Affinity groups play an important role in building internal networks for creating a community, advising Amazon business units, leading in service projects, and reaching out to communities where Amazonians live and work.
Affinity groups
Amazon has 13 affinity groups, also known as employee resource groups, which bring Amazon employees together across businesses and locations around the world. Some examples include the Black Employee Network (BEN), Amazon Women in Engineering (AWE), and Indigenous at Amazon.
Amazon People with Disabilities
AmazonPwD is committed to making Amazon a stronger company by building a community that supports employees and customers who have mental and/or physical disabilities. AmazonPwD welcomes both people with disabilities and their allies. Every year, AmazonPwD is a big part of Amazon’s Global Accessibility Awareness Month, and supports Accessibility Customer Experience Labs throughout the company. In 2018, AmazonPwD supported Amazon’s partnership with the Special Olympics, and also sponsored DeafThrive Day in Seattle. They also partnered on multiple customer-facing business initiatives, including Amazon’s talking lockers, and Alexa programs including captioning, and Tap for Alexa.
Amazon Women in Engineering
Amazon Women in Engineering (AWE) mission is to make Amazon the best place to work for technical women and technical non-binary individuals. With more than 30 chapters at Amazon locations around the world, the group creates networking, training, leadership, and community building opportunities for both employees and interns. The chapters also engage in community outreach to increase the number of young women entering STEM fields. In 2018, this included hosting 4000+ children for Hour of Code.
Asians at Amazon
Asians at Amazon provides a support structure and network for Pan-Asian communities. The group helps recruit, onboard, and connect employees of Asian descent across geographies by sharing experiences and providing access to career development, networking, and community-building opportunities. They also host local community and recruiting events, and participate in the Walk for Rice and Kin On program.
Black Employee Network
Amazon's Black Employee Network's (BEN) mission is to recruit, retain, and empower Black employees. BEN connects members with mentors and provides career and personal development workshops. BEN also engages with the local and regional chapters of the National Society of Black Engineers, leads recruiting initiatives with Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and partners with other organizations. In 2018, two members of the BEN leadership team raised a business idea, which then became their full time jobs. They created a team that launched the black haircare store—Textures & Hues—on Amazon. The concept came out of BEN meetings and led to a plan approved by leadership, new roles for the two BEN leaders, and the creation of a team to support the work.
Body Positive Peers
Body Positive Peers’ (BPP) mission is to make Amazon inclusive for customers and employees in all physical forms. Founded in 2018, the group seeks to cultivate body and fat positivity and acceptance through a safe, supportive employee community. BPP aims to educate Amazonians about size inclusivity so they can break down stigma against body sizes, especially in relation to the intersections of ability, ethnicity, gender identity, and race. The group works with Amazonian businesses to foster size-inclusive experiences for our customers and coordinates with other affinity groups to represent all voices in the body positive conversation. BPP also partners with small businesses and communities outside of Amazon to support their role in the region’s identity and cultural richness. Body Positive Peers welcomes and supports people in large bodies, their allies, and people wanting to work on their own relationship to food and body image.
Families at Amazon
Families at Amazon was established in February 2020 as Amazon's 12th affinity group. Our purpose is to unite all Amazon caregivers and allies to share knowledge, foster career growth, and cultivate community connections among families, while advocating for policies that help make Amazon a great place to work. We support everyone with an affinity for caregiving and enthusiastically welcome all perspectives, locations, family structures, and life situations.
Glamazon
Glamazon helps Amazon be a great place to work by educating and informing employees about the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and/or Queer (LGBTQ+) community and opportunities. The group mentors fellow employees (both LGBTQ+ and allies) and promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion. Amazon is more visible within the LGBTQ+ community-at-large by sponsoring events and PRIDE around the globe. Glamazon supported the creation of a Transgender Toolkit for managers and employees to use when going through a gender transition in the workplace. In 2019, thanks to the efforts of glamazon working with leaders across the company, we were honored again to receive a 100 Score on the HRC Corporate Equality Index, a US benchmarking tool on corporate policies and practices pertinent to LGBTQ employees.
Indigenous at Amazon
Indigenous at Amazon is an inclusive employee community within Amazon. Indigenous means originating or occurring naturally in a particular place; native. We are the first peoples of the land. Our affinity group was founded by Native Americans working in the USA. At the time of forming, we recognized that our lived experience as Indigenous peoples is not isolated to only the Americas. We chose Indigenous in order to reflect the global footprint of Amazon. We foster a community of Indigenous employees and allies through networking and shared experiences. We advocate on behalf of our Indigenous customers by innovating to solve problems of under-representation. Our organization creates access to computer science education and supports the advancement of Indigenous peoples in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). We also prioritize recruitment, representation, and retention of Indigenous people at Amazon.
Latinos at Amazon
Latinos at Amazon is focused on building a strong community for Hispanic/Latinx employees, centered on hiring, retaining, and developing talent, participating in community outreach, and improving the Amazon experience for our customers. The group has an internal mentorship program, an advisory board for Latinx-oriented business projects, hosts social, cultural and fund-raising events, and participates in recruiting efforts at national conferences and universities. It is a grassroots-organized group which is set up to support a diverse set of initiatives proposed by any member and volunteer-led city chapters in major cities around the world.
Mental Health and Well-Being
Mental Health and Well-Being (MHW) is Amazon's newest affinity group. The mission is to promote employee well-being and to create a safe community where employees can come together to reduce the stigma of mental health, raise awareness, create a culture of acceptance, and support one another. The group helps employees find resources and connect with teammates, and hosts events featuring Amazon employees along with expert speakers and mental health professionals.
Warriors at Amazon
Warriors at Amazon include current and former active military personnel, their families, and the Amazon employees who support them. This group provides members with a professional network, organizes community outreach programs, and assists veterans during their transition into civilian life within Amazon. In 2018, Warriors at Amazon produced a Veteran’s/Armistice Day event for employees across the US, UK, and India. They have also partnered with organizations like Habitat for Humanity and Toys for Tots to support veterans and their families.
Women at Amazon
Women at Amazon is a global affinity group for women, non-binary employees, and allies at Amazon with over 80 chapters worldwide, and the largest membership of all affinity groups. Women at Amazon is committed to attracting, developing, and retaining women in both tech and non-tech roles across all of Amazon's businesses. We are a community for employees across Amazon interested in increasing gender diversity at Amazon—and Women at Amazon chapters provide professional and personal support and community to hire, develop, retain, and elevate more women. Our flagship initiatives include events such as International Women’s Day and an annual Global All-Hands—with programs focused on recruiting, inclusion, and empowerment.
Women in Finance & Global Business Services (FGBS) Initiative (WiFi)
The Women in Finance & Global Business Services (FGBS) Initiative (WiFi) is a global affinity group for Amazon women in FGBS and their advocates to network, partner, and be part of a larger community. WiFi focuses on recruitment, retention, advancement, and allyship, with a vision to make Amazon the Earth’s most sought after long-term career choice for women working in the areas represented by FGBS. We advance our vision through member events, training, career development, and community engagement.