Braze, Inc., based in New York City, provides a customer engagement platform offering tools for personalized marketing via email, push notifications, and in-app messaging to help brands interact with users across channels. Founded by Bill Magnuson, Jon Hyman, and Mark Ghermezian, it started as a mobile analytics firm before pivoting to CRM software, going public on NASDAQ amid growth in digital marketing. Interestingly, its focus on real-time data processing has led to integrations with apps like Shopify, expanding from startups to enterprise clients.
This marketing tech firm shows wokeness through ESG reports on sustainability and social governance, DEI via employee resource groups for underrepresented communities, and support for LGBTQ+ with Pride initiatives and equality awards. They've expanded programs for equitable access hinting at racial justice
Braze's Employee Resource Groups allocated $300,000 in grants to over 36 nonprofits in 2024, including the National Black Justice Coalition and the Fifteen Percent Pledge, which focus on racial justice and Black business equity. Additionally, Pride@Braze directed funds to the Ali Forney Center, Galop, the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, and 56 Dean Street to support LGBTQ communities through services like homelessness prevention, legal aid, and sexual health care.
Pride@Braze, an LGBTQ+ employee resource group at Braze, enables employees to connect over shared experiences, bring their "authentic selves" to work, and feel supported, while fostering cross-departmental relationships and allowing queer employees to advocate for their needs.
Braze's Pride@Braze ERG, focused on LGBTQ+ communities, directed funds from the company's Social Impact Fund to four organizations: Brave Space Alliance, a Black-led and trans-led center in Chicago; SAGE, a national advocacy group for LGBTQ elders; Hidayah UK, supporting LGBTQI Muslims; and Galop, providing helplines and services for LGBT victims of abuse and hate crimes.
Braze's FY23 10K filing mentions the establishment of a Social Impact Department to oversee DEI efforts, including targeted hiring via affinity partnerships, ERGs for underrepresented employees, and mandatory unconscious bias training, though diversity metrics show imbalances like 64% male in technical roles and 77% White in the US workforce. The report also notes the publication of its first ESG report in November 2022.
Braze's ERG Grant Program allocated $330,000 to over 35 nonprofits in 2025, including support for LGBTQ organizations such as the Human Rights Campaign, Out in Tech, and Same But Different, which focus on civil rights, career advancement, and legal challenges within the LGBTQ community.