Though diversity and inclusion have been embraced as cornerstones of modern business, many companies are falling short. Less than 22 percent of professionals deeply believe that their organizations’ DEI efforts have made an impact, a recent study by The Josh Bersin Company revealed.
The vast majority of companies — 75 percent, the study revealed — have failed to integrate DEI into their leadership development programs, resulting in a lack of inclusion that trickles from the top down.
“Over the last couple of years, many companies pledged commitment to DEIB, yet many continue to fall short of that ‘hashtag commitment,’” said GumGum VP of Business Integration and Assurance T’Juana Albert.
Fortunately, GumGum’s leadership has tackled the movement head-on, affording individual contributors the power to shape DEI efforts in every facet of the company.
“At GumGum, our leaders continue to elevate DEIB by fostering an environment that empowers employees to lead the meaningful change we all want to see and experience,” Albert said.
Built In LA sat down with Albert to delve deeper into GumGum’s intentional efforts — from open dialogue to meaningful training opportunities — to nurture DEI at all levels.
GumGum is a contextual-first, global digital advertising platform that uses advanced AI technology to serve captivating creative ads that drive consumer attention without the use of personal data.
Beyond simply speaking up, what’s one concrete action an individual contributor can take to bring about meaningful change in their organization as it pertains to DEI?
When Phil Schraeder took over as GumGum’s CEO in 2019, I was thrilled — because Schraeder understands the value of making space and amplifying underrepresented and non-majority voices. This was validated when he created a safe space for me, a Black woman, to share my views on how GumGum could drive meaningful change by adopting, formalizing and growing GumGum’s DEIB strategy.
GumGum created a safe space for me, a Black woman, to share my views on how we could drive meaningful change by adopting, formalizing and growing a DEIB strategy.”
By making space for me to voice my concerns, we were able to begin a critical dialogue on the importance of representation and equity. And though we haven’t always gotten it right, we continue to see positive engagement and allyship across various DEIB initiatives globally.
We have developed our DEIB coalition — the VOICE Coalition — and we regularly sponsor ERG-led events and conduct mandatory company-wide education and training programs, including managing unconscious bias training and race and ally workshops.
Leadership commitment is critical to laddering up to positive social change in any company. Our executive team continues to lean in with deliberate purpose to ensure DEIB is integrated throughout our business, backed by more resources and an increased budget to prioritize this important work.
How does the leadership at GumGum encourage or empower individual employees to be vocal and active in driving forward initiatives that improve DEI?
GumGum leaders continue to elevate DEI by keeping an open mind, helping employees feel comfortable in expressing themselves and rethinking how they prioritize diversity in our hiring practices. Through unconscious bias training, leadership coaching and pulse surveys, GumGum leaders have created more inclusive workplace policies, workplace flexibility and have implemented actionable strategies aimed at affirming their commitment to parity for all GumGummers.
Some ways we’ve accomplished this is through organizing amplification and education sessions that leadership has attended. Whether through our global Black ERG panel addressing the lack of Black representation in the tech industry or employee-led sessions around gender equity in Iran, the war in Ukraine and the flooding in Pakistan, our leadership shows up.
