Block

(NYSE: XYZ · $76.82 ▼ 0.5%) Block is a company that builds technology around a stated purpose of economic empowerment. It describes itself as one company built from many blocks, all united by that same purpose. In the technology sector, economic empowerment usually means widening access to financial tools for individuals and small businesses that have been poorly served by traditional providers.

Alongside its business groups, Block maintains foundational teams that provide support and guidance at the corporate level, including People, Finance, Counsel, Hardware, Information Security and Platform Infrastructure Engineering. These teams work across business groups and around the globe, spanning time zones and disciplines. Their responsibilities include developing inclusive People policies, forecasting finances, giving legal counsel, safeguarding systems and nurturing new initiatives. A shared corporate layer of this kind is common in technology companies with several business groups, where central security, infrastructure and legal functions let individual units focus on their own customers while following consistent standards.

Block places weight on diversity of thought, framing every challenge as a source of possibilities and saying it needs different perspectives to see them all. It accordingly invites prospective employees to bring their own perspectives to the company. That emphasis fits its focus on economic empowerment, since building technology for a broad public generally benefits from teams that reflect a range of backgrounds and experiences.