Advocates for race parity and inclusivity in the workplace as well as the wider community spoke at two recent tech conferences, linking these ongoing discussions to the values that companies pursue.
Forrester Technology and Innovation 2022 and, earlier this month, FinovateAutumn took the time to host their own respective fireside chats with stakeholders who sought to define how technology resources and company efforts can foster greater equity and diversity.
This week’s Forrester conference included a discussion of how the events of 2020 led to more progressive inclusion strategies for Humana and its digital health and analytics organization. This included partnering with Forrester Research to investigate disproportionate health disparities among Black Americans and creating a framework to address systemic issues.
Alex Stein, senior consultant at Forrester, spoke with Stacy Brooks, associate director of EDI (equity, diversity and inclusion) digital strategy for Humana’s digital health analytics, about how and why the health insurer has undertaken such an effort.
“Before the summer of 2020, conversations about race in the workplace were rare,” Brooks said. “Those that performed were usually confined to a few places like the cultural team presentations, I&D [inclusiveness and diversity] coaching.”
People of color in the workplace often did not feel comfortable bringing attention to issues they were seeing or dealing with because their words might not be heard, he said, or that they feared being targeted in response. “Nobody wanted to be the person reporting the problem for fear they would become the problem,” Brooks said. “The summer of 2020 changed that. It changed the social discourse around race and institutional racism within corporations, I think forever.
He referenced the 2020 murder of Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Ky., which is local to Brooks, and subsequent social justice protests to bring attention to her death. He also cited the murder of George Floyd later in 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
While there have been public statements and corporate statements against racism, Brooks said change needs to go deeper and reach more layers of the workspace. “We had to move beyond ethical and moral persuasion approaches to change and create change and try to evolve to a point where we could demonstrate better business value by doing things in a better way,” did he declare.
Fintech aims for DEI improvements
The financial and fintech spheres also have diversity and equity on their minds, as seen in a fireside chat at the recent FinovateFall conference. Cathryn Peirce, Co-Founder and CEO of Carbon Zero Financial, discussed “Why Diversity Matters” with David Penn, Research Analyst at Finovate. Carbon Zero Financial is a social impact fintech that offers an API and marketplace that allows businesses to empower their cardholders with a way to reduce their carbon footprint.
Although the themes of equity, inclusivity and diversity may seem to come and go, Peirce described them as essential social calls for business. “We must first and foremost fix inequitable systems, because inequality is dehumanizing and wrong,” she said. Peirce also said that it was not necessary to put a monetary value on justice and fairness in order to want to be co-creators of a fairer and more equitable world. “It’s important to continue to keep this in mind as we discuss both the business and the bottom line of diversity,” she said. “They are also human beings who deserve dignity and respect.”
The public and social response to events such as the murder of George Floyd, Peirce said, included increased interest in shopping with black-owned businesses as a sign of community support. She saw some shortcomings in enabling such actions for consumers who chose to do so. “There is very little technical infrastructure to facilitate this process,” Peirce said.
By meeting consumers where they are and putting their values first, she said companies can create more persistent user engagement, retention and acquisition. Peirce also touted Carbon Zero Financial’s services as an automated feature based on card data that can help consumers direct transaction dollars to causes they care about. “We all want to have meaning; we want to have an impact; we want our transactions and actions to reflect our values,” she said. “We allow the consumer to do this with their daily expenses.”
Penn also asked Peirce how financial products and services can align with company values and advance diversity, equity and inclusion — which she says requires bringing in other voices and perspectives of more diverse communities to achieve these goals. “You can’t serve communities you don’t understand,” Peirce said. “If you don’t know what they value, you can’t build products and strategies around those values.”
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