June is Pride Month and every year our Land O'Lakes Pride Alliance Employee Resource Group (ERG) celebrates and commemorates with a variety of activities. Our Pride Alliance ERG aims to develop community and foster a safer and more inclusive environment for LGBTQ+ employees, members, customers and our allies.

We asked a few of our Pride Alliance ERG members across the U.S. to share a bit more about themselves and what Pride Month means to each of them.

Meet Chris, carbon supply analyst, from the Twin Cities, Minnesota:

"I really enjoy our Pride festival in the Twin Cities and have volunteered with community organizations in the past to help staff booths and bring this event to life. It is a great weekend to bring life into downtown Minneapolis and celebrate how far we have come as a community.

Given the challenges we are facing to our rights in many states across the country, I also believe Pride gives us an important microphone to raise awareness about these issues among allies attending the event."

Meet Andrew, email marketing specialist, from the Twin Cities, Minnesota:

"My pronouns are he/him, and I identify as a member of the LGBTQ+ (or, as I prefer to order them: TBLGQ+) and queer communities. I live with my husband, who has been my partner for over 34 years, and my spouse for almost 20 years.

I can talk for hours about most sci-fi genre shows and movies. I’m especially drawn to Star Trek because of the show’s concept of humans surviving and reaching out to the stars to create a better and multicultural future."

Meet Chris, manufacturing manager, from Portland, Oregon.

"I admire and look up to every queer person who came before us and helped create a world where I can live an authentic life without fear of recrimination. You don’t have to be a celebrity to make a difference, but I admire those who leveraged their platform to create the space for queer people to simply exist.

We enjoy freedoms today that were unimaginable 20 years ago. I truly love the month of June for all its outrageous, glorious celebration of the full spectrum of human experience."

Meet Donna, sr. collaboration analyst, from the Twin Cities, Minnesota:

"I use she/her pronouns and am an ally for the queer community. I have beloved family members who are transgender, gay and bisexual.

Before Covid, my kid, their spouse and I volunteered for Land O’Lakes at the Family Pride Picnic in Como Park. We had a lot of fun and I just really enjoyed seeing families out enjoying the day together."

Meet Steve, regulatory compliance analyst, from St. Joe, Missouri:

"I feel that respecting and supporting someone’s identity is of the utmost importance in the community.

I identify as they/them part of the time but at this stage in my life, it’s not a personal priority. I feel that this would be a much bigger priority if I was a younger person and I definitely support them in finding their way no matter the age."

Learn more about all of our ERGs on our Inclusion page.