ERGs encourage you to come as you are: Meet Mil-asticians

At Elastic, we formalized our employee resource groups in 2021, but they’ve been part of our culture since 2016. These groups are aligned with shared identities, experiences, interests, affinities, and allyships. 

As formal groups they are ensured structure, budget, and a voice based on any dimension of diversity, identity, allyship, and advocacy. While we’re always working towards change, this is an important step in our global diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy. 

Each ERG has its own mission and goals, but as a whole these groups want to create community and belonging around shared interests and experiences. 

Our Core ERGs

We have seven formal ERGs: The Accessibles, Blasticians, ElastAsians, Elasticians Unidos, Rainbow Stack, Milasticians, and Women of Elastic. We’ll be spotlighting them over the next year as they relate to culture or commemorative events and holidays.

Who are Milasticians?

The Milasticians ERG is for Elasticians that have a connection with the military community, no matter what the country — the group is working to build out its global presence and encourage representation from military members from any country. This includes veterans, those currently in active duty, family and spouses of those who are serving or have served, and those who identify as allies of the military.

Sonny Laurro, Senior Director, Solutions Architecture at Elastic®, is a co-leader of the group. He is a veteran of the U.S Navy and decided to help lead the group this year as a way to connect with other veterans.

“We need a way to get people together,” he says. “We all like to serve and help others.”

Chuck Collins, Renewal Associate, transitioned from the U.S Army to his role at Elastic in 2023. He co-leads the group as a way to pay it forward and help other veterans with the transition. 

“I want to keep paying it back,” he says. “The ERG is a good way to do that.”

Both Sonny and Chuck want to continue to build on the community they had in the military. 

“We’ve all been through the same things,” Chuck says. “It’s that club that we get to be a part of that gives us a sense of belonging. It’s special for us.”

Sonny agrees, saying, “Each vet gives a small piece of themselves when they serve and I want to give back to the vets that have given.”

Milasticians Month

To continue the conversation and include more than just the ERG members, Milasticians has named the month of November Milasticians Month, aligning with Veterans Day in the U.S and Remembrance Day in the U.K. 

Throughout the month, various events are planned, including a fireside chat on mental health and how the human brain handles stress, a discussion on teamwork, and a virtual scavenger hunt to have fun and connect. 

The group is also highlighting the Skillbridge program and the well-being benefits that Elastic offers, like Headspace for mental health services. 

Two hundred thousand veterans transition out of the military each year. The Milasticians ERG is working to build out Elastic’s Skillbridge program and educate hiring managers on the benefits of hiring veterans. 

“Getting out [of the military] is almost as scary as going in,” Chuck says. 

Skillbridge provides active duty military members the opportunity to intern with organizations like Elastic, with the potential for full-time employment once they are able to transition out of the military. Milasticians is working to internally promote this program so hiring managers across teams understand the benefits of hiring a veteran. 

Chuck started his career at Elastic through Skillbridge and learned how to transition the skills he learned in the U.S Army to his civilian career. As a Renewal Associate, he’s responsible for sales to existing customers. He was doing sales the whole time he was in the military, he says.

“I was always using interpersonal, communication, and problem-solving skills,” he says. “It clicked for me when I was getting out that I was doing sales without the metrics while I was in the military.”

Sonny’s current role in solutions architecture also uses a lot of the same skills he learned in the U.S Navy.

“Everything I do today, I did in the military,” he says. “Computers, comms, intel. All of that goes into what I do. My job was all data and it’s still all data.”

While Sonny wasn’t personally a part of the Skillbridge program, he always wants to bring more veterans into Elastic. This is another of the group’s goals: to help facilitate the hiring of more veterans. For veterans leaving the military, it can be hard to translate resumes, work culture, and skills into the civilian world and for recruiters to understand their talent.

Veterans have a ton of different experiences and backgrounds, Chuck says. 

“Everyone comes up with different solutions,” he says. “We’re all very well versed in working together and having outside-the-box thinking.”

Sonny and Chuck also want to make sure veterans are celebrated. 

“A vet signs up and gives the ultimate sacrifice,” Sonny says. “People that have military service should be honored.”

“We have a decent pool of vets within the company,” Chuck says. “At one point their aspirations were put on pause to serve their country. Now they’re trying to be regular humans but a veteran carries that status forever. You can’t erase that.”

As YOU are starts here. Join the Elastic team.