For the first time, Berkeley Lab’s African American Employee Resource Group (AAERG) and Community Relations Office teamed up to participate in the 2024 Black Joy Parade Celebration in the heart of Downtown Oakland.

Seven years ago, Elisha Greenwell and Amber Lester founded the Black Joy Parade after realizing the need for a celebration of Black culture and impact. They aimed to offer the Black community and its allies a live event that honored their impact on cultures past, present, and future. Rather than solely focusing on uniting as a community in the face of social injustice, they sought to create an occasion that celebrated culture and provided a purposeful reason for coming together.

Berkeley Lab’s booth highlighted our world-leading science, internship, and career opportunities. Additionally, visitors to the booth engaged in hands-on activities, including a microscope station to explore common items up close and a banana piano that taught the principles of circuitry and electrical conductivity.

Thousands of people attended the event, and over 100 families visited the Lab’s booth. If we inspired just one person to explore a career in science by visiting our booth, that is a win for our team. The booth's success was largely due to engagement and leadership from the Lab’s AAERG, as well as employees from across the Lab who volunteered their time to help staff the booth throughout the day.