ERG Impact Awards

Formerly known as the Above and Beyond Awards, Seramount’s Annual Employee Resource Group (ERG) Awards-Recognition Program!

Employee resource groups, their leaders, and allies deserve recognition for the critical contributions they make to drive change in their workplaces and communities. The ERG Impact Awards offer the opportunity for organizations to nominate outstanding groups, leaders, and/or members of their ERGs in multiple categories including: Business Impact, Community Impact, Workforce Impact, Workplace Culture Impact, ERG Collaboration, Trailblazer, Valued Ally, and ERG Leadership.

Applications

2023 Applications are now closed.

Honorees (winners and honorable mentions) receive one complementary ticket to attend and be recognized at our annual EmERGe conference in Spring 2024. Winners will receive one in-person ticket and honorable mentions will receive one virtual ticket. 

On this page you will find: 

Can’t find what you need here? Contact us at [email protected]  

Timeline

Info Session Materials

The ERG Impact Awards team hosted three info sessions that reviewed the basics of the awards and nomination process while answering any general questions you may have. Below is a copy of the deck, along with an on-demand recording of a session:

Nomination Instructions

ERG Impact Awards are presented in group and individual categories. Descriptions of each category are provided below, along with links to the online nomination form and Word file applications. All nominations must be submitted via the online form. Word file applications will not be accepted.

Further nomination instructions can be found in the FAQ document below

Frequently Asked Questions

View our list of FAQs here.

Best Practices from Previous Honorees

As a starting point, we encourage you to review the best practices from the 2022 ERG Impact Award honorees and 2021 Above and Beyond awardees.

Honorees from previous years: 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016

Watch how we’ve honored the 2022 awardees at our 2022 EmERGe event in this video:

ERG Impact Award Categories

Below is a description of each category and a link to the nomination application. Links and Word files to the nomination applications to come!

Group Categories

Business Impact

Groups nominated in this category have made a significant contribution to their organization’s business goals. Examples of areas of impact include, but are not limited to, product insights/development/innovation, supplier diversity, marketing, brand reputation (e.g., customer service enhancements) and other business operations.

Community Impact

Groups nominated in this category have made a significant contribution to the communities in which their organization does business. Examples of areas of impact include, but are not limited to, educational/vocational opportunities for underserved populations, environmental sustainability, disaster relief and overall health of a community.

Workforce Impact

Groups nominated in this category have made a significant contribution to an organization’s efforts to recruit, retain and advance diverse talent. Examples of areas of impact include, but are not limited to, pipeline development, recruitment, onboarding, mentorship/sponsorship and internal leadership development programming.

Workplace Culture Impact

Groups nominated in this category have made a significant contribution to an organization’s inclusive culture. Examples of areas of impact include, but are not limited to, employee engagement, promoting inclusive behaviors, benefits/policies and procedures, and workplace design/accessibility.

ERG Collaboration

Groups nominated in this category have made a significant collaborative effort to contribute to their organization’s diversity, equity, and inclusion goals in relation to business, community, workforce, and/or workplace culture impact. To be considered for this award, at least two or more ERGs must have collaborated together on an initiative within one of the areas of impact above.

Trailblazer

To be considered for this award, groups MUST come from a small organization with less than or equal to 2,500 total (global, if applicable) permanent employees AND/OR have two or less years of ERG maturity at an enterprise level. Groups nominated in this category have made a significant trailblazing effort to contribute to their organization’s diversity, equity, and inclusion goals in relation to business, community, workforce, and/or workplace culture impact despite their size, limited resources, and age since initial ERG charter.

Individual Categories

Valued Ally

An individual nominated for the Valued Ally Award must be an executive sponsor, program director or ally who contributes to the success of one or more ERGs by providing support, outstanding guidance and exposure. Examples of ways individuals contribute as valued allies include, but are not limited to, leveraging their position within the company to influence senior leadership and build engagement of the C-suite in DEI and the work of Employee Resource Groups, showing a commitment to DEI beyond involvement in an ERG and seeking opportunities to expand a knowledge base to better support the ERG and the business.

ERG Leadership

A candidate for the ERG Leadership Award is an individual whose resilience and determination has led to the creation, success and/or turnaround of their ERG. Examples of exemplary leadership include, but are not limited to, a deep understanding of the organization’s DEI and business goals; the ability to forge partnerships with other ERGs, business leaders and external organizations to create meaningful impact and the ability to influence multiple aspects of the company’s culture, business, and the community.

We look forward to reading your submissions!