As a human resource professional, one of her main goals is to show company leaders that people can’t simply shut the rest of their lives off when they’re at work. “Whether it's Roe v. Wade, or Covid, or George Floyd, we're just conditioned to think that I have to just smile and type and send my emails,” said Butler, a chief people officer for an Austin-based startup. “Unfortunately, that's not how life works.”

— Madison Butler