The Future of DEI in Tech, notes from a webinar.

At the end of February, I attended Built In Presents The Future of DEI in Tech, a webinar that featured three brilliant panel members:

·??????LaDavia?Drane, Head of Global Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity – Amazon Web Services (AWS)?

·??????Christy Pruitt-Haynes, Global Head of Talent and Performance –?NeuroLeadership?Institute (NLI)?

·??????Liliana Blanco, Inclusion and Belonging Lead – Asana?

The panel reflected on questions about who should own DEI, recruitment and retention, how to support DEI leaders experiencing burnout, and more. It was a thought-provoking discussion that is, of course, not only applicable during Black History Month but important to recall year-round. Here are the key takeaways that I’ll take back to the team -

Cultivating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion within your org.

1. This is everybody’s work, not just the DEI team or the HR department. DEI should touch every area of an organization, should work in partnership and in lock step with all intersection points.
2. To cultivate diversity, equity, and inclusion you start with your “builders” by understanding what they need. Invest in your DEI practitioners, make sure they have budget and freedom around that budget.
3. Business leaders must own the goals. How does DEI work contribute to the bottom line of the organization? It’s not just about feeling good and doing the right thing. It’s about improving business results and that has been shown to happen when leadership is accountable for owning DEI goals and deliverables.

Achieving balance with marginalized groups; when and how to lean on them to inform communications and programs.

1. Don’t just reach out to marginalized groups in times of difficulty, that’s when it feels like the heaviest lift. If you are reaching out in difficult times, ask the person – “Do you have emotional capacity right now? How would you like to be a part of this conversation? Do you need to step away, or is this an opportunity to share thoughts and feelings?” It must be sincere vs being volun-told to make a comment.
2. Intersectionality is so important in these moments as opposed to Black History Month is for Black people, Pride is for this group of people, etc. Avoid going to marginalized groups only when their community is top of mind or because something tragic has happened. Instead find the intersectional opportunities, create programming, events, and promote rich conversation. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Why companies should prioritize a diverse interview panel.

1. We must keep in mind that we all have inherent biases, and we need to get rid of the notion that bias is bad. We must bring awareness to that and create habits that help us move away from acting on them.
2. In recruiting we're naturally drawn to a person like us (same college, same organizations). When it comes to interview panels, we must think about the message that we're sending to the candidate. Candidates look at our website, our LinkedIn company page, and see our current employee base. If they don't see themselves represented, they may pass on the opportunity because it's too difficult to be the only one or one of a small group. They may not feel welcomed or that their voice will be heard as much. We will run the risk of missing out on a candidate or misinterpreting information shared throughout the process.?
3. What are the skills and values we're looking for, how do we articulate this, and how do we think critically about interviews and make decisions that eliminate bias as much as possible?
4. Remembering at the end of the day we're hiring people not just based on what they can contribute, not just about being a “culture fit" but being a culture ADD! The idea of a “culture fit" or the perfect candidate is problematic in the way of discriminatory hiring. It's superficial and poorly defined, it sets us up to align ourselves with what we already have.

How to support ERG / DEI leaders that are experiencing burnout.

1. Many people hear the word self-care and think bubble baths and massages. Self-care is boundaries. We must allow professionals to set boundaries to say, “This is not my priority right now”.
2. Joy is resistance, the way to sustain in this field is by centering joy. There is intentionality in centering joy, connection, love, and the ability to draw healthy boundaries.
3. Try breaking up asks into categories – consultation, collaboration, and co-creation. Start to say, "Hey org. Partners, when do you want to consult (where I give you advice and you can take or leave it)? When do you want to collaborate (where we both agree across the board)? Or when are we going to co-create (diffuse power and increase visibility)?

Bringing attention to disabilities and accessibility in a modern remote workplace.

1. One of the benefits that came out of the pandemic is that organizations realized an individual can work from home in their own space in a way that sets them up for success where they are in a much better position to have the accommodations that they need.
2. The word disability in general covers so many physical, mental, emotional conditions that most people don't realize how many folks we already have in the workplace that have some sort of disability. Individuals who do things differently, process things differently, navigate things differently, we need to create more opportunities for them to do so.
3. If we're lacking diversity, we need to be truly innovative in finding different voices for every team, people with the competencies to ask questions of product teams, accessibility teams, and onboarding teams to ensure we have hiring processes that clearly assess what we're looking for.
4. We forget that people can be life-long learners. Tech changes very quickly but we need to dispel the myth that 45+ can't keep up with that technology. People in that age bracket have priceless skills that come from experience, they make great guides and mentors. Losing history can create gaps that the org. can't fill in. With more diversity you get more complete answers to problems and questions. A Gen Z'er paired with a Boomer will approach things differently, bring different ideas to the conversation, learn from each other, and come up with something more innovative. How can we manage and play to group's strengths when there are 5 generations in the workplace?

I so appreciate the panelists time and energy in bringing these important topics to the table. Food for thought as I go on to interact with my team, DEI ERG, and the greater organization as a whole.

How does your company excel at making a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive space for employees? Where is there room for improvement (constructive criticism)?