Martin Luther King Jr. Day is generally seen as a day to honor the civil rights leader’s legacy via community service. In a year when the pandemic and social distancing guidelines change what service typically looks like, local tech leaders have gotten creative in helping their employees show up in new — and safe — ways.

Think Company CEO Russ Starke said the design firm usually offers two mandatory volunteer days each year, and in the past, employees have been encouraged to use one of those days to serve on MLK Day. Think Company has also hosted in-office volunteer projects on the day, such as a civic tech hackathon with Code for Philly in 2017.

MLK Day will be different this year because for the first time, it will be designated an official company holiday, with a stronger expectation that employees use their time off for service. (In June 2020, Juneteenth was also named a company holiday for the first time.) The decision to make MLK Day a holiday felt necessary after a tumultuous 2020 full of social unrest that has spilled over into 2021, Starke said.

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