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Feeling safe to speak up

Meet Judy (and her two super cute daughters) who is in the media team in our Houston office and a member of our Petroleum Culture Team.

"When I was a little girl, I struggled to feel comfortable in my own skin.  My family immigrated from Mexico City to the US when I was three and our new community in Texas was not very diverse.  Adding to that, we were a minority being Jewish and I felt uncommon compared to my “normal” peers.  Throughout elementary school, I was excluded from social and after school activities, the majority of which were exclusively faith based.  And on multiple occasions I experienced anti-Semitic behavior by both students and teachers, which added to my insecurity.  I started accepting this as normal life and learned to swallow the hurt and embarrassment.  It wasn’t until ninth grade that I had a turning point.  A classmate yelled at me to “go back to Auschwitz.”  I felt humiliated and the words stung, especially as my Grandmother is a Holocaust Survivor – and was at Auschwitz.  At that moment, I had a choice to either walk away or to do something about it and I chose to speak up. That student was suspended and eventually expelled after others spoke up about similar bullying experiences.  This was the first time I truly felt empowered…and proud to be in my own skin.

Today, as a Mom, I want my young daughters to be comfortable in their skin and I encourage them to speak up for themselves.  Feeling safe to speak up is important and it’s one of the things I appreciate most about our culture here at BHP, which goes hand in hand with an inclusive environment.

I joined BHP in 2016 as Media Principal on the Communications team.  Since then I’ve witnessed our culture evolve into a much more inclusive one.  Seeing first-hand how much our culture has changed in a positive way inspired me to join the PCT and I’m really excited about the work ahead of us."