Acquia Culture in Action, September 2019
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Acquia believes in being the best place to work for all, and we care about making sure each and every person feels supported and excited in their role. Our culture thrives when we help each other and help those around us achieve more than they ever could alone. To recognize these values, we’re looking at all the ways Acquians are giving back to their communities and building meaningful connections. See how we welcomed new faces, committed to learning more about the work we do and took the time to help out the people and causes that mean the most to us.
#GiveBackMore
At Acquia, we do everything with an “open” mind and heart, which is why we are committed to giving back and reaching out a hand to those who need it. We recently gathered donations and resources for Boston's Pine Street Inn, New England's leading provider of housing, shelter, street outreach and job training to the homeless. Acquians purchased comforting household items like tea, oatmeal, toothbrushes and hand sanitizer for the shelter. We then came together to assemble individual care kits that could be given out to the homeless community.
Giving back not only benefits the person or organization in need but also acts as a great way to build relationships with our coworkers and accomplish difficult feats together. This month, 14 fearless Acquians in our Reading, UK office committed to running the 10-mile-long Tough Mudder course in South London for the second year in a row. Last year, our Tough Mudder team conquered the obstacles in support of Cancer Research, and this time the team ran to raise money for World Wildlife Fund-UK, the world’s leading independent conservation organization.
#StrongerTogether: Acquia Welcomes Cohesion
As Acquia continues to dream bigger and do more with digital, we are excited to keep adding new talent to our team. On September 4, Acquia officially announced our acquisition of Cohesion, creator of DX8, the first enterprise-grade, low-code Drupal website builder. With the addition of the Cohesion team, we’re expanding our UK presence to Brighton and ushering in a whole new talented team of Acquians, so we can always keep learning how to create better customer experiences.
#OwningIt at Acquia Immersion
It’s officially back-to-school season for many, and at Acquia, we encourage our employees to never stop learning and developing their own skill sets and career paths. September saw a new group complete Acquia Immersion, our multi-day onboarding experience that dives deep into everything Acquia. Almost 50 Acquians from all over the globe came together at our Boston headquarters for three days jam-packed with learning, career growth and socializing. The Immersion program is meant to show Acquia’s deep commitment to empowering and welcoming recent employees and propel their future career steps. Not only do attendees come away with a fuller sense of our mission and strategy, but they also get to make connections with one another and form cross-office relationships within the Acquia community.
This September’s Immersion featured rounds of “Speed Meeting” for everyone to get to know each other and a Stump Trivia gathering where Acquians worked together to show off their smarts and enjoy a few fun rounds of good food and drink. Every Immersion is a unique and enriching experience that aims to make sure everyone who starts at Acquia understands their role and why the work they're doing matters to our greater vision.
#InspireALittleCrazy: Employee Spotlight
Giving back and getting involved isn’t a 9 to 5 commitment. At Acquia, we’re proud to employ a diverse range of people who are actively involved in their communities and helping those around them to succeed every day — both in and out of the office. For this month’s Employee Spotlight, we wanted to recognize Acquia’s global support manager, John Orlandella, Jr. for his dedication to coaching over 450 youth Little League players, including his sons!
John has been a youth sports team manager and coach for over 8 years now, and he says he loves his hands-on role as a mentor because it allows him to help kids gain confidence, grow socially and form connections with their teammates. Rather than focus on winning, John’s number one priority is to make sure that each and every kid gets “the best baseball experience possible.”
#CommitedToAwesome Celebrations
Acquians On Board! The Reading, UK Acquia team took to the water to celebrate a summer full of teamwork and growth with their families on the River Thames.
Our India offices in Delhi and Pune held their summer parties recently. Both groups had a fantastic time bowling and gaming with great food, drinks and dancing.
No matter where you fall on the UK football (soccer) versus NFL “American Football” debate, we can all come together for a good time. The Boston office held its quarterly Happy Hour event this month where Acquians showed their team spirit by rocking their favorite jerseys and celebrating like they’d just won both the Super Bowl and the World Cup!
Canadian colleagues took on Toronto’s Trip to Escape Manor a puzzling, social, team building endeavor. We also recently added new artwork to our Toronto office space celebrating our brand!
Our leadership at Acquia could not be more proud to celebrate all of our people, both old and new, and continue to bolster their ability to grow their own teams. As we enter a new season, we’ll have lots more goals to strive for together and successes to share with each other and with our community.
Chief People Officer Acquia, Inc.
