SYRACUSE, N.Y. – TCGplayer, the leading online technology platform for the collectibles industry, was featured in the New York Times Dealbook, which highlighted the company’s commitment to engaging its employees in discussions around racial justice, inequality and diversity and representation in the workplace.
From the New York Times:
As protests broke out after George Floyd’s killing this spring, “I didn’t know what to say or what to do,” [Chedy Hampson, CEO of TCGplayer] recounted. “That’s when I confessed my concerns openly to my executive team.”
The conversations that followed were frank. “We looked at ourselves and said, ‘You know, there’s no representative on this executive team that can speak to this,’” he said, noting that the executive team had no Black members. “So we shouldn’t even be coming up with this idea. Let’s go talk to our co-workers.”
TCGplayer reached out to its employees to discuss how the company should respond publicly. The TCGplayer employees directly shaped the corporate response which led to a donation of $25,000 split evenly among the three following organizations: Black Lives Matter, The NAACP Legal Defense Fund and Syracuse Juneteenth.
“I think a lot of people are still learning what it means to support these movements,” Mr. Hampson said. The discussions with employees led the company to take a more active role in the 2020 election by partnering with Power the Polls, a program aimed at enlisting poll workers, giving all employees the day off on Election Day, and encouraging them to volunteer.
Hampson said that after the election the company’s leadership will continue to listen, engage and make equality, justice and representation a core part of the company’s mission.
