The end of the year seemed to fly by with the hopes of “starting fresh” in the new year. But deep down I think we all knew that the trials and tribulations of 2020 would follow us into 2021. The year is certainly off to a rocky start with the insurrection at the US Capitol and an ever-evolving news cycle. It is precisely the disgraceful events of recent days that show us our work is more important now than ever before.
As such, I want to continue to share some of the initiatives that EverTrue’s DEI Committee has been working on as a way to hold us accountable as we move forward.
Through EverTrue’s “TrueProfessional” bonus, I was fully supported this summer to participate in Bentley University’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Certificate Program. It was a wonderful opportunity to meet other professionals passionate about DEI, to build my skills in pursuit of being a better ally and workplace advocate for DEI, and to have a safe space for challenging conversations.
It was in this program that I learned about Bruce Tuckman’s stages of team development and how he identified a development process that most teams follow — forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. I found the image below to be a particularly helpful visual of this non-linear journey. And if you want to read more about it, I suggest reading this article from MIT’s Human Resource department.
I reiterated in my Q2 Reflections post that I felt as though the DEI Committee wasn’t making enough progress, but on the flip side, we were a committed and passionate group and showing up regularly. I didn’t have the hindsight yet to see that we were likely in the storming phase and just beginning to figure out how to effectively collaborate and get things done…
We made great strides with our DEI initiatives in Q3 and Q4 and we have begun to hone our focus to three areas — organizational change, recruiting & talent, and integrating DEI into the core business model at EverTrue. As such, next year we will conduct the cadence of DEI Committee meetings a bit differently to continue our momentum and to make some long-lasting positive changes.
But for now, check out some of our successes from the last six months.
- We’ve continued to host regular weekly meetings. This may seem like a small feat but it is one I want to recognize. Given our small company-size and how we all have an immense amount of job responsibilities, the fact that we meet on a weekly basis and show up is something to celebrate.
- We’ve continued to build out hiring practices in an effort to standardize the candidate experience and make it as equitable as possible. Again, as a small team, we don’t have a designated HR lead so it is important for our hiring managers to approach each open role the same way.
- EverTrue has never participated in a virtual job fair of any kind. But back in September, we hosted a virtual “booth” at a Blacks in Tech Job Fair. It was a company-wide effort. Our marketing team helped build the presentation, an engineering colleague (shout out to PJ Gray!) organized our involvement from beginning to end and on the day-of, we had two representatives at the fair. We were able to connect with so much great talent!
- Our Donut statistics are off the charts for having just started with the Slack integration back in October. Over the last three months, there have been over 50 virtual coffee dates across the company - that’s a lot of caffeine and conversations! We’ve each been getting to know each other in this virtual world and it’s a wonderful way for us to build relationships.
- With the help of Patty Arcari, PhD, RN, we hosted a company-wide Mindfulness Event in the weeks leading up to the presidential election and were able to give our crew 60 minutes of uninterrupted time practicing gratitude and meditation.
- We conducted our first-ever Demographics Survey as a way to benchmark against our peers, the US, and ultimately ourselves as a company over time. As EverTrue continues to grow, we want to bring more variety of backgrounds, viewpoints and skills to the table. As our DEI Mission Statement says - the more diverse and inclusive we are, the better we will be. We intend this to be a regular practice for us.
One of the initiatives we are most proud of is related to giving back to our community. EverTrue is in a unique position to help organizations understand their social engagement and turn it into dollars raised. We realized we can offer our software outside of education and serve industries that address acute but missing needs across the country. Larger organizations like Salesforce or Tableau have similar philanthropic programs, so we thought, why can’t we do it too?
After a few months of focused planning and pitching by Molly Hall, Joshua Foster, and Kim Selwitz, we are proud to announce that the Women’s Lunch Place in Boston will be our first TrueBeliever Program Partner! Stay tuned for more to come on this in the coming year.
As we move into the new year, we must continue to create change and progress within our company structure, to push forward with our ideas, and ultimately remain hopeful. We are excited to turn our commitment into a steady practice and to always be asking “what next?” as we strive to make EverTrue and its larger community a more equitable and inclusive place.
Read Jessica’s reflections on DEI Committee activities from Q1 2020 and Q2 2020.