Five to Nine

06/08/2022

Today, we’re excited to share that we have raised $4.25m to achieve Five to Nine's mission to create workplaces where all people belong!

This funding will help us continue to grow our incredible product and engineering teams, enhance our sales capabilities, and develop new customer solutions for the leaders that we serve. 🙌🏿

When we set out to build , our goal was to make it easier for ERG leaders to manage and measure employee engagement initiatives.

We knew firsthand that ERG leaders (often people of color, often unpaid for their time) were spending countless hours planning events.

There wasn’t an efficient management system on the market - so we made one. Now, we’re helping companies like , , and manage and track the impact of their employee events and programs - fostering more inclusive workplaces in the process.

Thank you to Black Ops Ventures, Slack Fund, Cleveland Avenue, the incredible Chicago startup community, and our other amazing partners, for believing in us and supporting us along the way.

We’re excited for what’s to come.

For more about the vision of Five to Nine, read the exclusive in TechCrunch here:

https://techcrunch.com/2022/06/08/five-to-nine-raises-4-25m-seed-round-to-help-improve-the-efficiency-of-dei-initiatives/

12/03/2021

We're excited to announce that registration is live for The Tech ERG Summit 2022, hosted by Five to Nine in partnership with Kapor Center! Join us for this go-to event to learn, share ideas, and network with Tech Industry experts and leaders.

This is a 3-day virtual event with hands-on workshops, keynotes, and fireside chats, January 26-28, 2022! Learn more and register here! https://thetechergsummit.fivetonine.co/

Join the go-to event for ERG and D&I professionals in the tech industry to learn, share ideas, and network with tech industry ERG experts and leaders. January 26 - 28, 2022

01/20/2021

🚨New team member alert!⠀⠀

Please help us give a warm welcome to our new Lead Designer, Maria. She comes with extensive branding, UI/UX, and design strategy experience and will help take Five to Nine to its next phase of growth. Welcome, Maria!

10/06/2020

We’re proud to announce that Five to Nine was selected for the inaugural Google for Startups Black Founders Fund. Excited to have the support of Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the entire Chicago tech ecosystem. Proud to be working with such incredible companies and tech leaders!

In an effort to assist Chicago’s Black-owned startups through the tumultuous Covid-19 pandemic, Google is giving grants to six South Side businesses.

08/31/2020

Yesterday was National Grief Awareness Day - a day to recognize that the time it takes to heal from loss doesn't have a prescribed course and a reminder that closure comes in many different forms.

We hope our ideas help you support your colleagues in their time of need:

🌤 Work to de-stigmatize mental health and grief by creating a communication channel offering resources and support for those affected

🌤 We all have someone in our lives who are experiencing some type of grief. Remember them and reach out
- Loss of a loved one
- Losing a job
- Being distanced from family
- And so much more

08/28/2020

Happy National Red Wine Day!

🍷 Grab your favorite wine glass and bottle and check out some of our ideas to celebrate:

🤵🏻 Invite a wine sommelier to a virtual wine tasting and social hour

🗒 Share your favorite sangria recipe or your favorite red wine with the team

📆 Host a virtual happy hour - only red wines allowed (non-alcoholic welcome)

🥇 Play a trivia game - winner gets a virtual badge, “master sommelier”

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🔗 in to our full August event’s guide: https://fivetonine.co/resources-1

08/26/2020

Happy National Women’s Equality Day!

👩🏾‍💼👩🏾‍💼 As women entrepreneurs ourselves, we wanted to take a moment to celebrate the progress made so far in women’s equality but also draw attention to the continued fight and support needed for women to have an equal opportunity for growth and advancement in the workplace.

💡Check out our ideas on how to move the needle forward on this day:

🥳 Celebrate the advancement of women's equality but also recognize continued obstacles faced in the workplace. Question how your workplace is tracking on this metric.

🔑 Develop a women’s mentoring program - pair participants with leaders to regularly discuss career goals, networking, and other factors critical for career advancement.

🤲🏾 Support women entrepreneurs. Five to Nine is a woman owned business.

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🔗 to our full August event’s guide: https://fivetonine.co/resources-1

08/24/2020

🐍🏀 It’s Mamba Week - A week to honor the legacy of Kobe Bryant, also known as Black Mamba

To remember Kobe Bryant, we are sharing one of our favorite quotes from his career on leadership, “The most important thing is to try and inspire people so that they can be great at whatever they do”.

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💡Here are some ideas to celebrate & honor his life and legacy:

🏀 Don the number 8 or 24 in his honor

👨🏽‍💻Turn on youtube and find your favorite Kobe Bryant clip - spend a couple of minutes before your next meeting re-watching these highlights with your team. We recommend watching "Better", Nike's short film that was just released commemorating his life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9I-W1eTCbk

🤲🏾 Kobe Bryant was passionate about philanthropy and helping those in need, consider donating to the charities he supported: https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/27/us/honoor-kobe-bryant-charity-iyw-trnd/index.html


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🔗 to our full August event’s guide: https://fivetonine.co/resources-1

08/19/2020

🌎 Happy World Humanitarian Day! We wanted to say thank you to all of the aid and health workers who are at the frontlines tackling our world’s most pressing challenges.

⭐️To kick this day off, we’d like to spotlight Thaki in Beirut, Lebanon. Thaki is a non profit helping vulnerable children and refugees during Covid-19 by partnering with organizations to provide laptops to students and families so that they can continue their education through online learning.

🎉 Ideas to celebrate this day include:

🦸🏽‍♀️🦸🏿‍♂️ Pay special tribute to real-life heroes by sharing inspiring personal stories of humanitarians with your team. Check out Thaki, a non-profit from Lebanon, to get you started! https://thaki.org/

👊🏽 Organize a team and join the fight against COVID-19. Ideas include food drives and donations for vulnerable communities.

🔗 Link to our full August event’s guide: https://fivetonine.co/resources-1

08/17/2020

🤲🏾 Happy National Nonprofit Day!

✨This is a day to acknowledge the goals and positive impacts that nonprofit organizations have on our local communities and around the world 🌎

🎉 Celebrate & raise awareness for this day with our event ideas:

⏰💰Select a common cause to support as a team and identify a non-profit that serves that cause; donate money or volunteer your time to the cause

🧠 Partner with a nonprofit and lend functional expertise probono to bring the organization you’re helping to the next level

#️⃣ Use the hashtag on your social media channels to create awareness for a nonprofit of choice

🔗 Link to our full August event’s guide: https://fivetonine.co/resources-1

08/14/2020

🧘🏽‍♀️National Relaxation Day falls on Saturday this year, but here at Five to Nine we believe it’s just as important to find time to relax during our workdays!

🔋Check out our ideas to help you and your teams unwind, relax, and recharge whenever needed:

🏌🏾‍♀️Idea share with your teammates around what your favorite activity/technique is to manage stress

🚶🏻‍♂️Fatigued by Zoom? Encourage your team to take a break from the computer and go out for a walk during their next 1 on 1 or be video off

🥙 Host a sponsored team lunch - the rules are no one is allowed to talk about work for an hourIdea share with your teammates around what your favorite activity/technique is to manage stress

🔗 to our full guide to event ideas for the month of August: https://lnkd.in/g7B2yPx

08/12/2020

It's Congressional Startup Day!

In case you are wondering what this day is about, here's a quick history lesson:

⚖️ This holiday was started back in 2013 by Representatives Jared Polis & Darrell Issa

⚖️ Their goal was to create a platform for startups to connect with lawmakers to express concerns and drive policy change

⚖️ This holiday also recognizes the value, creativity, and passion of startups; an essential part of the economy

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Why is this important to acknowledge and how can I support?

💡 August is Black Business Month and there are plenty of Black-owned businesses to support including yours truly, Five to Nine. Challenge your organization to consider vendor
diversity in their procurement decisions.

💡 Use & on social media to spotlight and support startups you like. You can find Five to Nine on all socials if you’d like to highlight us!

🔗 to our full august events guide: https://fivetonine.co/resources-1