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Left to right: Soledad O'Brien, Asmau Ahmed and Jenna Wortham at Digital Diversity Network's Women... [+]
Diversity has the potential to improve the top line and bottom line of any company, while also increasing employee morale and doing something good for our society. Why, then, does it seem so difficult for companies small and large to increase their diversity? A key obstacle is that even if you believe in the “why” of diversity, there is little guidance on the “how.”
We recently had the pleasure of attending the Women of Color in Technology event, organized by Digital Diversity Network (DDN) in collaboration with HBO. The event featured an outstanding group of women leaders representing a wide variety of sectors and company types: from startups to Fortune 500, from academia to journalism, all of the speakers embody leadership, innovation and advocacy. Focused, fearless and resourceful, they are powering the future. And through their personal experiences, these leaders can help companies figure out the “how” of diversity.
DDN is a unique trade association that accelerates and sustains diversity by offering national access to top-tier talent and thought leadership in digital media and hi-tech. The quality of DDN’s events and their ability to convene outstanding talent were evident during the Women of Color in Technology event, which featured a star-studded lineup of speakers and panelists: Soledad O’Brien, TV anchor, producer and philanthropist; Jenna Wortham, Staff Writer for the New York Times Magazine; Kedma Pognon Brown, DDN’s Board Chair and SVP of Operations & Project Management at Zenith; Barbara Ford Grant, VP of Digital Production Services at HBO; Angela Lee, Associate Dean & Chief Innovation Officer at Columbia University Business School, and founder of 37 Angels, a network of women angel investors; Deborah Berebichez, Chief Data Scientist at Metis and co-host of Discovery Channel’s Outrageous Acts of Science TV show; Asmau Ahmed, who is a Digital Project Management Leader at Capital One and founder of tech startup Plum Perfect; Mitu Khandaker, Chief Creative Officer at Spirit AI and Assistant Arts Professor of Game Design at NYU; and Kejo Clark, Director of Media Technology at HBO.
As women of color, all of the panelists and speakers have had to overcome adversities that are unfamiliar to those of us from more privileged backgrounds. Being able to succeed as they have in spite of these adversities underscores their commitment to hard work, persistence, ingenuity and excellence.
After their inspiring presentations, we had the opportunity to ask some of the speakers: “What are some specific things that our readers can do that will amplify efforts to support diversity and inclusion?” Their suggestions, ranging from high-level strategy to detailed tactical activities, include many tangible ideas for leaders looking for the “how.”
1. Soledad O’Brien: Commit authentically to diversity
Soledad O’Brien suggested that leaders must really care genuinely about diversity: “It starts at the top, but if the boss does not really want diversity, don’t bother.” If a CEO notices that a particular product line is not working, he’ll want to know why, use metrics to figure out what is wrong, and find a way to fix it or else drop it from the line. And she feels strongly that leaders should do the same thing about diversity: “if you really care, reach out within the company and to the community, bring in people and programs that authentically want to support workforces with diverse ideas. The commitment and desire to improve has to be authentic, not about branding.”
2. Deborah Berebichez: Set aside time to focus on your core values
Deborah Berebichez stressed one of the comments she had made during her panel discussion: “I encourage people to schedule their values. That is, to find time on Sunday evening to list their values and schedule time for the following week to accomplish tasks that promote these values.” She also indicated that diversity and inclusion are core values for her, and that she schedules time each week to do just that, for instance mentoring a junior colleague or an underrepresented student, organizing an event that increases diversity, partnering with an institution to promote diversity or speaking about it in a public forum. “Over the years, I have found this approach to help me and the people I mentor accomplish our goals and I encourage others to do the same.”
3. Angela Lee: Commit to establishing a diverse and unbiased pipeline
Angela Lee’s answer focused on a variety of ways to ensure that your pipeline (whether it is candidates for employment, companies for an investment portfolio, or speakers for an event) has ample diversity. “If you evaluate 1,000 startups a year, make sure that x% are women, y% are minorities, and z% are from people without ivy league MBAs (as an example). If you have a job opening, make sure that the 50 resumes you look at are diverse along certain guidelines.” In addition, she suggests ways of removing biases from the selection process, for example by remove names from resumes or using a technology tool like Blendoor in the recruitment process.
4. Asmau Ahmed: Diversify your leadership and your daily life
Asmau Ahmed emphasized the importance of building and maintaining a diverse leadership team. This is a crucial ingredient in order to commit to diversity at all levels and in all functions of your organization. And while the top-down commitment to diversity is important, Asmau also pointed out the importance of embracing diversity in your daily life: “take someone of a different gender, race, culture, or religion out to lunch once a week, every week. Get to know them outside of work.”
5. Mitu Khandaker: Listen to diverse perspectives and help to spread them
Mitu Khandaker’s advice for those who support diversity and inclusion is to “pay attention to who you're following/reading on social media and your usual rotation of news. What is the ratio of folks you're following on Twitter? Is it at least 50/50 gender parity? How many people of color are you following? Are you paying the most attention to companies who are already doing inclusive work, both in their hiring and their output?” She suggests that, once you have these adjustments, “you'll be most likely to then spread these voices and perspectives to your own networks too.”
6. Kedma Pognon Brown: Build inclusion from the top down and celebrate the uncelebrated
Kedma Pognon Brown, whose 20 years of experience as a digital maven has made her a passionate advocate of diversity, inclusion and culture, emphasized the value of “celebrating the un-celebrated.” She also cited the importance of being inclusive at all levels: “Build an inclusive culture, from the top down, that supports the retention and advancement of diverse talent.”
These are all great pieces of advice, many of which are things that all of us can start doing immediately. We want to close by adding a few more practical tips: follow these leaders on social media; look for opportunities to hear them speak at future events; or better yet, invite them or any of the other awesome women leaders we recently met to speak at your company or at events that you organize.
