Honoring Black History Month at Instacart

In February, we partnered with Instacart’s Nightshades — our Black Employee Resource Group (ERG) — to celebrate and recognize Black History Month.

This year’s theme, Forging New Frontiers, helped shine a spotlight on Black visionary trailblazers of the past, while looking forward to how we all can shape a future that reflects diversity and innovation as we venture into the era of AI. 

Nightshades co-lead, Latrice Coleman, shares with us more on the inspiration behind this theme: "There’s a moment in the movie Hidden Figures that’s always stood out to me – the moment when Dorothy Vaughan presents her team of ‘human calculators’ as fully trained experts on the new computing systems. She was able to see around corners and prepare her team to embrace, not be replaced, by new technology. Just as she prepared her team for the seismic shift from manual calculations to the era of computing, we dedicated this month to equipping and inspiring our community with the knowledge and tools necessary to embrace and shape the AI future.”

Throughout the month of February our Nightshades community intentionally leaned into helping our team members understand the history of AI and how to build for the future. From learning more about AI’s capabilities and how it shapes the work we do at Instacart to our Nightshades Hackathon on internal AI tooling, the Nightshades community explored ways to promote technology inclusivity and recognized the contributions the Black community has made in technology. 

The programming also included an inspiring conversation with Instacart’s VP of Design, Tim Allen, who walked the team through his journey in the Design industry and the importance of designing inclusive and equitable experiences.

And as we continue to embrace our Flex First working model at Instacart, we created virtual opportunities for employees to join in the conversation. Our community members shared stories of admired innovators and exchanged perspectives on the importance of inclusion in the tech industry on the Nightshades’ dedicated Slack community channel.

As we close on another impactful Black History Month, the Nightshades leadership group is focused on ensuring these conversations continue throughout the year and beyond: “It's more than history,” says Latrice. “It's about proactive engagement with technology to ensure inclusivity and relevance in tomorrow's digital landscape.” 

The Instacart Nightshades community has been active since 2018, with a mission dedicated to building a more inclusive culture by attracting, retaining, and growing Black Instacart employees. If you’d like to learn more about Nightshades and our communities at Instacart, head over to our Diversity, Equity, & Belonging page.