I haven’t always had the same views politically as I do now. I grew up in a small town (under 10K people) in Texas and can confirm that locale matters when it comes to public opinion and forming of political views.

However I had a set of parents that were outspoken and encouraged me to be the same. They had been places outside of that small town and experienced different things and knew there was so much more to our society and world as a whole. And they talked about what they saw on the news with my sister and I frequently. And their views evolved over time as well.

As I’ve gotten older, moved to a more metropolitan area, changed jobs and friends and economic status, my views have morphed and grown with me.

And as a proud member of the Salesforce Ohana, I have learned to embrace diversity, equality, and tolerance. I’ve learned that through the example that Salesforce as a company sets but more importantly through my social interactions with the broader Ohana community.

We come from all over the world. We come from different backgrounds. We are different in every way possible, but we are the same in that we realize it is those differences and our ability to communicate and interact despite those differences which makes us all better.

We listen to one another, debate issues, learn from one another, help one another and laugh together.

It doesn’t matter if we are black, brown, white, male, female, trans, gay, speak English, Japanese, Indian, are a developer or an admin, are a college graduate or a HS dropout, are a parent, or single, live in a mansion or share a flat. None of those things matter. Our SHARED PASSION for the jobs that we do and the tools that we use to do those jobs is more than the sum of all of those differences I mentioned above.

That makes for an awesome community.

But not everyone has experienced a community, an Ohana, like this one. This is painfully obvious to me these days as I watch what is happening politically in my country. I worry about the huge divide I see on a daily basis. The inability for So. Many. People. to look past themselves and realize it is that same type of shared passion that will make our country great.

That it isn’t about my agenda, or your agenda. That it isn’t about what I’m comfortable with or what you are comfortable with. And it is most certainly not about a political party.

It is about working together because of our shared passion for this country. About listening to one another, debating issues, learning from one another, helping one another and laughing together.

This is what I believe our government was meant to be.

A great community (or Ohana if you will) of people with a shared passion for our country and the people in it.

ALL of the people in it. It doesn’t matter if we are black, brown, white, male, female, trans, gay, speak English, Japanese, Indian, are a developer or an admin, are a college graduate or a HS dropout, are a parent, or single, live in a mansion or share a flat. None of those things matter.

We are Ohana.

Share your passion.