Get to Know Ryan's Employee Resource Group, BRilliance
Here at Ryan, we believe in building a diverse, inclusive and welcoming workplace where all members of our team can grow, thrive and feel valued.
And while our diversity, equity & inclusion (DE&I) efforts have allowed us to educate and diversify our Ryan teams thus far, we know we still have a lot of work to do—which is just one of the reasons why we created BRilliance, an employee resource group (ERG) that’s dedicated to engaging and supporting Black employees at Ryan.
Learn what BRilliance stands for and how the group will drive sustainable advancement at Ryan and the greater community from the seven steering committee members:
- Janeen Drake, Senior Real Estate Manager
- Ariel Woodson, Marketing Manager
- Raymond Vaughn, Construction Manager
- Elibe Elibe, Project Manager II
- Bridget Killing, Executive Assistant
- Kav Mdumuka¸Designer
- Tierdra Rembert, Virtual Construction Coordinator
Q: What is your role with BRilliance?
Raymond: My primary role as part of the Community and Customer team of BRilliance is to identify opportunities to partner with our local communities and customers to accomplish the overall mission of BRilliance. My purpose is to use whatever talents, skills, and influence that I have to support our BRilliance members as they advance in their careers and create an inclusive workspace for our Black employees that we all can be proud of and others will want to belong.
Q: In your own words, what are the goals of BRilliance?
Bridget: BRilliance has a learning and development committee and a communication committee which have taken on the huge tasks of presenting information that will lead to impactful and necessary conversations for the purpose of educating, but also hoping to add humanity to the Black race, culture, experience and history which is also American history. It is our hope that by having these conversations, we as individuals, employees and groups can come together as one.
Q: Can you share a little bit about what BRilliance does on an ongoing basis?
Tierdra: BRilliance is always striving to spread awareness on issues, topics, and the latest news surrounding black people and black communities, especially where Ryan offices are housed. We diligently encourage and provide safe spaces for conversations within BRilliance and within Ryan.
To increase and retain diversity, we’ve implemented the following:
- Having a presence on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) campuses by attending networking events and career fairs.
- Sitting on the College of Science and Technology Advisory Board with North Carolina A&T University’s Construction Management department and delivering quality educational programs and services through partnerships. N.C. A&T is the nation’s top-rated HBCU in Washington Monthly magazine’s 2021 national university rankings.
- Offering a scholarship to assist students majoring in Civil Architectural, Environmental Engineering, or Construction Management with tuition and books.
Q: As we get close to concluding Black History Month, can you provide a recap of what BRilliance organized at Ryan to honor Black History?
Janeen: This is BRilliance’s first year putting together a Black History Month program. We started the month with a dynamic presentation on Black excellence with Lissa Jones-Lofgren and ended the month with another phenomenal speaker April Preyar, JD. In addition to the speakers we had a presentation on the 1921 Tulsa Massacre, a panel on allyship, and created a Green Book of Black owned business in regions where Ryan has a presence.
Q: How do you feel BRilliance is making an impact at Ryan?
Elibe: Since its inception in February of 2021, the BRilliance ERG has created a space where all Ryan team members can participate in conversations about diversity and inclusion. I believe that BRilliance has successfully engaged the workforce and increased awareness about the various experiences that black people have had in the past and continue to have today.
The summation of the events and discussions hosted by BRilliance and other ERGs has improved connectedness with Ryan employees across the country, within regions, and inside our regional offices and project sites.
Q: How do you feel BRilliance is making an impact in the commercial real estate industry?
Ariel: I think it may be a little premature to measure BRilliance's impact on the commercial real estate industry because we are only one year old. However, we are opening the hearts and minds of our Ryan colleagues that we work so closely with. These small changes can extend incrementally in their social circles, where the BRilliant Black Employees at Ryan may not readily have access. We are resolved to be the change, and those small changes at Ryan can develop into BIG differences in the commercial real estate industry.
Q: Is there anything else you’d like to share around BRilliance or Ryan’s DEI efforts?
Kav: “An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.” - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
BRilliance, Ryan DEI and other ERG efforts are to be conduits for bringing up and addressing open, honest, and uncomfortable conversations. These efforts are the true foundation for Ryan's ability to be a diverse and inclusive environment.