February 6, 2021
Frances is a dynamic powerhouse that leaves anything that she touches better than she encountered it.
She's a proactive starter. She advocated for the launch of the Fuego Incubator and then took the helms of the fledgeling group. Organizing a fledgling ERG from scratch is actually a very challenging thing.
You have to build community/identity, create a mission and focus for your working group, and drive a group of 5 or more people who may have never worked together toward a central goal.
In driving towards the goals for Fuego, Frances was organized, creating documentation as she went. Identifying the most effective tool to drive organization and accountability for the team.
The Fuego incubator was able launch Slack's first ever Heritage Celebration--during a Pandemic and while all remote. And yet, this month-long project was delivered so smoothly to the company--it seemed as though it had been in existence before.
Frances was able to focus on craft and excellence --while moving at a fast clip.
Frances was also innovative in the ways that she engaged community. She used the hello-Fuego channel (a channel meant for allies) in a dynamic way that none of our other ERGs had used it. She pushed for conversation in the channel as a way to build community and connections across groups--tactically doing this by creating light lift icebreaker prompts in channel.
One place that I've also seen Frances grow immensely through the process of the Incubator is in her ability to manage and support a distributed team. So much interpersonal work goes into rallying and motivating a working group of people--while also interacting with executives to advocate for your group.
All of Frances' work was effective--as she took Fuego from an idea, to a fledgling ERG in an incubator program, to a full fledged ERG. It was a pleasure to watch that growth.
Lastly--as a person, I'm inspired by Frances drive to give back. I constantly see Frances speaking with or hosting groups--with the goal of providing access to underserved communities. I see the work you do on this front and admire it, Frances.