“[Last spring], we were trying to think of something to do as a company that would include all our colleagues across the globe, something that every single team member could get involved in“
Arete is a cybercrime defense company with close to 500 employees across the US and India.
“[Last spring], we were trying to think of something to do as a company that would include all our colleagues across the globe, something that every single team member could get involved in,” says Severine Fortin, a marketing coordinator.
Getting people up and moving was especially important to Arete. “People were still working at home and India was in lockdown,” says Severine. “Cybersecurity is an industry where people work heavy hours consulting. We wanted to put more balance into the work day.”
But they didn’t just want to get moving. Giving back, especially fighting hunger, is an important part of Arete’s company culture.
“We wanted to make a sizeable donation,” says Severine.“We’d done a lot of work to support hunger organizations, but we had not yet met our goal for the quarter. At the same time, we were also launching a health and wellness initiative for the summer, a couch to 5k to get people outside and more engaged every day.”
Arete knew that fighting hunger would help motivate everyone to go the extra mile.
That’s why Arete chose to support the United Nations World Food Programme, Feed Hyderabad, and Feeding America in Charity Miles.
Arete also supported Girls Who Code because “cybersecurity is a male-dominated field,” says Severine. As a cybercrime defense company, they want to do something about that.
“People were really excited about it,” says Severine. “Individual teams started informal competitions and challenges. They ended up printing out a giant thermometer to track their miles.”
Were they all just exercise buffs? Nope. “We had people who were training for a marathon, doing 20 miles a day and people who were just going for a walk with their dog at lunch,” says Severine.
“People really liked it,” she adds. “It was a great way to connect with our colleagues, which has been a problem this year with everyone working remotely. We were getting to know more names, and seeing new photos that people were posting. In the office people were doing team walks too.”
All told, Arete did 11,388 miles and donated an amazing $50,000 in total: $12,500 each to United Nations World Food Programme, Feed Hyderabad, Feeding America, and Girls Who Code.
Huge thanks and congrats to everyone on the Arete team for making such a tremendous impact! #EveryMileMatters!
