Inclusion
We see inclusion as both a moral imperative and a business imperative: we produce content for a highly diverse population and, to continue to do that well, we the content creators need to be an increasingly inclusive group ourselves.
What is Steyer doing on the inclusion front?
We’ve done a lot—and we have so much more to do. After becoming a woman-owned business in 2017, step one was to get stronger financially, diversifying our client base and expanding into new markets and new business models.
Progess to date. Having shored ourselves up, we’re now able to fund a sustained inclusion effort, and we’re deeply committed to it. Our progress to date has been with women and on the accessibility front. Although we don’t capture data on gender identity and sexual orientation, we know we have meaningful representation along these dimensions as well, and we are continuing the neverending work of building an ever-more inclusive team culture. Relevant facts:
- We invest deeply in executive coaching, and, while we do hire anew to revitalize and diversify our team, we also promote from within when possible. Women occupy the majority of our leadership roles.
- Since our founding in the 1990s (i.e. well before the pandemic), we have invested in understanding how remote work, flexible scheduling, and the strategic use of technology can accommodate a range of disabilities and needs, enabling us to work with talented people we might otherwise have missed. While some roles require in-person meetings and travel, our entire team—back office and consultants—works remotely.
All that said, we still have miles to go: only 19% of our current team identify as Black, Indigenous, Latino, or Asian. Achieving our representation goals—to have the Steyer team reflect the diversity of the country—will take some time, but we are determined to do the work, personally and organizationally. We will be missing out on too much talent if we don’t.
Commitment & Momentum
Helping us to re-think our recruiting operations and evolve our culture is a wonderful DEI consultancy, The Norfus Firm. The momentum, however, is internal and strong:
We are taking steps to diversify our talent pipeline including diversifying our recruiting team, stress-testing our job descriptions for inclusivity, expanding our searches, and setting precise operational goals.
On Slack and in meetings, we encourage the discussion of social justice issues, which we view as directly relevant to our day-to-day lives and in no way separate from the work we do.
We have a community engagement program called the Greater Good Taskforce. By creating content (for free) for nonprofits and small businesses in need, we are able to break out of our high-tech bubble, expand our horizons, and meet new talent. Note: due to budget constraints caused by the 2023 contraction in the enterprise tech sector, this program is currently on hold. We will re-start it as soon as we can.
We host monthly meetups, often with guest speakers, in order to connect around a wide range of social issues and explore diverse viewpoints.
