Recalling last year’s controversial tie score with Nicor, ComEd’s 18 softball players buzzed with excitement and anticipation to face Nicor and People’s Gas again at the All-Utility Juneteenth Picnic on Saturday, June 3. For the second year in a row, ComEd’s Exelon African American Resource Alliance (EAARA) hosted a Juneteenth picnic that offered opportunities to network, collaborate, compete in softball, and honor the historic occasion of Juneteenth, and African Americans’ road to freedom.
“The commitment to winning was reflected in our team’s preparation for the game,” said Jamil Muhammad, ComEd External Affairs Manager and EAARA Vice President. “All players participated in stretching exercises and practice prior to the game – the camaraderie was strong.”
The All-Utility Juneteenth Picnic was born from a desire for collaboration and fellowship through shared experiences. Each year, it reconnects ComEd, Nicor and People’s Gas employees for a positive and fun-filled day of softball and other family-friendly activities. While a sports tournament can energize the utility teams with a healthy dose of friendly competition, it also serves as a great team-building exercise for ComEd’s EAARA members as they work toward another common goal.
“All three utilities serve a broad service region, and we know how important it is to our customers that they see themselves in our teams. Striving to honor the diversity and vibrancy of our communities, we keep ourselves accountable to being inclusive and equitable through not only our expansion of job training and education programs, but also through partnerships across utilities and our service territories,” said Muhammad. “So, when Juneteenth officially became a holiday in Illinois last year, we seized the opportunity to align this news with our inaugural All-Utility Juneteenth Picnic event rooted in unity, self-love, family, and community.”
The holiday commemorates the enforced freedom of 250,000 enslaved people in Texas a whopping 900 days after the Emancipation Proclamation had been signed. It reminds us that the road to equality has been nothing short of an uphill battle. Accountability and allyship have been the cornerstones of progress, and at ComEd those values are embedded in every development, internal or external. Whether it be diversifying its talent pipeline through education and training programs, promoting inclusion and leadership development within the company, or ensuring equitable, reliable and affordable power to all customers, ComEd commits to everyone having a seat at the table.
The EAARA is just one of 10 Exelon Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) focused on partnering with ComEd’s Human Resources to attract, develop, and retain diverse staff. Though the EAARA fosters diversity, equity, and inclusion within ComEd through community outreach and civic engagement, it doesn’t stop there.
“ComEd is a diverse company and a great place to work,” said Shantinel Laws, president of ComEd’s EAARA chapter. “It embodies the principles that all are treated equally and fairly. A great example is affording people of color the opportunity to climb the corporate ladder.”
The softball tournament was just a warm-up for the festivities that took place across the city and at ComEd. On Thursday, Muhammad accompanied Juneteenth Illinois NFP, city and county officials, and many other partners at Malcolm X College to kick off a series of Juneteenth resource fairs, panels, concerts, and more. There, he elaborated on ComEd’s contribution of $5,000 in college scholarships to ensure that more diverse students have an opportunity to pursue STEM degrees that’ll prepare them for the well-paying jobs of tomorrow.
