Celebrating Deltek’s LGBTQ+ Community – Part 2: What It Means to Have Pride at Deltek

Pride Month is more than just an annual celebration, it's an opportunity to drive awareness and visibility of things that are important to us as individuals. Whether it is taking pride in our work, in ourselves or in our beliefs, pride shapes and defines who we are and what we stand for. 

Deltek takes pride in creating a culture where all of our employees truly feel like they belong. We recognize that we are stronger when each employee is comfortable bringing their best selves to work and that diversity of experience and thought also makes us more innovative and creative.

In part two of this Pride Month interview series, we caught up with Domz Murillo, Information Solutions Research Manager in Makati, Philippines, and Chad Livingston, Delivery Director in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, to discuss what it means to have pride at Deltek.

Each year at Deltek, we celebrate Pride Month as part of our commitment to diversity and inclusion. What does Pride Month mean to you and why is it important?

Domz: While Deltek as a company recognizes the diversity of all employees, recognizing Pride Month makes me proud to be part of the LGBTQ+ community. It is the one month where the focus is on this amazing community of unique individuals and what we represent. I especially like having the opportunity to organize social and educational Pride activities and seeing my Makati colleagues having a good time.

Chad: What I think is important about Pride Month isn't the parades or the celebrations, but the increased visibility and ever increasing ability for most LGBTQ+ to live their authentic lives. I’m lucky enough to live in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, a very gay-friendly and diverse beach town. To me, Pride Month is a celebration of being able to live our authentic lives, while being supported and integrated into all of our communities. 

Domz: Working at Deltek for the last eight years has allowed me to be me. By bringing my authentic self to work, I am confident to say what is on my mind and don’t have to hide my real feelings. When all employees are comfortable sharing their different viewpoints, it allows us to see different perspectives and become more open minded to finding the right solution.

Chad: Bringing my authentic-self to work means that I am able to openly drive awareness of LGBTQ+ concepts in the workplace and educate those who are less aware or comfortable  — while increasing their knowledge and understanding. It means that I'm comfortable talking about my husband in meetings and bringing him to Deltek events. It means that when a customer assumes my spouse is female, I am comfortable correcting that assumption. It means that my coworkers aren't afraid to ask me about LGBTQ+ issues, concepts or challenges. And it even means that I can joke with my colleagues that my edits are always highlighted in diva pink.

Domz: As part of my role in Makati, I help support our branding organization. My team is responsible for making sure our Happy@Deltek social media presence is well executed and reflective of our culture. One of the groups that we collaborate with is the Deltek Makati Pride team. With the help of our LGBTQ+ community and employees across the company, we host an annual Pride event each June to share what it means to have pride at Deltek.

Chad: When Lisa Roberts, our leader of Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) at Deltek first started talking about the D&I program, I knew I'd be involved. One, because Lisa and I had worked together and known each other for as long as she's been with Deltek. Two, because it's a small world and it turned out that we had a mutual friend, and three, because it's about doing the right thing — which also happens to be a legacy Deltek value. I'm a pretty "visible" person in the organization and have a hard time being quiet, so it just felt natural and right to get involved and help launch Deltek’s LGBTQ+ and Allies employee resource group.

Domz: I’ve always been an outgoing person and love exploring places and other cultures. I am particularly passionate about Japanese and Korean cultures and am fascinated by how modern they are while staying true to their ancient history. Although, I haven’t had a chance to travel outside of Asia yet, I have been fortunate enough to explore other Asian countries.

Chad: I am and have always been extremely passionate about international travel and foreign languages. I speak fluent German and am trying to work on my French. I love the aspect of my consulting role that allows me to travel, work with and experience different cultures. When it comes to my free time, it's not a proper vacation unless my passport is needed. 

Domz: If I could share one thing with #TeamDeltek about Pride Month it would be treat each other with respect. Our diverse nature and our different perspectives make us all unique yet similar at the same time. Having different perspectives is not a bad thing, but rather a good opportunity for us all to listen and to learn from each other.

Chad: I've always felt that I belonged at Deltek, and always found Deltek to be a deeply integrated organization that I'm extremely proud to belong to. Deltek is wonderfully inclusive and my hope is that all employees feel included year-round, not just when we recognize particular groups. Pride Month may often be viewed as a celebration, but for many in the LGBTQ+ community, it's about awareness, integration and being able to be our authentic selves.

Domz: I am very appreciative of Deltek’s Culture of Learning initiative, having access to LinkedIn Learning and other global learning courses has been such a great way to enhance my skills —especially during this time where we are all working from home.

In addition, Deltek’s diverse culture, where employees from all walks of life are able to come together and collaborate, is such a unique part of our culture because you get to learn from people through their personal experiences.  

Chad: One of the best things about Deltek’s culture is the collaboration and how our organization, particularly the areas I work most closely with, have one focus — satisfied customers. The teams are always supportive and work together to come to a common solution. Frequently we can feel siloed, but I've seen so many situations where collaboration across business units and teams has led to better overall results for our customers and Deltek.

Domz: While all of Deltek’s values are important to me, the one that resonates most with me is curiosity. My job entails being customer-focused and results driven. And being collaborative and working with passion and integrity come with being a Deltek employee. But by being curious I get to explore different areas and skills that I never thought I could learn.

Chad: Passion is probably the most important value for me. My passion about our team, and the Vantagepoint product is what gets me out of bed in the morning. Without having a passion for our products and our customers, we are just another software vendor and this becomes just another job. I feel like it's the passion for the industries we support, our products, our customers and our teams that really sets Deltek apart from other software providers. Over the past 13 years I've had the opportunity to work with and be exposed to so many of our product teams, and those that stand out always bring their passions to the table.  

Deltek is committed to creating a workplace our employees can be proud of. It’s important to us that every employee understands that they will be treated with respect, inclusivity and appreciation, and that they have opportunities to pursue their professional interests and grow their careers. Visit Deltek Project Nation and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn for latest on #TeamDeltek.