This year has been one of change. In March, Mavrck implemented what was thought to be a temporary remote work policy in response to the COVID-19 outbreak in the US. In June, we saw racial tensions escalate following the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor. During this time, we sought out experts to educate the Mavrck team about implicit bias, especially in the workplace. While 2020 has radically shifted our day-to-day lives, our team at Mavrck has found ways to adapt, learn, and grow. Now we’re on the precipice of what could be considered among the most pivotal elections in our histories — no matter which side you’re on. And with changing times, must come changing behaviors. That is why, moving forward every year, Mavrck will be making Election Day paid time off for all employees.
While people have already started voting and will continue to do so before November 3, many Americans will still flock to the polls on Election Day. With the presence of COVID-19, voting safely could be even more challenging — lines to vote are already proving to be longer due to increased restrictions and social distancing guidelines. It’s also a reality that the United States has one of the lowest voter participation rates of any democracy in the world. By allowing our team the flexibility in their day to vote in person, to volunteer, to be a poll worker, or to exercise their civic responsibility to vote how they choose, we have the potential to increase voter turnout. We hope this encourages not just participation in presidential elections every four years, but a heightened focus on local, regional, and state elections as well.
Startups and corporations often have the ability to influence change, a notion with which Mavrck in particular is intimately familiar. Influencing others is our daily work, but always with authenticity and trust at the core of the message and intent. While we don’t want to influence who or what our team votes for, we do want to create trust in the democratic process. To broaden our commitment, we’ve also joined the nonpartisan efforts, Time To Vote and A Day for Democracy, an organization with Boston roots (like ours) founded by CEOs to encourage leaders to pledge to increase voter participation from their employees. We’re encouraged to see other brands, social networks, and organizations make similar pledges to support their employees on Election Day.
At Mavrck, we call ourselves “curious hustlers,” and we hope that by allowing our employees the flexibility to vote or volunteer on Election Day, we can all be more curious about our democracy, and hustle to make our vote count.
For more information on how to register to vote and other resources for Election Day, check out Vote.org.
