One of the top goals for many companies in the tech industry is to focus on building a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workforce. It is also one of our top goals at VentureFizz in terms of helping to support companies on this important mission.

Companies have different approaches as it relates to how they are addressing their diversity, equity, and inclusion goals, so we thought that it would be valuable to profile companies and what they are doing to accomplish their DEI initiatives.

For over 45 years, O’Reilly has provided technology and business training, knowledge, and insight to help companies succeed. Our unique network of experts and innovators share their knowledge and expertise through the company’s SaaS-based training and learning platform. O’Reilly delivers highly topical and comprehensive technology and business learning solutions to millions of users across enterprise, consumer, and university channels. 

More than 5,000 companies count on our digital courses and more to guide their teams through the tools and technologies that drive business outcomes. Our live and on-demand courses are organized by skill and role, so your teams can easily find exactly what they need to succeed. Plus, they’ll earn verifiable and shareable badges that use the Open Badges 2.0 standard to show off what they’ve learned.

What is your DEI mission and objectives?

At O’Reilly, we firmly believe that diversity of perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds enhances creativity, innovation, and problem-solving capabilities. By valuing and leveraging our differences, we not only create a more enriching workplace but also position ourselves to better understand and meet the needs of our diverse customer base.

Over time, we’ve expanded our commitment to fostering diversity through a range of initiatives. These programs encompass both our internal workforce and external talent as well as members of underrepresented communities within the technology sector at large, through our diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice scholarships. Although we've achieved significant success with our current initiatives, we’re eager to elevate our efforts to a higher level.

We introduced our enhanced diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) program in 2023. The program aims to amplify our culture, which embraces diversity and encourages the full participation and engagement of every individual in our organization. It’s an integral part of our commitment to fostering an inclusive and supportive work environment. 

Key objectives of our DEIB program include:

• Amplifying awareness: Through training sessions on unconscious bias and inclusive leadership, we help foster inclusive behaviors, diminish biases, and create a safe space for open dialogue and collaboration.
   
• Enhancing our inclusive culture: Our program develops and implements strategies to ensure that individuals from all backgrounds feel supported and empowered and have an equal opportunity to contribute to their full potential. This includes reviewing recruitment practices, promoting inclusive language, creating initiatives to eliminate barriers that might hinder inclusion, and building relationships with underrepresented groups. We also recently launched an updated career page that showcases the diversity of our organization.
   
• Strengthening support systems: We’re committed to providing resources and support networks to address the needs of and challenges faced by specific communities within our organization. As part of our DEIB program, we’ve launched employee resource groups (ERGs) and a company-wide mentorship program. These initiatives are designed to foster a stronger sense of belonging and establish platforms for professional growth.
   

What is O'Reilly doing to attract a more diverse workforce?

O’Reilly continues to grow and add talent across the organization. With team members located in 11 countries, our workforce already encourages a global perspective. To cultivate a more culturally aware and inclusive environment and to strengthen relationships with colleagues, clients, vendors, and partners worldwide, last year we introduced a cross-cultural communication training to a pilot leadership group. Based on the group’s feedback, we plan to offer this training in 2024 as part of our personal and professional development program.

As we mentioned above, we’re committed to providing resources and support networks to address the needs of specific communities within our organization. Our robust DEIB program enhances our inclusive culture by supporting employees from all backgrounds and empowering them to contribute to their full potential. In 2023, as part of the program, we launched a company-wide mentorship program and employee resource groups (ERGs). Through their participation in these initiatives, our employees come together to help promote a more inclusive and respectful workplace.

We also continuously review our recruitment strategies and launch new initiatives to eliminate any barriers that impede inclusivity and belonging. We’ll continue to provide implicit bias training to all hiring managers and interviewers; use gender-neutral language in job descriptions and ensure that those descriptions are results-based; source candidates from diverse backgrounds; and build relationships with underrepresented groups.
 

Can you share all the different Employee Resource Groups at O'Reilly?

To get things going, we’ve created four initial ERGs:

• InternationalConnect@O’Reilly offers a formalized setting for our global workforce to come together to bridge cultures, foster connections, and promote and celebrate our culturally rich workplace.
   
• Multicultural@O’Reilly advances and promotes multicultural diversity, enhances the understanding and appreciation of different cultures, and raises awareness of cultural issues and sensitivities.
   
• Pride@O’Reilly champions LGBTQ+ diversity, equity, and belonging in the workplace and fosters a supportive and inclusive environment where all LGBTQ+ individuals feel empowered to thrive.
   
• Women@O'Reilly advances and promotes gender equality and representation in the workplace, cultivates an environment of mentorship and support for women's professional growth, and enhances our inclusive culture.

But that’s just the start. We recognize the need for more ERGs in the future and will continue adding new groups as we grow our program. 
 

What other programs do you have to support your DEI initiatives?

Every year, O’Reilly’s diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ) scholarship program awards 500 people from underrepresented groups in tech with free subscriptions to our online curriculum for one year. By providing access to a wide range of content, learning modalities, certifications, and mentorship opportunities within the platform, O’Reilly empowers scholarship recipients to leverage the tools and resources needed to build important technical skills that will accelerate their careers. 

As part of their membership, scholarship recipients receive unlimited access to all 5,000 of O’Reilly’s role-based on-demand courses plus popular live events such as the Superstream Series and a full library of O’Reilly books. Recipients also have access to top preparatory materials and practice tests for the most sought-after certifications in the industry as well as interactive labs and sandboxes that offer them the opportunity to experiment with live code in real dev environments. Additionally, recipients will have the opportunity to earn verifiable and shareable digital badges, allowing them to showcase their skills via social media and email.

Applications are now being accepted through April 1. To apply, visit: https://www.oreilly.com/diversity/scholarship-program.html
 

Do you have any data that you’d like to share that demonstrates your diverse workforce? 

O’Reilly aims for diversity within our expert talent pool and our own workforce. In 2023, O’Reilly surpassed our established corporate diversity goal of 40% representation from groups who are underrepresented in the tech industry, achieving 50% representation in new instructors, authors, and speakers. In addition, nearly 70% of our new Superstream Series speakers in 2023 identified as members of underrepresented communities. And of the new hires who joined the company in 2023, 63% identified as members of underrepresented groups. 

O’Reilly is a women-led company, and we achieved new gender milestones in the past year: 45% of our executive leadership team are women. And 50% of promoted employees in 2023 were women, compared to just 32% in the prior year. 

This year, O’Reilly has set a goal that at least 50% of all new talent and new hires identify as members of underrepresented groups.

Where can I find more information about your Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives?

To apply or learn more about O’Reilly’s DEIJ scholarship program, visit: https://www.oreilly.com/diversity/scholarship-program.html. To learn more about our commitment to diversity and inclusion, visit: https://www.oreilly.com/diversity/.

Hear From Our Employees

"I love working at an organization that, beyond recognizing the holistic value of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, makes a concerted effort to unbiasedly assess gaps and then address them. O’Reilly aimed to enhance our inclusive culture and launched employee resource groups (ERGs) as one of many vehicles to do it. While still in its infancy, the executive buy-in and continuous support from our People team demonstrates commitment not just in word but in action. Outside of ERGs, I appreciate our People team for also finding ways for staff to connect over common interests like ribbon-making—because, especially as a young professional, I never dreamed that I could have a strength over an executive, even if it’s only tying bunny loops.

Activities like these, while low cost, generate a massive ROI that is hard to quantify—driving progress for important tenets like company culture and employee retention. In a world where many navigate the challenges of being silenced, especially as a member of more than one underrepresented community, I find myself both lucky and empowered at O’Reilly. Because we are encouraged to create and take up space, and receive the support to do so."

 - Manny Paulino, Sales Enablement Manager, United States

"Our company's DEI initiatives have a positive impact on the work environment and culture by promoting understanding and appreciation for diversity through education. We recognize that employees come from various backgrounds, and that unconscious bias can limit our potential. By completing unconscious bias training, I've seen firsthand how it opens employees' eyes to others' perspectives, making them more valuable. This online training provides a great opportunity to learn and prepare for an increasingly more diverse society."

 - Naoko Kaneko, Assistant Accountant, Japan

We launched another new series this year to help companies share their DEI initiatives. It is simply called DEI Spotlight. This year, we had 12 companies participate. One of the questions we ask companies is "What are they doing to build a more diverse workforce" - We compiled a slideshow that pulls together all of their responses.

One of the top goals for many companies in the tech industry is to focus on building a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workforce. It is also one of our top goals at VentureFizz in terms of helping to support companies on this important mission.

Companies have different approaches as it relates to how they are addressing their diversity, equity, and inclusion goals, so we thought that it would be valuable to profile companies and what they are doing to accomplish their DEI initiatives.

SmartBear provides a portfolio of trusted tools that give software development teams around the world visibility into end-to-end quality through test management and automation, API development lifecycle, and application stability, ensuring each software release is better than the last. Our award-winning tools include SwaggerHub, TestComplete, BugSnag, ReadyAPI, Zephyr, PactFlow, and Stoplight, among others. SmartBear is trusted by over 16 million developers, testers, and software engineers at 32,000+ organizations – including innovators like Adobe, JetBlue, FedEx, and Microsoft. With an active peer-to-peer community, we meet customers where they are to help make our technology-driven world a better place. SmartBear is committed to ethical corporate practices and social responsibility, promoting good in all the communities we serve. Learn more at smartbear.com, or follow on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook.  

 Please provide a high level statement supporting your DEI mission and objectives?

Diversity, equity, and inclusion. These aren’t just words to us: They’re at the core of our principles at SmartBear. Openness – that is, respectful collaboration, empathy, and the free exchange of feedback – is the philosophy that drives our support for open source communities, and it extends to every SmartBear employee and customer. They’re welcome as they are with their contributions equally valued regardless of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or status. When we operate from a foundation of equal opportunity, we not only hold ourselves accountable, we’re better able to transform big ideas into sustainable realities. And that lets us create lasting change in our business and communities. Because at the end of the day, we’re here to make the world a more quality place – for everyone. 

What is SmartBear doing to attract a more diverse workforce?

As a global company, we think broadly about the definition of diversity. We’ve made huge strides in our gender diversity over the past couple of years. With the recent hiring of our female Chief Revenue Officer, our executive team now boasts four female members, and we continue to support the promotion of women into STEM roles at SmartBear.

In the U.S., we are always on a journey to increase representation of minority racial and ethnic employees – and we know that comes through building an inclusive and welcoming environment where diverse candidates will want to work. From there, we are fostering belonging and opportunity for advancement. We are working to build that belonging through programs, events, and engagement opportunities.

Can you share all the different Employee Resource Groups at SmartBear?

This past year, we launched our first employee resource group (ERG) to build community for our employees of color and their allies. In our Somerville HQ, we held an open mic where any employees could sign up to share their talents - and they did! We had a great turnout, and the event proved that SmartBear is a place where everyone can bring their authentic selves to work. This month, in honor of Hispanic Heritage, we sent a group of employees to the Hispanic Celebration at the Red Sox game at Fenway! 

In October, we plan to launch a global ERG for our women employees. These employees and allies came together back in March for Women’s History Month to talk about their own experiences in the workplace, creating a global digital whiteboard to share ideas for more inclusive workplaces. We used those ideas directly to produce a Guide to Inclusive Meetings, published internally.

What other programs do you have to support your DEI initiatives?

Opportunities for building inclusion that we’ve staged this year have been month-long book clubs. For one example, the Black History Month book club met weekly in February to discuss issues around race and identity brought up by a selected book. We also held a book club for Women’s Month in March. In June, in recognition of pride month, we hosted a speaker who presented on Allyship, explaining the ways we can all be allies in the workplace. 

Our recently launched manager and leadership programs, developed internally, customized for SmartBear, include sections on diverse interviewing and hiring, bias, and inclusive leadership.

Do you have any data that you’d like to share that demonstrates your diverse workforce? 

Our global employee population is made up of approximately 30% female staff. 

Where can I find more information about your Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives?

You can find information about our Sustainability, Diversity, and Responsibility efforts at https://smartbear.com/company/responsibility/

Hear From Our Employees

Cameo Steed, P&C Coordinator at SmartBear

“With the support of SmartBear's leadership team, BOLD is an employee-created and employee-led group that engages SmartBears in many ways. From learning opportunities with guest speakers to directly contributing to our larger global community with charity initiatives, what BOLD has been able to accomplish so far makes me excited for the future of the ERG."

Conna Walsh, Senior Product Marketing Specialist for BugSnag & Aspecto

“DEI initiatives and related events have created opportunities to connect with colleagues in other departments that I don’t work with on a day-to-day basis. Especially in a larger company, it’s always great to connect over shared interests, causes, and a sense of community.”

One of the top goals for many companies in the tech industry is to focus on building a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workforce. It is also one of our top goals at VentureFizz in terms of helping to support companies on this important mission.

Companies have different approaches as it relates to how they are addressing their diversity, equity, and inclusion goals, so we thought that it would be valuable to profile companies and what they are doing to accomplish their DEI initiatives.

CarGurus is a multinational, online automotive platform. They use proprietary technology, search algorithms, and data analytics to empower consumers and dealers with the flexibility to choose their own journey through a powerful online destination for car shopping, buying, selling, sourcing, marketing, and more. CarGurus' strong values and commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) shape their company culture, guide how they engage with their partners and communities, and inform all business decisions they make. This is essential to their ability to bring trust, transparency, and personalization to the vehicle shopping experience.  

One of the top goals for many companies in the tech industry is to focus on building a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workforce. It is also one of our top goals at VentureFizz in terms of helping to support companies on this important mission.

Companies have different approaches as it relates to how they are addressing their diversity, equity, and inclusion goals, so we thought that it would be valuable to profile companies and what they are doing to accomplish their DEI initiatives.

Mimecast empowers over 40,000 customers to mitigate risk and manage complexities across a threat landscape driven by malicious cyberattacks, human error, and technology fallibility. Our advanced solutions provide proactive threat detection, brand protection, awareness training, and data retention capabilities evolving workplaces need today. Mimecast seeks to transform email and collaboration security into the eyes and ears of organizations worldwide. 

In May 2022, Mimecast was acquired by Permira, taking it private and marking a new era of ownership and transformation. With Permira’s resources, network and deep experience scaling global technology companies, we will be better positioned than ever to deliver the innovations that our customers and the world need. 

Please provide a high level statement supporting your DEI mission and objectives?

As a global company, we believe our success rests in the diverse nature of our business and our ability to connect with our employees, customers, and clients from all walks of life. We believe our ability to scale and grow relies in part on our efforts to attract and retain diverse talent.  

Our Global DEI Strategy is informed by an approach that focuses on 4 key pillars – Career, Culture, Community and Commerce.

• Culture: Driving initiatives internally that enhance our culture and create a sense of belonging for all Mimecasters. 
• Career: Developing a talent attraction and retention strategy that champions the careers of diverse Mimecasters. 
• Community: Fostering greater community resilience through partnerships with non-profits that engage with underrepresented communities. 
• Commerce: Supporting go-to-market and sales functions in the support of diverse communities through our product

What is Mimecast doing to attract a more diverse workforce?

Since launching our Global DEI strategy in 2021, we have invested in efforts to address representation opportunities across our workforce to better reflect our local communities, with a particular focus on increasing the representation of Women and People of Color in our employee base. 

We know that in order to attract a diverse workforce, we need to meet them where they are. As such, we have established partnerships with external organizations such as Professional Diversity Network (PDN), MA LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce and Circa to support attracting and recruiting diverse talent. Through these partnerships, we have access to a diverse candidate pool, where we can connect with diverse community groups and promote Mimecast as an employer of choice. 

Through 2022, our Talent Acquisition team, in collaboration with Mimecasters, attended and hosted over 20 virtual events and experiences with external partners, universities and colleges. Some of these included the WomenTech Network; Resilient Coders, University of New Hampshire, MA LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce, Black Hat and MASS Tech Leadership Council. 

Our newly hired Global Employer Brand & Talent Engagement leader in collaboration with our Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion also ensures we represent the diversity of our Mimecasters in all external facing talent attraction materials, working with our Employee Resource Groups, to reach and appeal to as diverse an audience as possible. 

Can you share all the different Employee Resource Groups at Mimecast?

Employee Resource Groups to Drive Psychological Safety & Inclusion  

Our ERGs are open to all employees and are built on a philosophy that to build a workplace that works for everyone, everyone must build it together.  

Mimecast currently has four ERGs, with over 500 members in total: 

1. PRIDE (LGBTQ+) 
2. HUES – Humans Understanding Each Other’s Stories (People of Color) 
3. Women at Mimecast 
4. MIMEAbility (People with Disabilities) 

Our ERGs have been at the heart of delivering thought-provoking initiatives that help foster empathy, awareness, and psychological safety amongst employees.  

What other programs do you have to support your DEI initiatives?

• Future Builders Program: For Director-level and above roles, Mimecast leverages a Future Builders Program where members of our Employee Resource Groups and Global DEI Council participate in the interview process. This program sets us up to have a diverse pool of trained interviewers who actively facilitate discussions on our values and assess for inclusive leadership competencies amongst candidates. 

• Inclusion Awareness Training: Mimecasters have ongoing learning and development opportunity workshops to deepen their understanding of key DEI concepts and their applicability to our work. Our annual flagship event, in recognition of Global Diversity Awareness Month in October, was attended by over 350 employees globally, where our headline speaker, Dr. Eddie Moore, delivered a thought-provoking session on the root causes of inequity and systemic biases. Regional events were hosted in our UK, Australian, USA and South African offices for employees to experience in-person discussions on inclusion and belonging.    

• Enhanced Benefits: We have enhanced our Benefits policy to better cater to non-traditional definitions of family and lifestyle. This was done in consultation with external non-profit MA LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce to leverage their expertise and ensure best practice to support our LGBTQ+ employees. 

• Partnerships with Year Up & ELATT Program: Mimecast has leveraged our partnerships with Year Up & ELATT to support workforce development and open internship opportunities for students from marginalized backgrounds.  

This aligns with our internal work, through employee resource groups and core policies, to create an inclusive workforce that prioritizes accessibility. 

• Self-Identification Program: In 2022, Mimecast launched its first Diversity Self-Identification campaign. This effort gave Mimecasters the opportunity to voluntarily disclose demographic information beyond gender and age globally. By doing so, we will be able to better understand the breadth of diversity that exists amongst our workforce, whilst implementing targeted solutions to effectively drive the development, retention, and professional growth of our diverse employee base.

Do you have any data that you’d like to share that demonstrates your diverse workforce? 

Please see Mimecast's 2022 Environmental, Social, and Governance Report for further information on our efforts to support our diverse workforce. 

Where can I find more information about your Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives?

We’ll be releasing our 2023 Annual ESG report shortly, stay tuned!

“Being the chair of the MIMEability ERG is about making sure everyone's got a voice and a safe space that they can come to. We're all sharing our stories. We're all trying to make Mimecast a better place, using the ERGsand building a community together.”

- David McBeth, Customer Success Manager and Chair of MIMEAbility

Every day I’m inspired by the passion and action of our Mimecasters to help weave diversity, equity, and inclusion into their everyday actions and our culture. We have come a long way in our journey, with some successes to be proud of, and certainly many challenges to learn from. I remain hopeful we will continue to build an organization that role models inclusion and truly works for everyone.”

- Jennifer Odogwu, Head of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

One of the top goals for many companies in the tech industry is to focus on building a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workforce. It is also one of our top goals at VentureFizz in terms of helping to support companies on this important mission.

Companies have different approaches as it relates to how they are addressing their diversity, equity, and inclusion goals, so we thought that it would be valuable to profile companies and what they are doing to accomplish their DEI initiatives.

Headquartered outside of Boston, Mass. and founded in 2001, Vestmark is a leading provider of portfolio management solutions and outsourced services for financial institutions and their advisors, enabling them to efficiently manage customized client portfolios through an innovative technology platform. Supporting over $1.5 trillion in assets and 5.5 million accounts, Vestmark is a trusted partner to some of the largest and most respected wealth management firms.

Please provide a high level statement supporting your DEI mission and objectives?

We have created a healthy workplace that embraces an inclusive environment which celebrates diversity and fairness for all employees. Vestmark is a place where everyone is welcomed, valued, respected and heard. 

What is Vestmark doing to attract a more diverse workforce?

We created a DEI committee in 2020 whose mission is to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion. The talent acquisition team has been focused on sourcing candidates from a diverse talent pool and have partnered with several affinity groups. We have also partnered with a DEI industry expert who helped us build out and advise our DEI initiatives. Our talent acquisition team regularly attends diversity training and have conducted training on unconscious bias and belonging.  We review all of our job descriptions to ensure inclusive language and have set up our applicant tracking system with scorecards to ensure a fair and equitable hiring process. 

What other programs do you have to support your DEI initiatives?

We have launched several programs with support from the DEI committee and employees which include; Lunch and Learn sessions, Women’s Group, employee spotlights, group discussions, Book Club, cultural celebrations, mentorship program and employee required training on unconscious bias and microaggression.  In addition, we have donated to charities that were identified by the DEI committee.

Where can I find more information about your Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives?

On our LinkedIn page or website. 

Hear From Our Employees

How does Vestmark support a culture of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion?

The many different events that Vestmark has organized truly support that. By those events, I learned many things that I didn’t know before. I cannot forget the day that I got to know from a Vestmark colleague that my childhood favorite cake is from East Europe. I also found my favorite Indian food and many common dishes between Chinese and Indian cuisine. I hope this culture could stay and spread to many others.

Du Zhao – Software Engineer

Can you tell me about any programs at Vestmark that support Diversity, Equity and Inclusion?

I lead the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee group of employees that are interested in laying out a diversity plan.  Here at Vestmark I can honestly say I feel everyone is treated equally no matter race, gender, age or religion. I will continue to push for everyone to be themselves an celebrate our differences.

Jasmine Harrison – Senior Recruiter

Can you tell me about any programs that support Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Vestmark?

"I’m happy to be a part of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee where we work to host different events on various topics for everyone. Vestmark does a really good job of ensuring that everyone feels included and encouraged to bring new ideas to the table."  

Neyda Morales – Senior Product Manager

One of the top goals for many companies in the tech industry is to focus on building a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workforce. It is also one of our top goals at VentureFizz in terms of helping to support companies on this important mission.

Companies have different approaches as it relates to how they are addressing their diversity, equity, and inclusion goals, so we thought that it would be valuable to profile companies and what they are doing to accomplish their DEI initiatives.

We connected with ezCater, the most trusted provider of corporate food solutions and is purpose-built for business. ezCater's corporate food platform and flexible, scalable food solutions allow organizations to centralize and track their food spend, and fulfill everything from daily employee meals to client meetings and company all-hands. ezCater backs this up with business-grade, best-in-class, customer service and an unmatched nationwide footprint. We're backed by top investors including Insight, Iconiq, Lightspeed, GIC, SoftBank, and Quadrille

Please provide a high level statement supporting your DEI mission and objectives?

ezCater promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion as it is crucial to the development and success of our organizational culture where everyone has equitable opportunities to succeed and thrive. By valuing diversity and celebrating our differences, we can build stronger communities and foster a culture of respect, empathy, and understanding where everyone is encouraged to bring their authentic self to work.

What is ezCater doing to attract a more diverse workforce?

To attract a more diverse workforce, we are taking proactive steps to create an inclusive and welcoming workplace culture. This includes developing diversity and inclusion initiatives, such as affinity groups, unconscious bias training, and inclusive leadership programs. ezCater is also intentional about our recruitment process to provide an equitable experience by creating job descriptions that are inclusive, partnering with and reaching out to diverse organizations and networks, and building diverse interview panels to incorporate a range of perspectives when making a hiring decision. We are setting diversity goals and metrics, regularly reviewing and refining recruitment and retention strategies, which includes surveying our employee population 2x per year to gather continuous feedback, and striving to uphold a culture of open communication and feedback. Ultimately, creating a diverse and inclusive workforce requires an ongoing commitment and effort across the entire organization, and is a shared responsibility for every ezCater employee. This work never stops. 

Can you share all the importance of Affinity Groups at ezCater?

Our current affinity groups range from racial and linguistic identity to parental identity, and they consist of slack based dialogue to virtual and in-person meet ups. We aim to provide safe and inclusive spaces for employees to connect with others who share similar experiences in a way that is most effective for that community. All spaces are employee initiated and developed in hopes that employees will feel connected in our hybrid/remote work environment regardless of where they are in the country. 

What other programs do you have to support your DEI initiatives?

In addition to our module based Unconscious Bias course, we offer live workshops for all employees to continue learning in the DEI space. We strive to make this learning as experiential as possible during facilitated workshops and through our cultural speaker series. Managers are expected to take courses through She Geeks Out and LifeLabs Learning which teach inclusive leadership. These skills are incredibly important to continue building an inclusive environment for our teams and establish a space where employees feel comfortable sharing their thoughts, feedback and opinions. The workshops not only offer employees a forum for continued learning, but also teaches them how to speak out and share feedback in various situations. 

Do you have any data that you’d like to share that demonstrates your diverse workforce? 

Self-identifying demographic data offers us an incredibly important lens through which to understand the diversity of identities and experiences that exist within ezCater. We can gain a deeper understanding of how employees experience our culture and what we can do to make it stronger. 90% of our employees elect to provide us with their gender, race/ethnicity and sexual orientation. 57% of our population self-identified as female, 40% male, 1% non-binary and  2% selected “other.” 20% of our employees identify as being part of the  LGBTQ community and our racial breakdown is 72% White, 6% Hispanic, 6% Black, 6% Asian, 4% two or more races, and 4% self selected “other” for racial identity. 

For more information and data points, we published our 2022 DE&I survey results which can be found here. 

One of the top goals for many companies in the tech industry is to focus on building a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workforce. It is also one of our top goals at VentureFizz in terms of helping to support companies on this important mission.

Companies have different approaches as it relates to how they are addressing their diversity, equity, and inclusion goals, so we thought that it would be valuable to profile companies and what they are doing to accomplish their DEI initiatives.

We connected with GitLab, an open core software company that develops the most comprehensive DevSecOps Platform used by more than 100,000 organizations. Our mission makes it clear that we believe in a world where everyone can contribute. We make that possible at GitLab by running our operations on our product and staying aligned with our values.

Please provide a high level statement supporting your DIB mission and objectives?

Mission: At GitLab, we believe everyone can contribute.  We think global and act local.   The Diversity Inclusion and Belonging Team are building a scalable strategy which focuses on intentionality in how we hire and retain our team members as well as engage with our customers and the open source community, By providing avenues and opportunities for GitLab & team members to meaningfully contribute to our community and society. By holding  our leaders and team members accountable to commit and answerable for the outcome. We are building scalable ways to govern our work, actionable processes which inform our program development/execution and making sure our Internal efforts are reflected externally.

Vision: The Diversity Inclusion and Belonging value empowers everyone to contribute.

Strategic objectives  

1. Cultivate an inclusive culture - focusing on accessibility, neurodivergence and global inclusion
2. Improve leadership representation & accountability 
3. Increase pipeline and readiness of URG/Women 

What is GitLab doing to attract a more diverse workforce?

• Partnering with organizations that support underrepresented communities, eg. Dev Color, AnitaB/Grace Hopper, European Women in Tech, Women Impact Tech, etc.
• Set Industry leading Corporate Aspirational hiring goals globally focused on underrepresented groups (Ethnicity (US) and Gender).  We measure overall representation, Representation in management* and representation in Senior leadership*
• Set a goal with our CEO and Chief Technology Officer to increase our URG representation at the management level and set stretch goals. Why management? It is where we had the biggest gap in representation and for GitLab it starts at the top and then scales to our division leaders.  It is also the pipeline to Director and internal progression.
• We start at the top and scale to our divisions. We took a divisional goal with our Chief Technology Officer for the Engineering org to increase our URG management representation but the expectation would prove difficult without alignment with Talent Acquisition.  Therefore along with the goal, we also invested in sourcing diverse candidates by partnering with external sourcing to help widen the net on where we were looking for our talent.

*Management refers to Team Members who are People Managers of at least 1 employee, whereas Senior Leadership denotes Team Members who are in Director-level positions and above

Can you share all the different Employee Resource Groups at GitLab?

The full list can be found at https://about.gitlab.com/company/culture/inclusion/erg-guide/ 

• Asian Pacific Islander - To promote the advancement, cultural awareness, talent recruitment, retention, and professional development team members of Asian & Pacific Islander descent ​
• DiversABILITY - seen or unseen physical, neurodivergent, mental diversity that impact our team members 
• Gente - Latinx community and culture
• Pride - LGBTQ+
• Generational Understanding - build a bridge for Team members of all ages to communicate, educate, unite & share wisdom across generations 
• Women - support those who identify as women to connect, professionally develop, advance and support each other.
• Veterans - Support our Global team members that have 

We launched a TMRG Governance model that has shifted the value of our TMRGs. They now provide advocacy, education and solidify our hiring practices. We have TMRG leads who craft strategies, provide yearly budgets for their community, utilize their executive sponsors as a voice to the e-group and help in retaining our team members. We launched 3 new TMRGs in support of our team members. Global Voices represents our team members that reside outside of the US providing a voice, visibility and advocacy for cultural observances, TM benefits and a sense of community. Caregiving - Provides a safe space for every GitLab team member to better understand the role of being a caregiver and to build a network of caregivers and their allies at GitLab. Black@ GitLab provides community, advocacy, career development, leadership and a safe space for our TMs. Finally, to increase our reach and leadership accountability, we secured 13 Director+ leaders from every division and across all regions and launched out Leadership DIB Council: A strategic group of Senior leaders Leaders who assist the DIB team in implementing the Corporate DIB strategy locally and provide insights to the DIB team on the Division's strategic imperatives.  Finally, we have Team Member Advocacy Groups that work across our TMRGs whose purpose is to promote team member engagement, well-being, retention, mobility and equity

All our Team Member Resource Groups are non-exclusionary and all GitLab team members are welcome to join.

What other programs do you have to support your DEI initiatives?

Retention efforts - 

1. Stay Interviews for Underrepresented Groups: 

• Provide insight to executive group leadership as to what is important to individual team members which we can address directly with the team members.
• Provide insight into trends across the cohort which we can take actions to address and align with other engagement surveys
• Provide an opportunity to proactively address topics, engage leadership, and put actions place that may scale from our underrepresented groups to the broader company.

2. Sales Sponsorship Program to support our underrepresented groups progression and promotion

• Handbook page

3. Internal Mobility

Do you have any data that you’d like to share that demonstrates your diverse workforce? 

- Identity Data

• Set Industry leading Corporate Aspirational hiring goals globally focused on underrepresented groups (Ethnicity (US) and Gender).  We measure overall representation, Representation in management* and representation in Senior leadership*
• Set Industry leading Corporate Aspirational hiring goals focused on our overall underrepresented groups (URGs), URGs in management and URGs n Senior leadership (Director+)
• Set a global goal with our CEO to increase our URG representation at the management level from 11% to 13.3%
• Divisional goals with our Chief Technology Officer for the Engineering org to increase our URG management representation from 6% to 8%

*Underrepresented Group definition: An underrepresented group describes a subset of a population that holds a smaller percentage within a significant subgroup than the subset holds in the general population, eg.  Black team members make up a smaller population of the company's tech population than the overall population in that country.

**Due to data and or legal limitations, this is not an exhaustive list of all of our underrepresented groups. Those with disabilities, those that identify as LGBTQIA+, etc. who choose not to disclose or underrepresented ethnicities outside of the US.

Where can I find more information about your Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives? 

On our Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging page here: https://about.gitlab.com/company/culture/inclusion/ 

Hear From Our Employees

Leo Curiel, Customer Success Manager:

From having a company-wide call on the topic of Arepas to hosting Practice Spanish Speaking Sessions, Gitlab’s DEI initiatives have allowed me to utilize my special skills as a member of the #Gente TMRG. Not only does being a member allow me to feel included, but more importantly, it motivates me to add my valuable experience and my unique perspective as an added asset to Gitlab. By far, the best part of being a member of one of Gitlab’s TMRG is having direct calls with our CEO to talk about how we can continue to support initiatives that we consider important for the betterment of our society and company. 

Sheela Viswanathan, (API TMRG Lead) - Manager, Sales Systems:

At Gitlab, everyone can contribute. Gitlab’s DIB initiatives focuses on providing a safe space for every GitLab team member to better understand how diversity can be leveraged to contribute to strategic objectives and global success.

I’m very much honored to lead the `Asian and Pacific Islander` TMRG to promote the advancement, cultural awareness and professional development for members by giving a voice to the diverse backgrounds of the API communities within GitLab. A few of our recent events were Diwali, Chinese New Year, Holi & more! GitLab’s DIB initiatives establish a sense of belonging where team members feel more connected at work, promoting a healthy working environment.

One of the top goals for many companies in the tech industry is to focus on building a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workforce. It is also one of our top goals at VentureFizz in terms of helping to support companies on this important mission.

Companies have different approaches as it relates to how they are addressing their diversity, equity, and inclusion goals, so we thought that it would be valuable to profile companies and what they are doing to accomplish their DEI initiatives.

We connected with Agero, a leading provider of vehicle and driver safety services, to learn about their efforts.

 Please provide a high level statement supporting your DEI mission and objectives?

Agero cultivates a culture of diversity where employees are supported, respected, and valued. We embrace and celebrate differences and recognize the benefits that diversity and inclusion bring to our workforce and business.

What is Agero doing to attract a more diverse workforce?

Our focus at Agero is to create a culture where people feel supported and included right from the start. We are committed to ensuring that our diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts are integrated into all stages of our recruitment, application, and interview processes, as well as throughout the employee lifecycle. We begin by outlining our mission statement and our areas of focus for diversity, equity, and inclusion in our employee value proposition for potential applicants and candidates. Our Talent Acquisition team collaborates with relevant organizations and educational institutions to attract a diverse pool of candidates. In addition, we search for passive candidates on DEI-focused job boards and create customized interview panels that reflect diversity in areas such as tenure at Agero, ethnicity, veteran status, and gender identity. Lastly, we place a strong emphasis on actively listening to our employees to better understand their needs and take action accordingly.

Can you share all the different Employee Resource Groups at Agero?

Agero’s ARGs were started in 2020 as we recognized the need to build a broader community with our move to remote work and the escalated violence occurring across the US. Our employees needed support on many levels and as a result, Agero has embraced those needs and a path of continuous learning, while providing support to each other together with our Associate Resource Groups.

Our ARGs are open to all employees and are employee-led, with a focus on the four pillars of community, culture, education, and career. Our current ARG roster includes the following groups:

• ​Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) 

• Accelerate 

• Black Leaders in Action (BLAC)

• Desi 

• Health & Wellness 

• LatinX 

• WERQPLACE

• Women Who Lead

What other programs do you have to support your DEI initiatives?

• DEI Learning Series 

• Associate Resource Groups 

• Women Path to Success program 

• Mentoring Network

• Women’s Leadership Conference 

• Real Talk Virtual Series

Where can I find more information about your Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives?

Currently, our DEI initiatives are listed in our Recruitment Fact Sheet and we are currently working to include our DEI initiatives on Agero’s website, career site, and LinkedIn profile. 

Hear From Our Employees

“Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion at Agero has had a positive impact on my work environment and culture. The topic can be controversial but is very necessary to navigate through to experience the change we all want. I personally have experienced how very different my work ethic and positive attitude is impacted when I feel heard and seen in a way that aligns with diversity, equity and inclusion. With the company being intentional about having the conversations and keeping us focused on how to be an ally it has allowed me to show up better and more comfortable being myself. I have overcome imposter syndrome and continue to advocate for myself and others to promote that same culture. While the company acknowledges we have more work to do there has been some progress made and efforts are appreciated.” - Shae P., Regional Account Manager
 

“As a new employee and a member of Agero's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Team, I am honored to be on the forefront of Agero’'s commitment to DEI. I know that my role in this team will allow me to contribute to creating a more inclusive workplace culture and promoting diversity across the organization and I have had the pleasure to witness other employees feel seen and heard as a result of our DEI initiatives. By working closely with my colleagues and leadership, I am excited to explore new ideas and strategies to further expand our DEI initiatives. I am committed to helping Agero foster a workplace where everyone feels valued, respected, and empowered to bring their whole selves to work. Together, we can build a more equitable and inclusive workplace that benefits us all.” - Rasha B., HR Program Specialist
 

“Agero's DEI Initiatives have made a huge impact on our overall work environment and culture. All of the different associate resource groups within the organization makes everyone feel welcome, included and comfortable in bringing their genuine selves to work each and every day. As a Co-leader of one of the ARG’s I recently had an associate send me a note that said "Thank you for including me. I have never had a workplace that actually cares about people like me and it is very refreshing". This solidifies the difference the DEI Iniaitives are making.” - Justin A., Sr. Operations Manager