Taylor Mirkarimi
Amazon
ERG Leader
Taylor is the Vice President of the Black Employee Network (BEN) UK Operations chapter; a group of nearly 600 members across the UK & Ireland.
Their goal is to champion diversity and support the business with the inclusion of the diverse perspectives of Black and ethnic minority people.
As part of this role, she has led a number of key initiatives to drive DEI principles into the day to day activities of our business. For instance, she organised Black History Month celebrations for all 100 Operational sites across the UK&IR three years in a row.
This involved:
Developing a month-long worth of activities and events both virtual and onsite
Using various communications channels to celebrate and educate on Black History across the org
Creating a menu to showcase Black cultures through food
Designing decorations to be distributed to all sites, and
Rallying on-site volunteers and 'engagement ambassadors' to take ownership for site-specific implementation.
In 2022, she created the UK Affinity Group Fair. This is now an annual, staple event in our DEI calendar, that encourages Amazonians across businesses to come and meet our UK Employee Resource Group network, find out what they’re doing to champion diversity at Amazon and learn how to get involved as a member or ally.
Its key objectives are to (1) build awareness of all UK ERGs, (2) improve the visibility of group leaders and (3) increase both group membership & Allyship. Each year this intersectional event sees over a thousand Amazonians and all groups showcased have gained over 100+ new members since launch.
She also co-created a podcast ‘Sista’s Talk’, an internal podcast that aims to create a safe space to discuss stories and experiences from a Black woman’s perspective, advocate on behalf of our community, and provide Allyship tips to all audiences.
Last year, we launched 4 episodes: Black hair, the token Black, the perfectionist and the angry Black woman, and this March, we will have a live viewing in honour of this year's IWD theme 'Inspire Inclusion'.
In summary, she has a passion for driving the advancement of Black employees in the work place but she also work to consider the intersectional identities of all underrepresented groups, in an effort to create inclusive environments for all.
