Blue Signal Gives Back 2022: Making an Impact

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Blue Signal recently wrapped up our 5th annual philanthropy initiative, Blue Signal Gives Back. Each year Blue Signal strives to give back to meaningful organizations through philanthropic donations. By aligning our shared passion for philanthropy with healthy competition, Blue Signal Gives Back has become a favorite initiative among our employees. In 2018, Blue Signal donated $1,632.50 to the American Parkinson Disease Association. The Smiths-Kingsmore Syndrome Foundation won in 2019, with a $2,052.50 donation, and again in and in 2020 with a $3,986.50 donation. In 2021, we donated $2,105 to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. This year, we donated $2,280 to the International Justice Mission on behalf of our contest winner, Kevin Smith. To date, we’ve donated over $10,000 to various charitable organizations through the internal program.

Celebrating Giving Back: Blue Signal's Annual Philanthropy Contest

Blue Signal's annual philanthropy initiative involves a metrics-based, company-wide contest that rewards the winner with a donation to a nonprofit charitable organization of their choice. This year's contest ran from November 28th to December 25th, 2022, and included recruiters and non-recruiters alike. Teams consisted of two recruiters or a recruiter paired with a specialist from Operations, People & Culture, Marketing, or Finance. Each team selected a nonprofit charitable organization that was important to them to represent. Organizations represented this year included Veteran One, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Blue Ridge Cancer Care, Wounded Warrior Project, American Human Society, Friends for Life, and BeLoved Atlanta. Blue Signal Gives Back points chart

Recruiters could earn money for their chosen organization by hitting assigned metrics, such as candidate send-outs and placements. Specialists could earn money by participating in virtual races; each specialist was assigned a holiday character who would “compete” in the simulated race during the all-company meeting.

Our People and Culture team sent weekly updates on the contest standings. The  competition was tight, with ties for first, second, or third place nearly every week. Ultimately, the team with the most points won, and Blue Signal matched the monetary amount to make a philanthropic donation in the winning team’s name. This year, Kevin Smith was our Blue Signal Gives Back winner, earning $2,280 for the International Justice Mission.

Blue Signal Gives Back donation to International Justice Mission

2022’s Winning Organization – about the International Justice Mission

Founded in 1997 by Gary Haugen, a human rights lawyer, and a team of professionals committed to fighting against violent forms of injustice around the world, the International Justice Mission (IJM) is dedicated to protecting the poor and vulnerable from violence and providing them with the tools and resources they need to overcome their situations.

Today, IJM is a global organization that operates in nearly 20 countries and has helped to protect over 150 million people from violence, exploitation, and slavery. Through their work, IJM has secured over 400,000 convictions and has rescued more than 60,000 people from various forms of exploitation. In addition to their rescue and advocacy work, IJM provides support and aftercare services to survivors, including legal representation, counseling, and vocational training.

Blue Signal is honored to donate to the International Justice Mission on behalf of Kevin and hopes our donation contributes to their overall mission of protecting the poor and vulnerable from violent forms of injustice and creating a world where justice for the vulnerable is a reality.

Learn more about our philanthropy and giving back initiatives by visiting our webpage.

Blue Signal Gives Back 2021

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Blue Signal recently wrapped up our 4th annual philanthropy initiative, Blue Signal Gives Back. Each year Blue Signal strives to give back to meaningful organizations through a philanthropic donation. Aligning our shared passion for philanthropy with healthy competition, Blue Signal Gives Back has proven to be an employee favorite initiative. In 2018, Blue Signal donated $1,632.50 to the American Parkinson Disease Association. In 2019, $2,052.50 was donated to the Smiths-Kingsmore Syndrome Foundation. Last year, Smiths-Kingsmore Syndrome Foundation won for the second year in a row, receiving $3,986.50. At our 2022 Virtual State of the Signal presentation, Jordan Lawhead was crowned the winner of the 2021 Blue Signal Gives Back initiative, representing the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. As a result of Jordan’s efforts, $2,105.00 will be donated to the organization on his behalf.  

Blue Signal Gives Back: Philanthropy with a Splash of Competition 

Each year, Blue Signal makes a donation to a nonprofit charitable organization on behalf of the winner of a metrics-based, company-wide contest. This year, the contest ran from November 29th to December 25th, 2021. The teams consisted of two recruiters or a recruiter paired with a non-recruiter (employees from Operations, People & Culture, Marketing, or Finance) — with some solo team exceptions. Each recruiter or team picked a nonprofit charitable organization that was important to them to represent. Some of the organizations included Veteran One, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Friends for Life, and BeLoved Atlanta. 

Recruiters could earn money for their organization by hitting metrics that were assigned a dollar amount, such as candidate send outs and placements. Non-recruiters were able to earn money by answering trivia questions asked in our weekly company meeting. This year, the trivia questions were focused on Blue Signalers’ holiday traditions and memories. Questions included, “Which Blue Signaler would have ‘Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays’ by NSYNC playing in the background as they’re walking down the street, feeling great?” and “Which Blue Signaler thinks the best way to spend a Saturday in December is making a charcuterie board with their family, walking their puppy, and listening to Justin Bieber’s Christmas album?” While these questions primarily served as an opportunity to win points, they also allowed us to learn more about our virtual coworkers! 

At the end of each week, our General Counsel Jessica Walsh sent updates on the Blue Signal Gives Back contest standings. The competition was neck-and-neck, as we had ties for first, second, or third place nearly every week. At the end of the competition, the team with the most points won – and Blue Signal matched the monetary amount to make a philanthropic donation in the winning team’s name! This year, Jordan Lawhead dethroned 3x Blue Signal Gives Back winner Ryan Walsh, earning $2,105.00 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.  

Photo of a bar graph depicting the Blue Signal Gives Back contest standings of every team in the contest

2021’s Winning Organization – Cystic Fibrosis Foundation 

Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is a genetic disorder that affects the lungs, pancreas, and other organs. The disease causes long-lasting lung infections and limits the ability to breathe over time. According to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Cystic Fibrosis affects more than 30,000 children and adults in the US. 

The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation was founded in 1955 by a group of parents who aimed to advance their understanding of the disease, create new treatments and specialized care for their children, and find a cure. Dedicated to research, the Foundation has made groundbreaking discoveries including identifying the gene and protein responsible for CF, and discovered more than a dozen new treatments for the disease. Today, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation funds research with the goal of finding new therapies and treatments for CF patients.  

Group of people dressed in purple standing together in front of a sign reading Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the recipient of this year's Blue Signal Gives Back donation

Jordan Lawhead chose to represent the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation for this year’s Blue Signal Gives Back initiative because it is very near and dear to his family’s hearts - Jordan’s niece Marina was born with Cystic Fibrosis and battles the disease daily. Jordan and his family have supported the Foundation in the past by participating in CF walks, fundraisers, and events. Blue Signal is honored to donate to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation on behalf of Jordan and hopes our donation contributes to their overall mission to increase awareness and find a cure for CF. 

Blue Signal Women of the Workplace 2021 Year in Review

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Blue Signal’s own female empowerment initiative, BSS Women of the Workplace, has just concluded its best year yet! Founded in 2019, BSS WOW has not only impacted those within the organization, but also the greater community as a whole. With the mission of “promoting the education, connection, and empowerment of women (and those who support women) and their contributions to the broader goals of Blue Signal and beyond,” we’ve supported our goals through several purposeful actions. Despite being geographically dispersed, BSS WOW was able to meet virtually to discuss important topics, bond as a team, and participate in philanthropy. 

 

BSS WOW Learning Opportunities  

This year, we did an activity on gendered language in the workforce where we examined the unintentional yet inherent biases that many work-related terms hold. By examining these terms and their biases, we as a team were able to better understand equity and how we can combat gendered bias in our communication with clients, candidates, internally with colleagues, and externally as a whole. As a group, BSS WOW completed a LinkedIn Learning Course and certified 100% of our members on Women Helping Women Succeed in the Workplace.  

Additionally, we reviewed several articles surrounding similar topics. In one meeting, the group read “She Wants to Kill the Girl Boss.” The article sparked thoughtful conversations surrounding confirmation bias, intersectionality, discrimination, and privilege and how that all plays into labels. In another meeting, we reviewed a summary of the popular Sheryl Sandberg book, Lean In. We discussed gender inequality, factors that can help or hinder women’s careers, and how we can all help women to achieve their goals. Another hot topic surrounded the child-care crisis resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. This Washington Post article predicted that COVID-19 would dramatically set women back, given that many mothers had to choose between motherly duties and their careers.  

Finally, at our end-of-the-year holiday party, we discussed women who we admire. Many notable professionals were named, including Brittney Packnett Cunningham, Abby Wambach, Sara Blakely, and Rachel Hollis. Each of these articles and discussions facilitated actionable insights into bettering ourselves as people and as professionals.  

 

BSS WOW Team Building  

In creating a safe space to discuss such topics, it’s important to make it fun — it’s simply good strategy! We found so much joy in conducting alternate activities that they’ve become a staple in every meeting. We bonded over things like Secret Santa; the Rose, Bud, and Thorn activity; and more. Our members shared feedback on Blue Signal’s Women of the Workplace, stating that they “truly enjoy the bonding exercises. It can feel extremely isolated when working remote - so it's helpful to have the connection with others on a deeper level.” Others said they “always leave the conversations feeling refreshed with a new perspective and feeling closer to the team!” By becoming exactly what our company needed, either through connection or just as a good mental reset, this group has become its own community.  

BSS WOW Testimonial

Blue Signal Gives Back – BSS WOW Edition  

Giving back has been a cornerstone to Blue Signal’s company culture since our inception. It’s no wonder that BSS WOW would want to participate, but with their own unique spin. Since 2020, BSS WOW has been supporting Live and Learn AZ. Live and Learn is a local non-profit that seeks to empower women in the Phoenix area to break the cycle of generational poverty. This year we continued our resume writing support and interview coaching collaboration, effectively helping 18 women with their resumes. Of those 18, six were hired into new roles.  

One Live and Learn client was very discouraged about applying for jobs and wasn’t sure when she would be able to find employment to support her family. She was referred to the BSS WOW resume writing service, where she learned to tailor her resume to the job she would be applying for. After speaking with BSS WOW, she found renewed energy and confidence in the job search, and she was able to nail a job in healthcare. Stories like these are what inspire us to work to support those in our community. This year, with our newly developed career service, we were able to also refer these Live and Learn clients to Resume and Career Services, powered by Blue Signal. With this, we hope to get even more women educated, empowered, and employed.  

But we didn’t stop there. BSS Women of the Workplace also donated four laptops to the cause. We donated three full Thanksgiving meals for Live and Learn’s Give Thanks food drive. We went live with Live and Learn on Instagram to help them generate donations for Giving Tuesday. Their movement to #EmpowerWomen and #BreakTheCycle resulted in $5,160 in overall donations! For Christmas, BSS WOW also sponsored three families from Live and Learn. The entire Blue Signal organization stepped up to help create an incredible holiday for these women and their families.  

BSS WOW Adopt a Family

Reflecting on 2021 and The Year Ahead 

2021 brought with it so many new opportunities for growth. Blue Signal’s Women of the Workplace has been humbled by this experience, and we are all excited for what’s next. We plan on continuing our virtual meetings, planning more exciting activities, and finding new ways to give back to our communities. For 2022, we want to focus on topics such as mental health, financial literacy, and equity. We will continue to learn more about women in leadership, and hope to make our own mark on that space.  

If this purpose and these projects speak to you, contact us to see how you can get involved. Whether that means joining in on the fun yourself by applying to work with us, or by educating us on your own current organization and how we can partner, don’t hesitate to reach out. 

 

Resources 

Here are several resources BSS WOW discussed and collected throughout the year. Please leverage these to explore on your own the topics we covered.  

Blue Signal Women of the Workplace, 2021 Update

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Since the beginning, Blue Signal has worked to advocate for women - both internally within our company, and externally within our greater community. In 2019, this took a more official form with the founding of Blue Signal Women of the Workplace (BSS WOW). 

This female empowerment initiative brings together everyone in the company, with the working purpose “to promote education, connection, and empowerment for women (and those who support women) and their contributions to the broader goals of Blue Signal… and beyond!” Just like Blue Signal’s other DEI initiatives, BSS WOW has an impact that extends beyond just the internal organization. Below is an update on the projects we’ve worked on over the last year.

Blue Signal Women of the Workplace Purpose Graphic

BSS WOW Partnering with Live and Learn AZ 

Live and Learn is a local non-profit organization that was created to empower women in the Phoenix-metro area to break the cycle of generational poverty. They support the financial independence and career growth of women in our community by offering classes, workshops, and training geared toward accomplishing each individual woman’s goals. Their incredible education programs have resulted in life-changing successes, like earning degrees, landing jobs, and so much more. 

Blue Signal’s Women of the Workplace has been supporting Live and Learn in this mission since 2020, by providing resume writing tips and interview coaching. Through collaboration and a little bit of recruiter magic, Blue Signal has been able to walk these women through the resume writing process and renew their confidence to dive into the job market. In 2021, we are excited to continue this partnership and plan to provide as much value as possible to the clients of Live and Learn AZ. 

Blue Signal Women of the Workplace, Live and Learn Testimonial Graphic

BSS WOW Education and Certifications 

Despite COVID-19 changing the way we meet, Blue Signal’s Women of the Workplace has continued to come together since our company moved to a fully remote work model. We meet virtually once every other month to discuss updates on our Live and Learn philanthropic work, learn about issues surrounding women, and empower one another through discussion and shared experiences.

In our meetings, BSS WOW has discussed gendered language and its impact on how we understand and represent the workforce overall. We have examined articles, like this one from the New York Times that has stirred quite a bit of commentary surrounding gendered titles like “Female CEO” in corporate leadership. We’ve also covered difficult topics like biases, intersectionality, discrimination, and privilege. Through prioritizing these meetings, we’ve discussed everything from #GirlBoss to “fireperson,” learning along the way about inclusivity and empowerment. These topics have also led to conversations about ways we can implement better industry practices for emailing candidates, addressing clients over the phone, and writing job descriptions to advertise online. 

During a recent meeting, the entire BSS WOW group became LinkedIn certified in helping Women Succeed in the Workplace by taking this course as a team. The course was aimed toward helping women (and their male or non-binary allies) advocate for success within their careers. By learning about better practices surrounding self-confidence, executive presence, and pay equity, Blue Signal is continuing our education on how best to support our candidates on their career paths, and our clients in fostering success throughout their teams. 

Blue Signal Women of the Workplace LinkedIn Learning Course Certification Graphic

Summary

Blue Signal Women of the Workplace seeks to create an assembly that unites our workplace to further the goals of each other as individuals, and propel Blue Signal to be the best recruiting firm on the planet. We believe that connected, empowered women, and those who support them, are unstoppable. BSS WOW has served as a platform to give Blue Signal colleagues the tools and resources needed to support their growth and to build long-term relationships while reaching new heights within professional development. BSS WOW has helped us improve the way in which we support our clients, candidates, colleagues, and community. We are excited to continue in our mission to be a resource for supporting and advocating for women in any workplace. 

National Puppy Day: The Dogs of Blue Signal

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This National Puppy Day, we focus on the bundles of fur that bring us so much joy: our dogs. With most of the nation adopting a work from home policy, owners around the country are able to spend more time with man’s best friend. Although we don’t need an excuse to obsess over our pets, today it is important to bring awareness to the millions of shelter dogs still looking for their forever homes.

Blue Signal takes pride in our philanthropic efforts to give back to the community and causes we’re passionate about. Last year, Blue Signal took part in our annual Blue Signal Gives Back: Puppy Edition. Volunteers were able to donate their time to play, feed, and give love to puppies who were up for adoption at the Arizona Humane Society! This allowed us to give back to the community in a way that positively impacted the lives of many shelter pups. 

Today, take a moment to give your pets some extra love and attention, appreciating the four legged creatures that reside in our homes and hearts. 

Check out some of our adorable Blue Signal Dogs in the gallery below!

Take a look at some of our other Blue Signal pets below!

Blue Signal Gives Back 2019

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Blue Signal held the 2nd Annual Blue Signal Gives Back Initiative earlier this month. In keeping up with tradition, we gathered together to celebrate the team’s accomplishments and give back to the community. For an entire month, employees stepped up their game in a friendly competition where their work was rewarded with a donation to a charity of their choosing. 

All recruiters choose a nonprofit organization that’s important to them, and team up with members of the support staff. Each team is able to earn money through Send-Outs, Placements, various metric benchmarks, and company trivia. Trivia questions consist of surprising facts, photos and stories about employees - allowing everyone else to guess who fit the facts, and learn a little about each other along the way! Points are added up and converted to dollar amounts, awarding a dollar for each metric to the chosen charity. The team with the most “dollars” is awarded the dollars earned by all teams to donate to the charity of the winner’s choice. 

A quick recap of the competition: This year’s program ran from November 25th through December 25th. With the competition taking place around such a giving time of year, Blue Signalers were excited and eager to start earning points for their chosen organizations. This year, a huge part of the fun was getting to guess answers to the trivia questions! Some of our favorites were  “Who on our team once hiked 35 miles in 24 hours, some of which occurred overnight during a full moon?”, “Who on our team has hitchhiked from Scotland to Italy?” and “Who on our team was supposed to bring lettuce to a taco party, and accidentally brought a cabbage head instead of a lettuce head?”. These questions provided a lot of comedic relief during the workday and brought everyone closer together as a team.

At the 2020 Blue Signal Summit, Recruiting Manager, Ryan Walsh, was announced as the winner of the competition for the second year in a row! This year, the organization Ryan chose to partner with was the Smith-Kingsmore Syndrome (SKS) Foundation: a non-profit foundation dedicated to providing support and medical research toward children with SKS. With the combined efforts of the team, Blue Signal was able to donate a total of $2,052.50!

The SKS Foundation is very near and dear to Blue Signal’s hearts.  3 year old Jameson “JJ” Walsh, the youngest son of CEO, Matt Walsh, was diagnosed with Smith-Kingsmore Syndrome in early 2019. SKS is a rare genetic condition that can cause a wide range of medical, intellectual, and behavioral challenges. Early on, JJ had hearing loss and has undergone two cochlear implant surgeries to allow him to hear, which were a triumphant success! Despite his diagnosis, JJ is a happy and healthy boy and is making great progress with the help of the amazing medical support he receives. 

The Walsh family gathers together.
JJ Walsh with one of his favorite toys.

The Smith-Kingsmore Foundation strives to provide this kind of support to other families and contribute to educating others on the condition. Researchers are continuing to learn more about SKS and are working to help special needs families gain more understanding/earlier diagnosis. The goal is to better understand the characteristics and the differences of MTOR conditions like Smith-Kingsmore syndrome to be able to design well-informed treatment plans. 

The SKS Foundation gathers at a conference in October 2019.

More about the Smith-Kingsmore Syndrome Foundation: The SKS Foundation was established in 2019 as a non-profit foundation for children and families affected by Smith-Kingsmore Syndrome. The foundation is working to improve their quality of life by supporting cutting-edge research, collaborating with medical professionals, and strengthening community through worldwide awareness.

Donate to the SKS Foundation Here!

Blue Signal Gives Back – Puppy Edition

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Blue Signal is proud to announce its second installation of the Blue Signal Gives Back Initiative, the Puppy Edition.

 

Earlier this year, Blue Signal launched its philanthropy initiative to give back to the community and to causes we were passionate about. Blue Signal takes pride in helping others, and the community we live and work in to make it a better place for all. The Blue Signal Team has a soft spot for their pups, so we decided to give back to animals still looking for their forever homes.

Blue Signal reached out to the Arizona Humane Society and volunteered to participate in their “Fur-Real Canine Play Day Experience.” On Tuesday, our team met with AHS members to deliver enriching activities to the pups at their Campus for Compassion location in Phoenix, AZ.

The Blue Signal team took the dogs out in the yard where we played with toys, spoiled the pups with treats, brushed their coats, and ran them around the agility course! We worked hard to get as many pups out and exercised as possible. All of these activities are designed to help keep the canines healthy, happy, and socialized until they find their furever homes! We had a blast meeting so many unique personalities and bonding with each other as well as with the pets!

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After some time in the sun, we went inside and put together several kitten care packages to help prepare AZ Humane for “kitten season” with litter and food. Our teamwork resulted in hundreds of ready to go bags for the bottle baby kittens.

Team Volunteer Packing

To learn more about the Arizona Humane Society and its Campus for Compassion facility, Volunteer Coordinator Caitlyn Quintanar gave the Blue Signal group a tour and explained their mission and some key initiatives. AZ Humane looks to end animal suffering and homelessness through the values of innovation, compassion, and excellence.  However, what sets AHS apart is their Ethical No-Kill Policy, meaning they never euthanize a pet for space or length of time. By implementing this visionary Ethical No-Kill Philosophy, Arizona Humane Society has saved an additional 80,000 lives in the last four years.

AHS Logo

In addition to this policy, AHS offers several services that many other shelters do not. From their Emergency Animal Medical Technician Program, to Mutternity Suites, AZ Humane is working to ensure that every pet gets the good life that they deserve. They work every day with the vision of ending animal suffering through rescuing, healing, adopting, and advocating for sick, injured, and abused animals.

Blue Signal was honored to assist such an amazing company and cause. At the end of the day, we spent some quiet time in the kennels with the dogs we met earlier and the difference in their mood was astonishing. These moments mean the world to a shelter pup in a kennel, so if you are interested in volunteering yourself or your group, we encourage you to reach out to Caitlyn and her team to explore ways to help!

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