By N. Duru Ahanotu, Yahoo Black Network, Director of Data Management
We’re kicking off the beginning of Black History Month, and Yahoo is proud to honor and celebrate our African-American colleagues and users. We’re commemorating this month by embracing the past and engaging the future. As a member of the Yahoo Black Network (YBN) – our African American employee resource group – I’m particularly proud that Yahoo celebrates Black History Month, as this community has enriched our brand, culture and user experience throughout Yahoo’s 22 year history.
In partnership with YBN, we’re rolling out several internal events at our offices across the U.S., including market insights and education, cultural awareness, industry networking events, cultural profiles from Yahoo News anchors, and traditional dance, live music, and authentic food options from across the African diaspora. We’re also launching external activations to inspire our users to join us in honoring the contributions of African technologists and innovators. Our first activation for users is live today! Check out Yahoo Mail (on desktop) where you’ll find Black History Month-inspired stationery to share with your friends and family.
YBN’s mission is to embrace, develop and celebrate African-American talent at Yahoo and in the community. YBN advocates for a workplace that is professionally-challenging, opportunity-rich and fully-inclusive for African Americans. We take this moment to recognize Black History Month, and to encourage our employees, the industry and the community to strive for a stronger future.
Yahoo values the loyalty and contributions of the African-American community and look forward to even deeper engagement with this community in the future.
Have you met Yahoo’s Prom King? Well, now you can with our next ‘22 Questions’ video – this one featuring Mark Sagherian, a member of our CEO Cabinet focusing on Corporate Strategy! Find out why Yahoo was always in his future, how he can brighten anyone’s day, his secret talent and how he’s documented every day he’s worked at Yahoo.
You may be wondering, why 22 questions? Yahoo is turning 22 years old and given how busy and in-demand our leaders are, we knew 73 questions would never get answered in between meetings.
Our very own Sandy Gould, SVP of culture, coaching and communicating, was recently featured in Fast Company with his expert tips for avoiding career burnout. Still looking for #NewYearNewYou inspiration to get ahead in 2017? Check out Sandy’s seven-step process for reigniting the spark in your career.
Identify what you love. “What do you love doing at work?” Sandy asks. “What have people said you are good at? What do you want next: a title, more money, a role, or a skill?”
Find and build your superpowers. “What successes have you had, and what superpowers helped you achieve them?” Sandy asks. “What do you do differently than others? How will [you] do the job in a way that reflects [who you are], leverages [your] superpowers and creates something awesome?”
Seek advice and get feedback on what people think you love and are great at. “Also ask people how they have found their destiny,” he says.
Build a plan. Take steps that lead you to your destiny and use that plan to move forward.
Don’t follow the plan. “As my friend [fashion stylist] Joe Zee wisely said, You have to have the plan, but then break it when opportunity leads you down an even better road,” Sandy says.
Focus on what matters to you. If job, title, compensation, experience, or people are your priority, focus on that, because that will make you happy. It’s what you need. Don’t listen to conventional wisdom that says you are supposed to do something at this time, this way, or care about this the most.
Customize the job to your unique approach. Sandy knows firsthand how to design the career of your dreams. When he got into recruiting, he had been trained in Rabbinical studies, philosophy, psychology, leadership and counseling. He blended counseling, coaching, management consulting and ethics with sales and recruiting. He focused on building relationships with clients and candidates, as opposed to a transactional focus on generating fees. As a result, he was promoted to VP in record time; and most importantly, he loved his job and the experience, connections and learning!
Make sure to check out Fast Company for the full article! And be sure to keep an eye out for our next #NewYearNewYou career advice post.
In true Yahoo Fantasy fashion, Yahoo delivered strong on its 2016 season. The Fantasy Sports Trade Association (FSTA) held their annual awards ceremony and awarded Yahoo Fantasy:
Best Fantasy Commissioner Game (season-long)
Best Mobile App Commissioner & Season Long Contests
We beat out ESPN, CBS and others for top honors. This brings the total of Yahoo FSTA awards to a grand total of 13! We’ve extended our winning streak for Best Season-Long Fantasy Commissioner Game to three years in a row, and Best Mobile App Commissioner & Season Long Contests to four years in a row!
2016 was a great year with the launch of a brand new Fantasy app and additions to Daily Fantasy Sports such as the Yahoo Cup. Congrats to the Fantasy team!
One of the latest Yahoos in the news is Polyvore’s Senior Fashion Editor Amy Wicks, who was recently profiled in Brit + Co, a popular lifestyle website for women. Their “Day in the Life” column shows what it’s like to walk in the (stylish) shoes of inspirational women with interesting careers.
“When it comes to avoiding career burnout, we all want to do work that we love. And for a lot of people, turning a love of fashion into a full-time job would quite literally be living the dream. But finding a way to not just enter a saturated market but totally crush it while you’re there isn’t as simple as holiday must-haves and statement pieces. Just ask Amy Wicks, senior fashion editor at Polyvore. After spending a decade at Conde Nast, editing fashion news for Glamour.com and working as a media reporter at WWD, Amy packed her bags and moved across the country to San Francisco to spend some time freelancing. She finally landed at Polyvore, where she is now responsible for creating and curating daily articles that highlight the best fashion and beauty content from Polyvore’s community.”
Find out what a typical day is like for Amy, the one thing that gets her through her day, how she spends her time commuting and her best piece of advice here!
Let’s kick off 2017 with a new video in our ‘22 Questions’ series – this one featuring Leah Thrush, Director of Global Onboarding Experience! Find out the craziest new hire fun fact, why everyone says hi to her and the record amount of Mondays she’s been on the Sunnyvale campus.
You may be wondering, why 22 questions? Yahoo is turning 22 years old and given how busy and in-demand our leaders are, we knew 73 questions would never get answered in between meetings.
A team of Yahoos brought their passion, enthusiasm, teamwork and competitive spirits to the first ever America SCORES Bay Area charity corporate soccer tournament – and it paid off! Our Yahoo team, all deeply passionate about soccer, met some of the finest Bay Area companies on the field in December. We clinched third place against companies like Cisco, Malwarebytes and Silver Lake.
America SCORES is a grant recipient of Yahoo’s Employee Foundation (YEF). The organization is empowering students in urban communities by providing a safe play space. Supporting America SCORES with a little friendly competition was a great way to close out 2016!
