daily operations, hiring practices, compensation practices, and more.

  • Accessibility is part of our internal policies.

  • Continual accessibility training is provided for employees.

  • Clear accessibility targets and responsibilities exist within the organization.

  • Formal accessibility quality assurance methods exist within the organization.

Web Accessibility

We adhere to WCAG accessibility standards in all our website builds, including our own. Our website is WCAG 2.0 Level AA accessible. Our content conformance status is partially conformant, as some parts of our content do not fully conform to the accessibility standard. Our site accessibility relies on the following technologies: HTML, CSS, and Javascript.

Where Can I Learn More?

We recommend starting here.

You may have noticed that we’ve been more openly sharing our pronouns, and we wanted to share a little more about why.

What Are Pronouns? Why Do You Use Them?

Pronouns, sometimes called personal pronouns, are how people refer to you if they aren’t using your name. Common pronouns are he/him/his, she/her/hers, they/them/theirs, and combinations of those, but there are many pronouns.

We share our pronouns because assuming them based on someone’s name, appearance, or presentation can be harmful — not everyone’s identities can be viewed, and assuming otherwise can feel invalidating.

How Can I Ask Someone About Their Pronouns?

Asking for and using the pronouns someone uses for themselves is a respectful, inclusive way to ensure they feel more comfortable and are not harmed in our spaces. An easy way to invite someone to share their pronouns is to share your own first. We’ll usually do this when introducing ourselves. “Hi, I’m Jon, I use he/him/his pronouns. What about you?"

There are plenty of reasons someone may use different pronouns in different spaces, with different people, or at different times. Follow their lead, and use the pronouns they’ve given you in that space, even if they may be different from last time you spoke.

What if I Use the Wrong Pronouns?

If you’re speaking and notice you use the wrong pronouns, correct yourself and move on. Don’t make a big deal of it — it can put the person in an uncomfortable position of having to comfort you for your mistake, even though they were harmed by it.

If you notice someone using the wrong pronouns for someone, correct them by pointing it out like by saying, “Jon uses he/him pronouns.” Kindly correct them and let them continue. The best way to move forward from a mistake is to correct it in the future and show that it was an accident.

Where Can I Learn More?

We recommend starting here.