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Definition
Employee Resource Groups (also know as ERGs, Affinity Groups, or Business Network Groups) are organizationally supported groups of employees drawn together by characteristics that the group holds in common. These common characteristics may include but are not limited to ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, gender, religious beliefs, or disability status. (1)

History
“For 30 years, ERGs have helped women, ethnic minorities, gays and lesbians, and other demographic groups navigate the corporate world.”(2). They began as race-based employee forums that were created in response to racial tension in the 1960s. They got their start when Joseph Wilson, the CEO of the Xerox Corporation took action after the violent race riots in Rochester, New York in 1964. He and his black employees formed the first caucus group in order to address the issue of discrimination and to help create a fair corporate environment. Xerox launched the National Black Employees Caucus in 1970 and a decade later follower with the formation of the Black Women’s Leadership Caucus (BWLC)(3). Early in their history, these affinity groups were a risky and political tactic of advocating for equal pay and equal opportunity. It was common for early members to feel nervous about speaking up to management about their minority status for fear of seeming like a troublemaker or having an individualistic mind-set. While the original ERGs were seen as threatening by the managers, today these groups are many times initiated by administrators and are a common tool for managing diversity (4). As of 2007 ninety percent of Fortune 500 companies have “affinity groups” (5).