Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Update #2: Our Commitment to Being the Change We Want to See in the World

Last week, I posted an update on behalf of the firm regarding our stance on the inhumane and unacceptable acts committed by Minneapolis police against George Floyd which was the final straw in a long pattern of unjust and downright abhorrent treatment towards African Americans by law enforcement. Many of us have been significantly impacted by this, and many are enraged. Instead of letting it fester into negative emotions and feelings, we’re choosing to bottle it as motivation to be the change we want to see in the world and start internally. Nobody could put this better than Jeff St. Louis, VP at Plative on his LinkedIn article – please give it a read.

We’ve made progress across 3 fronts in the last week:

1. Creating and sending a Diversity | Equity | Inclusion survey to all Plative employees. Today, we released an anonymous survey to our employees which will help us gain actionable insight into potential changes we need to make within our policies and procedures to confront and eliminate unconscious bias. We believe that the only way to gain an honest look in the mirror is to listen to our people and learn from all of their experiences.
2. Implemented a 1:1 donation matching program for our employees. Last Friday at our company’s all hands meeting, we announced that Plative will match our employees’ donations to 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations that are working to advance and promote diversity, equity, and inclusion. We recommended Campaign Zero, the NAACP Legal Fund, and Neighbors United Funding Collaborative as excellent examples of organizations that we want to support, but are also proving the option for our people to submit organizations that they want to donate to.
3. Launched a pro bono initiative. Along with donating our money, we are also committed to donating our time to offer advisory, implementation, and support services to 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations. Along with this initiative, we have launched a nomination form that can be viewed here. We urge anyone in our community who is aware of a nonprofit organization in need to fill out the form on their behalf or reach out to us directly at hello@plative.com

What we’re tackling next:

1. Audit of all processes and procedures informed by the survey results.
2. Prioritization of internal procedures to rework or create based on our audit.
3. Continue to involve our people and create opportunities for them to participate.
4. Institutionalize an annual budget for monetary and time-based donations to organizations that advance diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

We believe that this is our best foot forward as a starting point, and hope that our people continue to stand up and give us their input on how we can continue to drive towards positive change.

I will also encourage anyone reading this with thoughts, comments, or suggestions to please email me at greg@plative.com.