A week of wins.

Happy Friday, V Team! On today’s edition of Up To Speed Live, host Raquel Wilson shared the following updates:

Up To Speed: Week in review

• Tuesday: We shared the story of Verizon Business Group managing partner, Katrina Simpson, who shared what life is like as an Air Force spouse and how she and her husband are preparing for their biggest mission yet: parenthood.
• Thursday: The Up To Speed team traveled around the world (with the help of a green screen) to highlight the best tech for summer travel.

#CarrierClapback

Earlier this week, our #CarrierClapback press release exposed how the Un-carrier continues to hoodwink consumers by dazzling them with one catchy announcement after the other, only to Un-ravel and Un-do them just as soon as people forget.

Our exposure of these #TMyths generated a buzz on social as well as media coverage from Fierce Wireless, Talk Android, Android Headlines, WRAL’s Tech Wire, The Street, and Tech Life Channel.

Verizon Connect Love Hack

Last week, Verizon Connect held its annual Love Hack event, a global hackathon spanning five days and concluding with an awards show and ceremony. In total, 50 teams from 14 countries participated in the event, with Verizon Connect representing in full force.

The Love Hack was all about innovation that benefits our customers, our business and society. Teams were tasked with identifying a need within the business and creating a prototype that targets our products, services or internal processes. Peter Mitchell, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Verizon Connect, was among the judges to pick the winner of the 2022 Innovation Love Hack: the “Go Green” team. Congrats to everyone on that team!

An important award

Verizon Frontline was named the 2022 EMS Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY) Help Fund's "Partner of the Year" at the nonprofit's second-annual awards dinner Wednesday.

Verizon Frontline was presented the award for its “Food for Frontline Workers” initiative, which launched in New York in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. The program quickly expanded nationally and delivered more than 150,000 meals to frontline workers across the United States.

Celebrate World Environment Day

Monday is World Environment Day and Verizon Up is partnering with the Arbor Day Foundation to plant 1 million trees.

Verizon Up members can claim their free tree through the app until June 14. V Teamers are encouraged to plant one for themselves or in celebration of someone else. With each redemption, a tree will be planted in a forest of need in the United States.

Never Hide Your Pride

We’re continuing to celebrate Pride Month, and this year’s theme is “Never Hide Your Pride.” This monthlong celebration stands up for inclusivity and acceptance, including people in LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer) communities.

We shared a video with a related message from members of Verizon PRISM, our Employee Resource Group, whose members shared why they love the ERG and encouraged other V Teamers to join.

Throughout the month, PRISM will help demonstrate our commitment to Pride by showing how Verizon supports LGBTQ communities. We’ve got plenty of events, including a Linkedin Live event with Leah Chisolm, a.k.a. LP Giobbi. The event will discuss the challenges of creating Femme House, a nonprofit organization designed to help women, gender-diverse women, and BIPOC women navigate the music production space.

For a full list of Pride Month events as well as volunteer opportunities, click here.

National Safety Month

June is also National Safety Month. We spoke with Executive Director of Environment, Health and Safety Pam Cox about the important role every V Teamer has to keep each other safe. She encouraged all V Teamers to fill out the Verizon Safety Pledge as a promise to work and live safely. You can dedicate your pledge to family members, friends or a fellow V Teamer.

We also caught up with Chief Security Officer Dan Maloney, who discussed a recently updated training course on responding to an Active Threat Situation. The training, “Not Just Another Day: Responding to an Active Threat Situation," is now available to all V Teamers on VZLearn, where you can use the course code VZ132337.

And V Team, remember: If you ever feel uncomfortable about an individual or a situation, reach out to Verizon's Security Control Center at 800-997-3287. If you ever feel threatened or in immediate danger, call 911 first.

A return to office celebration

We closed the episode with a special international surprise: Thanga Chinnaiyan, a member of the Experience Design team based out of our Chennai office in India, recently helped organize a local flash mob to celebrate their office reunion. Congrats to everyone involved – and we love your awesome dance moves!

If you have any questions, email them to live@verizon.com.

Click here for a transcript of the webcast.

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