How Progressive’s Latin American NETworking Association (PLANetA) Employee Resource Group (ERG) encourages career growth

One employee’s story of achieving career goals by joining an ERG

3 min read

June 2024

A woman in a back suit and long dark hair sits in front of a white brick wall.

While working as an associate manager in Progressive’s House Counsel Legal group, Luna decided she wanted to make a career change. She set her sights on moving into a process consultant role which was very different from her own, but possible with her experience as an ERG member. She eventually met her goal and joined our Customer Relationship Management organization as a process consultant focused on enhancing the phone sales experience for our Spanish-speaking customer care professionals and customers.

"It was a big move and it didn’t happen overnight," Luna admits. "But I was able to make the transition in part because of the experience I gained being a part of PLANetA, Progressive’s Latin American NETworking Association ERG."

As a member of PLANetA, Luna has been able to take on project work that helped her develop new skills, network outside her business group, and build a supportive community. Here’s how participating in an ERG helped Luna achieve her career goals.

Developing skills beyond her role

PLANetA aims to foster awareness of workplace issues affecting Hispanic/Latino employees. They provide members the opportunity to contribute to a variety of initiatives supporting Progressive, employees, and surrounding communities. Working on these projects gave Luna the chance to develop new skills—many of which were outside of her day-to-day responsibilities.

When she first joined, Luna started small by planning local events. As she began investing more time, she joined PLANetA’s communication team and created content for our internal social network.

"I was able to express my creative side and use skills I’m really passionate about like communication, designing, and writing," Luna says.

Luna also began planning larger virtual events for PLANetA members, which helped her develop even more skills like leading projects and delegating responsibilities. Learning these skills were crucial for her career growth.

Networking across the company

Before joining PLANetA, Luna was used to working with the same people every day.

"PLANetA really helped me with getting comfortable putting myself out there. That’s what my world was; it was limited to my Legal team. When you join an ERG, though, your world becomes the entire organization."

Luna’s work on various ERG projects meant she interacted with PLANetA members from different parts of the company. This included connecting with people in process consultant roles.

"When I was in my Legal role, I met with process consultants who were also able to mentor me and identify where I should be spending my time to reach my career goals. That’s one perk of being in an ERG that is priceless."

Finding a built-in support group

Connecting with so many different people also provided Luna with a built-in support group. This helped her be more comfortable being her authentic self.

"As a Spanish speaker, I had to learn English abruptly when I came to the United States. Since then, I always struggled to be clear with my communication since my accent can sometimes be very prominent. Being in PLANetA showed me that my accent is beautiful, and I don’t need to speak flawless English to be understood."

Along with helping her gain confidence, the supportive community within PLANetA also gave her a place to continue engaging with others.

"PLANetA fills my cup. When I’m feeling low or my day is busy, I know the PLANetA community is a space I can come to take a breath," Luna says. "And, at Progressive, the possibilities are endless. You can do a lot with your career as long as you invest the time and connect with people. PLANetA helped me do that."

Learn more about PLANetA and Progressive’s eight other ERGs. To check out open positions, visit our job listings.

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