#ICFE

molly moon's mission is to make the world a better place one scoop at a time. we believe the world can only get better with dedication to social justice, equity, diversity and inclusion. we’ve created an umbrella for our social justice work we are calling #icecreamforeveryone. through our recruitment and hiring practices, our operating and employment practices, as well as the ways that we give back to our community, we strive to create an atmosphere that values, respects, and welcomes everyone. we not only work hard to make our shops warm, inclusive, and diverse we also partner with as many organizations as we can that promote equity and help marginalized groups in our community.

we view progress as an action word. in light of our continuing work toward inclusion and equity, below are descriptions of the work we have done and continue to do around equity and social justice, in somewhat chronological order…

#icecreamforeveryone projects at molly moon’s 2008 - 2020

great jobs strategy / progressive benefits
molly opened her first molly moon’s shop in Wallingford in part to prove that a business that treated its employees exceptionally well could be impressively profitable. from the day the first shop opened we have offered 100% free health insurance to all employees working 20 or more hours per week. starting wages at Molly Moon’s continue to be higher than the city’s minimum wage and total compensation packages are well above living wages in Seattle. we offer vested vacation, retirement, 12 weeks of paid family leave, subsidized ORCA passes and secure schedules posted in advance. happy, healthy workers make our business stronger than most!

community activism
our founder Molly has been an activist advocating for worker’s rights in Seattle and Washington State since the day she became a business owner. over the years, she has brought our leadership team to activism and lobbying tables at the city, state, and federal levels. since 2008 Molly has advocated for healthcare reform that lead to the Affordable Care Act, Marriage Equality, Seattle’s Paid Safe and Sick Leave laws, Washington State’s increased minimum wage and guaranteed safe and sick leave and Seattle’s secure scheduling law. she most recently worked with organizations in Washington State to advocate for and successfully pass a paid family leave bill.

charitable giving to food justice, equity and community organizations
we established a nonprofit, the Anna Banana Milk Fund to raise money for food banks in need in our community. we donate 1% of our sales or 10% of our profits, half of which goes to food banks. we work with food banks in each of our shop neighborhoods and provide funding to help ensure customers at those food banks have access to the fresh milk and dairy products they need. this year our nonprofit has raised over $65,000 through fundraising and generous donations from our customers! many of our mooncrew donate directly from their paychecks to FamilyWorks, a food bank across the street from our original shop. this year our employees personally donated more than $14,000.

we also work closely with many community organizations that are doing important equity work. Some of these include Mary’s Place, The Economic Opportunity Institute, Families of Color Seattle and the NAACP. about 30% of our giving dollars go to these organizations.

equity audit

In 2016 we performed a comprehensive equity audit of our company. External auditors examined our recruiting, hiring and employment policies and practices, and the diversity of our current workforce. This audit taught us not only how much we were doing right, but also helped

us to develop the roadmap for how we could become even more equitable and inclusive in the years that followed. It is important to us that the good jobs we provide are available to everyone. We want our shops to be welcoming and inclusive for all – mooncrew and customers alike – and we know that when any team is diverse in life experiences and perspectives, that team is healthier and stronger.

diversity recruitment campaign — now hiring optimists!

in 2016 we began to really work on diversity in our mooncrew recruitment. it’s important to us that the very good jobs we provide are available to everyone in our region. we want our shops to be welcoming and inclusive for all – mooncrew and customers alike – and we know that when any team is diverse in life experiences and perspectives, that team is healthier and stronger. beginning in 2016, rather than only posting jobs on our website and relying on word-of-mouth, we hosted molly moon’s career days in each of our shops, inviting the community to meet our mooncrew, learn about our jobs and to apply then or acquire the materials and information to apply later. we reached out to and built relationships with a diverse array of community organizations who help us spread the the word about our great jobs to their communities. we also began advertising our hiring and career days through social media, community partnerships and community career fairs.

increasing equity in our hiring practices
we have removed several barriers to our application process. we created a straightforward online process, easily accessible by mobile devices. we no longer require a cover letter and resume be submitted for scooper, ice cream maker or delivery driver positions. our hiring team focuses on diversity, equity and inclusion during the hiring process, and all of whom have completed equity training, this way we can check each other's biases and have open talks about candidates and their qualifications. we are excited about hiring in a more inclusive, equitable way that also connects us more personally to our community!

equity trainings & policies
we send every member of the mooncrew through equity training, and provide additional equitable management trainings to all leadership and managers. these workshops help our teams recognize implicit and unconscious bias, improve our cultural competency, and provide accommodations and resources when we see a need. our entire mooncrew handbook and our human resources policies are being strengthened by changes made due to our equity audit.

employee resource groups

in 2021 we launched our first employee resource group program at molly moon's. employee resource groups (erg) are paid volunteer groups that offer mooncrew an opportunity to network, address common workplace issues, and receive support from those who share similar backgrounds, experiences, or interests. these groups focus on commonalities and the desire to create a positive workplace culture where employees with different backgrounds, lifestyles, and abilities are respected, have equal rights, and are given the opportunity to succeed.

mooncrew volunteerism

in 2018, we created a mooncrew volunteer program. managers can use paid time to volunteer for a nonprofit for up to four hours a month. we also donate $100 to a nonprofit of our employees' choice when they volunteer for a nonprofit for at least five hours.

tip-free

in 2019 molly moon's went tip-free. we think tipping is problematic and in many cases inequitable, as it creates unstable income, some shifts make more than others and some shops generate more tips than others. scoopers serving our ice cream used to make tips while makers in the back of the shops did not. summer time meant more income, winter meant way less, and that’s no way for anybody to budget their expenses and meet their financial goals.

the more we learned about the history of tipping, the more we found tipping to be inconsistent with our values. tipping became popular in the U.S. after slavery ended and white employers in the south started hiring freed African Americans for jobs with tips as their only compensation. tipping as a practice spread throughout the country and has become an American norm to keep wages and employer costs low. today, 70% of tipped workers are women, who are often forced to accept inappropriate behavior from some customers

molly moon’s is dedicated to making the world a better place one scoop at a time … and that begins in our shops. we eliminated tipping and increased starting wages. now starting wages for entry level positions at molly moon’s are $21/hour. we also provide free, high quality health, dental and vision insurance, paid vacation, 12 weeks paid family and medical leave, 401ks, subsidized ORCA transit passes and a professional development program called career pathways to help all mooncrew gain leadership and management skills. to learn more about why we are tip-free visit mollymoon.com/tipfree.

100% wage transparency

working women make an average of $.84 cents to a man's $1.00 - in Seattle this gap is even larger: $0.78 to every $1.00. this has a lot to do with the gender pay gap that is rampant in the tech industry, but the gap exists in nearly every industry and we are doing all we can to close it.

we believe companies can help close the gender pay gap by making all salaries transparent to their employees. this will help employees be better equipped to advocate for themselves now and in the future! in 2019, we became wage transparent. this means that every one of our employees can access their wages and the wages of everyone on our mooncrew. to read more about this initiative, see our profile on VICE News!

other ways we help close this gender pay gap - we have a set starting wage for every position in our company, a career pathways program with clear steps to promotion, and on top of fully paid health benefits we also provide 12 weeks of fully paid parental leave and a child care subsidy so that women don't have to choose between family and career.

pronoun pins

one way we are being inclusive is by meeting a team request to make pronoun pins available to all employees and to expand our language to include trans, gender queer, non-binary, and gender non-conforming individuals using words that express respect for each person's identity. we provide these pins to any scooper who would like to wear one. scoopers may choose to wear a pronoun pin for a number of reasons. they may be gender-nonconforming or transitioning their gender. they may be wearing a pin to show support for their colleagues, to raise awareness about gender identity or simply because they like it! these pins allow people to address our mooncrew by the pronouns they use themselves. we also provide postcards explaining pronoun pins and a bit about gender identity and inclusivity to any customer who asks.