Postlight
‘Our Home Is Your Home’
Postlight’s Lebanon team is part of our identity.
I was born in Lebanon. In the late 1970s, my entire family fled civil war. We settled in New York City, and I grew up in Brooklyn (mostly). As a Lebanese-born entrepreneur, I understand that intelligence, resilience, and a solid work ethic is what often allows us to excel. Lebanon is a very troubled nation stuck in a perpetually tense part of the world. As a result, the Lebanese are a smart and resourceful people. It’s a nation of risk-takers. Wherever we go, we hustle.
In 2018, Postlight made a commitment to establish and grow a presence in Lebanon — not just to outsource there, but to hire international talent and establish a Postlight satellite office in a forward-thinking and progressive city: Beirut.
The team made it clear that it was essential that they were a part of Postlight — not just a place to “throw work over the wall.” On our podcast Introducing Postlight Lebanon, our Co-Founder and CEO Paul Ford said, “We got a clear signal back, saying, ‘[Outsourcing] won’t work, just like it won’t work anywhere. You need to have us be part of your culture, we need to connect, and then we’ll do work at the quality you expect.’”
Two years later, the Lebanon team has become part of Postlight’s identity, business, and family — and right now their home is in crisis.
On August 4, 2020, a massive explosion tore through the port of Beirut. The impact was felt for hundreds of miles. In the vicinity, entire buildings were ripped apart. Hundreds died, and hundreds of thousands were displaced. The explosion in Lebanon destroyed countless homes and displaced nearly 300,000 people. It’s been especially painful to watch the events unfold from afar.
The grassroots movement on the ground to aid those in need has been truly inspiring to witness. In response to the devastation, we’ve chosen to support the organization Baytna Baytak (its name is the Lebanese translation of “Our home is your home,” a well-known Lebanese saying), which helps to house families displaced by the explosion and to repair homes.
Baytna Baytak is a social initiative launched by young, dynamic, and independent Lebanese individuals. Their mission was primarily to secure housing for healthcare professionals working on the front lines of the Covid-19 pandemic. In the wake of the tragic Beirut blast, Baytna Baytak has shifted its focus and is now relocating displaced individuals who have lost their homes because of the blast.
We are also committed to providing steadiness and stability to our Lebanon-based team members and their families. This means keeping existing jobs secure, supporting our people in their work, and continuing to hire in and around Beirut.
We live in an exceptional time of global pandemic and drastic weather activity fueled by climate change. At Postlight, we continue to make a conscious effort to help improve the world, and we’re proud to do a small part in helping those in need during this unprecedented time in Lebanon.
For more ways to help, check out Impact Lebanon and Beit El Baraka, which both focus on providing shelter and basic services for those impacted by the August 4 explosion.
Rich Ziade (@richziade) is Co-Founder and President of Postlight. Drop him a note at rich.ziade@postlight.com.
Story published on Sep 21, 2020.