"Honoring Juneteenth by enacting it as a company holiday was not enough as an organization who's been committed to fostering diversity and inclusion for years and is intentional about everything we do," said Power's Director of Cultural Diversity & Inclusion, Olumidé Cole. "We didn't just want to check a box. As a people-first organization, we wanted to organize an initiative that would inspire our people and help towards mobilizing change. For Power, that meant creating an annual tradition to not only celebrate, but educate our employees and encourage them to be active and engaged citizens within the Black community, not just give them the day off."

The Juneteenth Initiative was conceived by Power's Black employee resource group (known as B.E.R.G.). Black employees and allies will gather in Atlanta this weekend to participate in a series of activities, which include, a walking tour around the city to visit different sites that memorialize our nation's Black history, providing employees an opportunity to rediscover the places in the historical city that mean so much to the Black struggle and experience.

The three-day initiative will also include a volunteer project with local Black-owned nonprofit, Margie's House, to plant and pick vegetables that will be provided to underprivileged communities in Atlanta. Margie's House is an organization dedicated to making a positive difference in the crusade against hunger, homelessness, poverty, violence, domestic abuse, and illiteracy in the community.

Power's annual Juneteenth Initiative is a part of the company's new Black History Month competition — an internal challenge that encourages employees to host outings or socials at Black-owned businesses across the country throughout the month of February. Whichever office generates the biggest turnout wins the opportunity to host the next Juneteenth celebration. The 2023 Juneteenth celebration will be hosted by Power's Boston office.