The Fe-mail Signature is an initiative that utilizes one of the most-used forms of communication to create a positive impact by keeping the issue of gender equality top of mind, with every email sent.

Historically, women have been subjected to conform to gender expectations of being agreeable and submissive. In the workplace today, a particular form of sexism is rampant: tone policing. According to research, more than half of female workers in the US admit to “softening” their digital communication with coworkers to avoid being perceived negatively. And this tendency only increases as women rise in their careers. With email being the #1 mode of communication at work, women constantly find themselves second-guessing and overthinking how they communicate via email. A study conducted in the US revealed that compared to their male colleagues, women spend an extra hour on email—averaging 6 hours a day in the course of a work day. As one of the largest companies in the US, Verizon set out to bring attention to this issue and how it holds women back.

Every year, Verizon publishes a DEI report to show how we’re upholding our commitment to women and people of color in the workforce. The Fe-mail Signature demonstrates how we champion gender equality, which is one of the 17 goals under the UN’s 2023 Agenda for Sustainable Development. With communication at our core, we want to ensure that women’s voices are heard, encouraged, and celebrated. Using the number-one form of communication at work, we hacked the typical email signature and transformed it into a media platform to remind women of the power of their own voice—with every email sent. Sparking a deeper conversation around gender bias, and creating a daily reminder of how women should not have to censor, edit, and downplay themselves in the workplace and in society.

Throughout history, women have been conditioned to compromise and tone themselves down, hindering their voices from being heard. And today, women in the workplace are still compelled to temper their tone when communicating. Research shows that women apologize 10 times more than men, and have had to use self-undermining words such as “just” and “actually” in order to be seen more favorably.

According to the latest Gender Equality report in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, nations are not on track to achieve gender equality by 2030. At our current rate, it will take 140 years for equal representation in leadership in the workplace. Research shows that conditioned behavior in how women communicate has held them back in their careers. Women have had to use “softer language” in order to be seen more favorably, often resorting to apologies and self-deprecating words that undermine their leadership. Work emails in particular were studied because of the glaring differences in how women communicate compared to their male colleagues. Although Verizon as a company has 100% salary parity between male and female employees, we want our day-to-day office culture to reflect our values of gender equality. Identifying email as the most-used form of communication was the first step in designing an initiative that empowers women’s voices.

To shine a light on how women are still compromising and overthinking the way they communicate today, we used the number-one form of communication at work—email. We created the Fe-mail Signature. We hacked the typical office email signature by designing an email plug-in that highlights the powerful words of history’s most accomplished and often unrecognized women. Using female voices of the past to inspire women of today to not compromise their own voice and communicate with confidence.

Within the Verizon company alone, over 4 million emails are sent every day. We saw this as a massive opportunity to empower and elevate women’s voices in the workplace, particularly in email. With the brand’s deep involvement in STEM and social justice programs, we selected historical women in these fields to inspire our employees to harness the power of their own voice.

The Fe-Mail Signature was rolled out to over 100,000 Verizon employees during Women’s History Month. The plug-in was housed in a microsite where users could download and activate the signature with one click. Anyone who received an email from an employee who had installed the Fe-mail Signature was able to easily download the signature for their own use. This created a chain effect, inspiring both sender and receiver with every email sent.

The Fe-Mail Signature is compatible with the three most-used email platforms: Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo Mail. Our company leaders took to LinkedIn to invite everyone to download the email plug-in. To keep the conversation going, we partnered with professional communication coach and internet personality Farah Sharghi to create custom content helping women assert their voice at work. We also hosted a vodcast on social, featuring female leaders who shared their experiences in overcoming bias and finding your authentic voice.

Approximately 1 million emails were sent with the Fe-Mail Signature, rolled out to over 100,000 Verizon employees. The brand achieved a 164% increase in engagement rate, and a 95% positive sentiment on social. Our custom TikTok content was one of our top-performing videos for Q12024.

While the Fe-mail Signature started off as an internal initiative for Verizon employees, we designed it to be compatible with the three biggest email platforms—Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo Mail—making it accessible to virtually everyone. Our company leaders engaged their professional networks on LinkedIn to drive awareness and participation in the initiative, while our content creators engaged their followers on social media, setting off a fresh new wave of discourse on how women communicate. In a fast-paced digital age, the Fe-mail Signature is a simple digital tool that anybody can recreate to serve as a reminder to celebrate women’s voices—including their own.

Carbon emissions were not measured for this initiative. Nonetheless, research states that “on average, an email carries a carbon footprint of 0.3g CO2e. However, this value decreases when the email is sent directly from one phone to another, resulting in a carbon footprint of 0.2g CO2e.” With this in mind, the Fe-Mail Signature is a plug-in that simply attaches itself to the body of an email. Without having to add a separate piece of electronic communication, this digital-first idea is an efficient and effective way to utilize the most used mode of communication at work to promote an important message.