Black History Month Virtual Volunteer Event Recap

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Honoring Black History Month Through Action

Employee engagement shouldn't be hard. That's why Percent Pledge offers one-hour volunteer events that require no prep.

In February 2026, 181 employees from 72 companies joined our Black History Month Community Volunteer Event.

Together, they created educational materials to preserve and promote Black history by researching influential Black leaders—past and present—to help populate curriculum for the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH).

Why Teams Chose This Remote Volunteer Opportunity

Black History Month celebrates the contributions, achievements, and resilience of Black Americans throughout history.

Many companies want to celebrate. But remote teams need events that are inclusive, fast, and meaningful.

This event delivered:

• A remote volunteer opportunity for dispersed teams.
• An educational way to celebrate Black history and culture.
• A shared experience that sparked learning, connection, and pride.

Inside the Black History Month Event

Hosted live on Zoom, the event brought employees together from across the United States, Canada, the UK, and Colombia.

Icebreakers to Bring Volunteers Together

We opened with introductions and check-ins. Volunteers shared where they were joining from, spanning dozens of cities across multiple countries.

Nonprofit Spotlight: The Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH)

ASALH President Dr. Kaye Wise Whitehead delivered a powerful presentation on the importance of Black history and celebrating the contributions of Black people to the history of the world. Her energy inspired volunteers, with one participant sharing, "I feel empowered!" and another saying, "She's amazing. I'm ready to run through a wall."

The Main Event: Creating Educational Materials on Black Leaders

Volunteers chose from a curated list of influential Black leaders and used the internet to research and create detailed fact sheets. Each Fact Sheet included:

• Name and one-sentence description
• Date of birth and death (or "Present" for living figures)
• Photo
• 3 Big Accomplishments
• 3 Fun/Random Facts
• Inspirational Quote

Volunteers researched an incredible range of figures—from civil rights icons like John Lewis and Dorothy Height to contemporary changemakers like Tarana Burke and Ryan Coogler. They also went "off script," highlighting lesser-known heroes like Claudette Colvin, Brad Lomax, George McJunkin, and Alice Ball.

While volunteers worked, a specially curated Black History Month playlist filled the Zoom room with music from Black artists—adding joy and energy to the experience. One volunteer shared, "Great music, Mick!" while another said, "Perfect song."

How This Virtual Volunteer Event Made a Positive Impact

This remote volunteer opportunity:

• Engaged 181 volunteers from 72 different companies.
• Generate over 150 Fact Sheets on influential Black leaders to support ASALH's mission of preserving and promoting Black history.
• Brought together employee volunteers who joined virtually from cities across the United States, Canada, the UK, and Colombia.

This is a great example of our virtual Community Volunteer Events—bringing together a large, diverse group of volunteers to make an immediate impact in just one hour. And doing so in a way that celebrates different cultures, sparks joy, and builds community. We may be divided about a lot of things in today's world, but the desire to give back and help others is universal.

Volunteer Testimonials: Learning, Connection, and Celebration

• "Love her energy" — Vicky @ Fandom (about Dr. Kaye Wise Whitehead's presentation)
• "Powerful!" — Shanna @ Identity Digital
• "I feel empowered!" — Danielle @ WorldStrides
• "This was so good. Thank you" — Yvonne @ Acadia Pharmaceuticals
• "Thank you for providing us with this great opportunity!" — Danielle @ WorldStrides
• "Thank you for hosting. I really enjoyed this hour" — April Turner
• "This was awesome. One love!" — Ricardo @ Customer.io
• "I managed to get three done, thank you so much!" — B Lavornia @ WorldStrides
• "This was great to learn about more figures and support recognizing them!!" — Alyssa @ Customer.io
• "Thank you for hosting. Happy Black History Month." — Aishia Kindig
• "Mick, YOU ROCK! Love working with Percent Pledge 🙂 Looking forward to another invitation. Take care!" — Lisa @ OMAX/Hypertherm
• "Thank you! Great volunteer opportunity." — Tonya @ Acadia Pharmaceuticals
• "Thank you for this! I have learned from all of you!" — Katy Densmore
• "I loved this as my first time. Thank you so much, will jump into more in the future!" — DeeDee @ Hypertherm/OMAX
• "Thank you for this activity and great playlist 🙂" — Joi @ New Relic
• "Thank you for hosting, this was great!" — Emily @ Vidmob
• "Thank you Mick, and thanks to everyone who showed up!" — Sarah @ Customer.io
• "Thank you for this volunteer opportunity!" — Sharon @ Identity Digital
• "This was fun! Thanks!" — Ashley @ BioMarin
• "Thank you!!" — Haley Berger
• "Thank you" — Arlene Gustafson
• "Thank you" — Varsha Gupta
• "Thank you!" — Angela @ Shutterstock
• "Thanks so much!" — Amber @ Datasite
• "Thank you" — Geo Atlas HXM

Employees Shared What They Learned Volunteering

• "I'm working on Jerry Lawson: 'Father of the video game cartridge'! Google has a great visual bio on him, and even after his death, he's won awards for the work he's done for game cartridges for consumer game consoles!" — Vicky @ Fandom
• "I'm using Brad Lomax - Black Panther member and Disability Rights Activist" — Angela @ Shutterstock
• "I chose Katherine Johnson - American Human Computer at NASA" — Haley Berger
• "I searched for lesser known historical African American figures and found Claudette Colvin – Teen activist who refused to give up her bus seat nine months before Rosa Parks. I went to find her birthday and found she just passed on Jan 13 of this year 😢❤️" — Alyssa @ Customer.io
• "I chose Mae Jemison - what an inspiration! 🚀" — Geo Atlas HXM
• "I chose Katherine Johnson! One of the women the movie Hidden Figures was based on 🙂" — Jessica Shearwood
• "I chose Lewis Latimer!" — Sarah @ Customer.io
• "I'm doing spike lee!" — Katy Densmore
• "Ryan Coogler" — Alexxa @ MedPOINT Management
• "I chose Jacob Lawrence" — Tim @ New Relic
• "Doing a sheet on James Baldwin~" — Todd Page
• "Barbara Jordan" — Yvonne @ Acadia
• "I choose Dorothy Height" — Maria @ New Relic
• "John Lewis for me." — Shamika @ New Relic
• "I'm working on Phillis Wheatley!" — Kirsten @ S3
• "Kerry James Marshall!" — Magan @ Hireology
• "I did Gordon Parks - award winning photographer during Civil Rights movement. View his archive here - the photos and context are amazing!!!!!!!!
• "I chose to highlight Wangari Maathai" — Dino Anderson
• "I've done Ella Fitzgerald and Aretha Franklin so far." — Music @ name.com
• "NK Jemsin" — Sam Dabek
• "I chose to highlight Henrietta Lacks - great read if you are unfamiliar with her story" — Ali @ Customer.io
• "I did B.B. King. I got to see him in concert and he's my dad's favorite artist! He even had a Lucille that BB signed" — Amber @ Datasite
• "Harry Belafonte" — Jasmine Johnson
• "Dr. Shirley Jackson, inventor of fiber optic cable" — Karan @ BioMarin
• "I'm doing Gladys West, the mathematician that created GPS. She passed away 2 weeks ago." — Danielle @ WorldStrides
• "James Armistead Lafayette - African American Patriot who served the Continental Army as a spy during the Revolutionary War" — Tracy @ Peet's Coffee
• "I chose Langston Hughes - Poet" — gloria.castro
• "Bio for Jasmine Crockett just submitted, thank you for the opportunity!" — Kim Camacho
• "Lewis Latimer here" — Matt @ Customer.io
• "I chose Alice Ball who I didn't see in the list but I posted about her in BOLD yesterday." — Varsha Gupta
• "Keeping it Philly focused to represent home! Sadie T.M. Alexander, she was a civil rights activist and one of the first African-American woman to receive a PhD in the US (1921)." — Nathan @ Identity Digital
• "I chose Alice Coachman, First Black Woman to win an Olympic Gold Medal. And Gordon Parks - filmmaker, musician, artist. :)" — Lisa @ OMAX/Hypertherm
• "George McJunkin: former slave and self-taught archaeologist. Changed the game in archaeology by discovering the Folson site, proving that humans lived alongside animals in the ice age. Lived in Texas and New Mexico" — Ricardo @ Customer.io
• "I chose Ava DuVernay" — Sarah @ WorldStrides
• "Richard Smallwood submitted." — Tyrone Dobson
• "I submitted one fact sheet for Alvin Ailey" — Meleka @ C1
• "I'm going off script and doing mine on Amanda Gorman!" — B Lavornia @ WorldStrides
• "Tarana Burke. She founded the Me Too movement" — Andrew @ MedPOINT Management

Why Community Volunteer Events Work for ERGs & Remote Teams

Percent Pledge hosts Community Volunteer Events monthly. Each aligns with a different Heritage Month or Cause Holiday, making them perfect for ERGs.

Unlike traditional programs that take hours to plan, these events are:

• Ready-made: Fully designed and facilitated, no lift needed.
• Virtual and scalable: Perfect for hybrid and remote teams.
• Inclusive team-building: Great for ERGs and VTO programs.
• Consistent: Events run monthly to keep momentum going.

For HR and CSR leaders, this "plug-and-play" model makes giving back simple.

👉 Learn more about our Community Volunteer Events

Easy Employee Engagement for HR, People, and CSR Leaders

HR and CSR leaders choose Percent Pledge because we make it easy to engage employees.

With each event, leaders get:

• Built-in facilitation and logistics.
• Easy scheduling in just one hour.
• Scalable programs for any size team.
• Clear impact and engagement you can show leadership.
• Strong alignment with DEI and ERG goals.

If you're short on time but want high impact, this model works.

👉 Learn how our volunteer management software simplifies remote volunteering

One Hour. Many Teams. Real Connection and Immediate Impact.

This Black History Month event showed how much one hour can do.

Employees connected, learned, and gave back in a meaningful way.

Companies saw big results with zero planning required.

And our nonprofit partner received educational materials that help preserve Black history and culture for future generations.

Want to see how it works?

👉 Request a Live Demo of our volunteer software
👉 RSVP and invite your team to join our next ready-made events

Upcoming Events:

• Women's History Month in March
• Earth Day in April
• AAPI Heritage Month in May
• PRIDE Month in June

One hour can make an impact.