Family comes first at Via. The Portland, Maine-based agency, founded in 1993, says “No one works for Via, we work for ourselves and for each other.” As you enter its office, a golden sign reads “Think like an owner.” 

The shop offers an array of perks that it calls “Vians.” The biggest of them is 16 weeks of paid parental leave for primary caregivers and eight weeks for secondary caregivers. The new parents are also gifted with $500 in takeout food. 

“It’s that feeling of support that made it so I couldn’t wait to come back,” a staffer at the agency said. “Yes, I needed those four months to bond with my son, but it speaks volumes about Via that coming back was the thing that completed my evolution into becoming the mother I am today.”

In addition, the shop operates the “Go. Do.” program, which sends Vians virtually anywhere in the world. Once a month it sends one person, picked at random, to a random place. Some places have included the North Pole and Burning Man. And agency veterans at Via get a six-week paid sabbatical every 10 years.

Via staffers are back in the office, but every Wednesday they work from home and no Zoom meetings are allowed. Via also offers “The 5% Project,” which allows for 5% of a Vian’s time to be spent on DE&I work. That 5% adds up to a yearly investment of $1 million.