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Case study with Oscar Health using Dandi software to create their first DEI annual report using intersectional measurement data.

Oscar Health: Publishing a first-ever annual DEI report

<h2>Advancing with analytics</h2>
Oscar Health was formed in 2012 to address &ldquo;systemic flaws in American healthcare.&rdquo; Today, that same rigorous approach underscores Oscar&rsquo;s commitment to DEI.
In 2020, Oscar took one of its most ambitious steps yet, publishing its first-ever Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DIB) report. Written, according to CEO Mario Schlosser, with the goal of setting &ldquo;a baseline for our company and fuel[ing] our commitment to being a more diverse and inclusive employer and health care company,&rdquo; Oscar&rsquo;s DIB report was powered by Dandi&rsquo;s rich insights.&nbsp;

<h2>Endless insights, instantly available&nbsp;</h2>
Oscar&rsquo;s report was notable for both its depth and breadth. Using Dandi&rsquo;s intersectional measurement, Oscar was able to criss-cross information across department, job level, gender, and ethnicity, providing employees with a much clearer picture of where the company stands today

Dwight Phyall

Program Manager, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging 

<h2>Visuals in a snap</h2>
Rich with informative data visualizations, Oscar&rsquo;s report paints an immersive picture of the company&rsquo;s DIB journey.&nbsp;
Creating each visual from scratch would&rsquo;ve been a monumental task. But Dandi&rsquo;s built-in data studio greatly streamlined the process. &ldquo;We were able to quickly generate and export any visual we needed,&rdquo; says Dwight Phyall. &ldquo;Rather than worrying about having the right visuals, we were able to focus on crafting a richer narrative.&rdquo;

<h2>A continuing story</h2>
Setting and communicating benchmarks is an important step in every company&rsquo;s DEI journey. Doing so makes it easier for everyone to track progress and be held accountable for key goals. As Oscar moves forward, Dandi will continue to play an important role.&nbsp;
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re becoming increasingly data-driven when it comes to DEI,&rdquo; says Dwight Phyall. &ldquo;We love that Dandi has the power to grow with us.&rdquo;

After affirmative action, what’s next for DEI?

The Supreme Court of the U.S. (SCOTUS) dealt an undeniable blow to efforts to advance a more just and equitable society by recently banning affirmative action (AA) in American universities.

Now many DEI professionals&mdash;already reeling from a rollercoaster 3 years, and no doubt aware of the <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2023/05/31/the-new-anti-woke-crusade-targets-dei-and-chick-fil-a/?sh=146e06327d1f" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">increasing backlash</a> against <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/kelloggs-woke-workplace-diversity-programs-are-illegal-group-claims-2023-08-09/" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">&ldquo;woke&rdquo; workplace programs</a> like DEI&mdash;are wondering what comes next.

Below we look at the court&rsquo;s decision, examine its impact on the workplace, and offer actionable steps companies can take to fortify their DEI strategies.

<h2 style="margin-top: 18pt; margin-bottom: 6pt;">The workplace implications of AA&rsquo;s ban&nbsp;</h2>
Legally speaking, the recent ruling has <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.vox.com/politics/2023/7/9/23787408/affirmative-action-in-the-workplace-diversity-equity-inclusion-in-hiring" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">no direct bearing on private employers</a>.&nbsp;

SCOTUS&rsquo;s decision was on affirmative action in higher education, not the workplace. The majority asserted that AA violated the Equal Protection Clause in the constitution, which is tied to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, while DEI programming falls under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act&mdash;the challenging of which would require the overturn of two well-established precedents.

What&rsquo;s more, while affirmative action in higher education involved the question of race-based admissions, most DEI strategies are based on broader, more holistic approaches to promoting diversity.&nbsp;

That being said&mdash;it&rsquo;s an undeniably challenging time.

&ldquo;​​The SCOTUS ruling has created an environment where opponents of affirmative action, and by extension opponents of DEI programs, practices, and policies will feel much more empowered,&rdquo; says <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-gong-he-him-418596b/" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Jason Gong</a>, DEI Lead at Dandi.&nbsp;&nbsp;

DEI professionals are contending with yet another impossible moment: one in which they know how crucial this work is but have to answer to stakeholders and business interests that prioritize risk reduction over most else. Going forward, it will be up to DEI practitioners to develop and implement programming that walks the line between risk and action&mdash;no easy task.

<h2>DEI after affirmative action</h2>

<h3>1. Use data to drive strategy</h3>
Even before the ruling, companies had already slashed department budgets and <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/corporate-diversity-pledges-fizzle-amid-layoffs-gop-backlash" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">laid off diversity team members</a>, blaming the economic downturn.

&ldquo;DEI practitioners have already been getting laid off at proportionally higher rates than other roles within organizations. Teams are being defunded and roles are not being backfilled,&rdquo; says Jason. The SCOTUS ruling threatens to put a further freeze on DEI efforts.&nbsp;

However, it is not necessary (or advisable) to abandon DEI efforts, eliminate all mentions of race in the workplace, or curb employee resource groups. Instead, Jason recommends companies amp up advocacy. &ldquo;If you are an organization that has been saying &lsquo;DEI is critical,&rsquo; you need to start demonstrating that in a very real way,&rdquo; says Jason.&nbsp;

Now more than ever is the moment to take action on your DEI strategy. Don&rsquo;t have an employee mentorship or sponsorship program yet? Implement one. Still reaching for the same tired and broken unconscious bias training? Scrap that in favor of behavior-change based training. Using good-faith approaches instead of tracking data? Invest in an analytics platform that will make data easy to utilize, safe to share, and secure to collect.&nbsp;

&ldquo;If you are an employer that wants to continue investing in and demonstrating a commitment to all things DEI, your approach and your strategy has to be data-driven,&rdquo; says Jason.

Jason Gong

DEI Lead

This last point is key. In order to prevent DEI budgets from being tied to socio-cultural demands for change, companies need to demonstrate the need for and impact of DEI programs through hard data. While using racial data as a determinant for employee decisions is illegal, there are plenty of ways to still use data legally:&nbsp;

<ul style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;">
<li style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
Collect data to identify race-related disparities in the workplace
</li>
<li style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
Leverage racial data to construct, support, implement, and measure DEI programs
</li>
<li style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
Prove and communicate the efficacy of DEI programs&nbsp;
</li>
</ul>

"Companies need more nuanced data and to invest in talent and tools that can help you turn data into insights that drive action, that measure impact and progress. That's the way you can make a DEI function incredibly valuable,&rdquo; he adds.

<h3>2. Expand and improve recruiting efforts&nbsp;</h3>
The natural corollary to university admissions, hiring practices are likely to be an area of focus post-AA. Complicating matters, companies may now face a less-diverse talent pool.&nbsp;

To combat this, companies should rethink recruiting efforts.&nbsp;

&ldquo;Your recruiting process should be optimized to ensure that you&rsquo;re in the position to interview, evaluate, and ultimately hire the best people for the job,&rdquo; says Jason.&nbsp;

&ldquo;Those processes should be objective and informed by structure and data that allows you to arrive at the most equitable outcomes, which, more often than not, will result in a more diverse slate of candidates&mdash;and thus a more diverse set of folks that you hire,&rdquo; he adds.

Rather than continuing recruiting at the same state colleges or prestigious universities:
&nbsp;
<ul style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;">
<li style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
Visit colleges with a significant BIPOC presence, as well as HBCUs
</li>
<li style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
Reach out to professional organizations for underrepresented groups, like the Society of Black Engineers, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, and more
</li>
<li style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
Turn to employee resource groups or diverse colleagues for referrals&nbsp;
</li>
</ul>
Research shows these tailored approaches yield great results.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Our data show that targeted recruitment programs have a significant positive effect on the diversity of managers,&rdquo; write sociologists&nbsp;<a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://sociology.fas.harvard.edu/people/frank-dobbin" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Frank Dobbin</a> and <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://people.socsci.tau.ac.il/mu/alexandrakalev/" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Alexandra Kalev</a> in their 2022 book <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Diversity-What-Works-Doesnt/dp/0674276612" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Getting to Diversity</a>, in which they use diversity of managers as the key metric when judging the success of DEI programs.

While it&rsquo;s long been illegal to make hiring decisions based on race or other protected characteristic, companies should also avoid using race as a &ldquo;tiebreaker,&rdquo; awarding &ldquo;plus points&rdquo; to diverse candidates during the hiring process, or mandating a specific number or percentage of roles to members of specific identity groups, writes Lily Zheng in <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://hbr.org/2023/07/how-to-effectively-and-legally-use-racial-data-for-dei" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">How to Effectively&mdash;and Legally&mdash;Use Racial Data for DEI</a>, published in Harvard Business Review.&nbsp;

Instead, companies can require the final candidate pool for jobs and promotions is made up of a specific percentage of diverse candidates. Known as <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.americanhealthlaw.org/content-library/publications/bulletins/3169ab39-884a-4e49-9714-5386845e0aa0/Mansfield-Rule-Gains-Momentum-Across-Law-Firms-and" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Mansfield&rsquo;s Rule</a> in the field of law, this stance has been widely adopted by prestigious firms in an effort to shore up diversity. Creators of Mansfield&rsquo;s Rule modeled it after the NFL&rsquo;s Rooney Rule, which required at least one Black candidate be interviewed for every head coach job. While neither are perfect, this approach is one way organizations can ensure more qualified individuals are being considered.&nbsp;

As organizations explore expanded recruiting efforts, be sure to involve managers in the process. Companies &ldquo;that used line managers to recruit new team members at colleges and professional association meetings reported strong improvements in diversity,&rdquo; write Dobbin and Kalev.&nbsp;

The authors explain that managers are &ldquo;the best ambassadors,&rdquo; as they can provide a better idea of what X team does than a traditional recruiter could. &ldquo;Another advantage of asking company managers to recruit is that they become built-in mentors for the people they recruit,&rdquo; write Dobbin and Kalev&mdash;which not only helps get more diverse employees in the doors, but makes it more likely that they will stay.&nbsp;

As another benefit, pulling managers into recruitment events and efforts helps avoid the &ldquo;need&rdquo; to have specialized DEI recruiters. &ldquo;When your approach is holistic, it's not a separate line item that you can remove from the budget,&rdquo; explains Jason. &ldquo;Think about recruiting and talent acquisition in a holistic way and embed systems and processes that will ensure that hiring decisions are made in the most objective and equitable way possible,&rdquo; he adds.&nbsp;&nbsp;

And the more holistic the process, the less able businesses are to cut it. &ldquo;When you treat something as separate it&rsquo;s considered an add-on and it&rsquo;s not prioritized,&rdquo; says Jason.

<h3>3. Audit for bias</h3>
Framing your efforts around a desire to root out bias is a smart step for organizations to take.

&ldquo;Title VII of the Civil Rights Act expressly forbids companies from discriminating along the lines of race, ethnicity, gender, etc., so programs designed to ensure compliance are lawful,&rdquo; says <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jefernan/">Jeff Fernandez, CEO</a> and co-founder of Dandi.&nbsp;&nbsp;

While DEI programs may come under scrutiny or legal challenge in the future, programs that aim to eradicate bias will be harder to touch. In line with the colorblind philosophy SCOTUS referenced in their majority opinion, anti-bias efforts seek to eradicate barriers to equal opportunities. 

&ldquo;Most effective DEI programs use racial data to identify discriminatory barriers that are compromising fairness and meritocracy in the workplace, and to develop initiatives that remove those barriers for everyone,&rdquo; writes Zheng.

Audit processes across the employee lifecycle, from recruiting and hiring to performance management systems, promotion, and pay to remove bias. Look to see that recruiting and hiring practices include the basics, like blinding resumes, but also make sure interviews follow a set format and the same questions are asked of all candidates.&nbsp;

Review your calibration process for performance management and ensure the information being used for decisions like pay raises and promotions is calibrated. Check mentoring programs, skills training, family leave and flexibility policies, downsizing routines, and bonus criteria for signs of bias and work to eradicate it.&nbsp;

Building more standardized and structured workplace processes would help reduce racial discrimination, but also recency bias, favoritism, and other harmful workplace practices that carry negative implications for all workers.&nbsp;

DEI programs and training remain important, but &ldquo;the best strategy for addressing&hellip; biases is to implement more inclusive systems,&rdquo; conclude Dobbin and Kalev.

<h2 style="margin-top: 18pt; margin-bottom: 6pt;">DEI matters&mdash;now more than ever</h2>
As Justice Kentaji Brown Jackson wrote in her dissent, &ldquo;Deeming race irrelevant in law does not make it so in life.&rdquo;&nbsp;

DEI practitioners know this all too well. And though the landscape surrounding DEI has shifted once again, the work remains vital.

As always, actions speak louder than words when it comes to DEI. Now, more than ever, is the time for organizations to crystallize their&nbsp; DEI vision and take action to achieve it.&nbsp;

<h3>Looking to fuel your DEI efforts with data? <a href="https://demo.itsdandi.com/" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Talk to Dandi</a>.</h3>

From recruiting, to upskilling, to inclusion and belonging, AI presents a whole new set of strategic and ethical challenges. This article explores the DEI leader's role in a brave new workplace.

Combating bias in the AI workplace: a DEI perspective

Companies have been using AI-powered tools and algorithms for years now, but the arrival of generative AI tools, like ChatGPT, in the last year has intensified fears and debate over its ethics. Largely polarized, the conversation around AI today rebounds between claims it will liberate workers from tedious work and concerns it will render jobs obsolete.&nbsp;
From a DEI perspective, even more worrisome is AI&rsquo;s potential to amplify bias and further entrench disparities for marginalized employees, already struggling to find equal footing in the workplace.
In this article we examine the challenges and opportunities for DEI leaders as they help businesses navigate this new frontier of workplace technology.

<h2 style="margin-top: 18pt; margin-bottom: 6pt;">Without careful watch, AI is likely to deepen biases in recruiting</h2>
Job seekers today are already contending with AI in recruiting and hiring, though many may not know it.The <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfMRLestj6s" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">EEOC estimates that 83%</a> of employers today use AI-powered algorithms for talent acquisition in the form of chatbots, ATS, programs that analyze the candidate&rsquo;s body language and speech patterns in video interviews, and more. 

Despite its widespread adoption, AI tools have the potential to <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://hbr.org/2019/05/all-the-ways-hiring-algorithms-can-introduce-bias" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">deepen bias and perpetuate disparities in the recruiting process when unchecked</a>&mdash;which is only expected to intensify with generative AI. As organizations expand how they use AI in hiring and recruiting, DEI professionals will be part of ensuring AI tools produce equitable outcomes.

Since AI algorithms are built on existing data sets, they&rsquo;re liable to replicate and amplify whatever the data contains but it&rsquo;s difficult to discern what, exactly, that is.&nbsp;

&ldquo;The use of neural network models means AI&rsquo;s computations are often a black box, unknowable to AI designers and end users alike, which has implications for accountability and transparency when AI is used for decision making,&rdquo; write the authors of <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/09637214221091823#bibr19-09637214221091823" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Work: A Functional-Identity Perspective</a> published in the journal Current Directions in Psychological Science.

An algorithm reviewing candidates looks for similarities between the current applicants and the data of high-performing employees in the same role. For positions in senior leadership or in an industry that&rsquo;s male-dominated, like tech or finance, it&rsquo;s highly likely that men would be overrepresented, causing the algorithm to prefer and recommend male applicants over others, which is what happened at Amazon. In 2018 <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-amazon-com-jobs-automation-insight/amazon-scraps-secret-ai-recruiting-tool-that-showed-bias-against-women-idUSKCN1MK08G" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Reuters reported</a> that in 2017 Amazon scrapped the AI hiring tool it debuted in 2014 after determining that it systematically discriminated against women for technical roles.&nbsp;

Critics say AI tools are plagued by bias but a lack of oversight in AI is part of what makes regulating it a challenge, with little agreement on who is ultimately responsible. Software vendors are meant to be accountable for ensuring that a solution is unbiased, but &ldquo;<a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.cnet.com/tech/features/the-new-age-of-hiring-ai-is-changing-the-game-for-job-seekers/" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">little, if any, independent oversight</a>&rdquo; exists. And external auditors aren&rsquo;t a turnkey fix either; audits may not audit for intersectionality, don&rsquo;t necessarily prove the product helps make a better hiring choice, and are often paid for by the company being audited, according to Hilke Schellmann&rsquo;s reporting for <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/02/11/1017955/auditors-testing-ai-hiring-algorithms-bias-big-questions-remain/" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">MIT Technology Review</a>.&nbsp;

What&rsquo;s more, evaluators often don&rsquo;t agree on what's required to show that AI is &ldquo;unbiased&rdquo; or &ldquo;fair,&rdquo; a direct reflection of the different personal beliefs of what unbiased or fair means, conclude Richard Landers and Tara Behrend in <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.proquest.com/docview/2628338983/F47329EA98794BE1PQ/4?cid=CID:20230814214311413:312956&amp;fromOL=true&amp;parentSessionId=UTWO5ySf%2FQz2w7qQV4GoI96vvkkUwV5Z5RyeEv2v4Zk%3D#REF_c12" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Auditing the AI auditors: A framework for evaluating fairness and bias in high stakes AI predictive models</a>, published in American Psychologist.&nbsp;

Given AI&rsquo;s penchant for amplifying existing biases and disparities, it&rsquo;s no wonder Black Americans are more likely than other identity groups to express concern. A <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2023/04/20/ai-in-hiring-and-evaluating-workers-what-americans-think/">recent report</a> by the Pew Research Center found that &ldquo;20% of Black adults who say racial bias in hiring is a problem believe AI being more widely used by employers would make the issue worse, compared with about one-in-ten Hispanic, Asian or White adults.&rdquo;

Regardless of the challenges ensuring unbiased products, it&rsquo;s ultimately the company using the AI hiring tool that is responsible for its own hiring practices. &ldquo;There's certainly no exemption to the civil rights laws because you engage in discrimination some high-tech way,&rdquo; says chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Charlotte Burrows, as quoted in <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://apnews.com/article/bossware-eeoc-artificial-intelligence-job-discrimination-48f2da9321a023aa102e636026667bb4" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">the Associated Press</a>. 

Takeaway: It's essential that DEI leaders bring a data-driven outlook to their recruiting efforts, ensuring that the connections between new technology and bias becomes clear.&nbsp;

<h2 style="margin-top: 18pt; margin-bottom: 6pt;">Equitable access to AI upskilling and training opportunities</h2>
AI&rsquo;s expansion in the workforce doesn&rsquo;t necessarily mean the erasure of workers, but it will <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.theregister.com/2023/08/23/ilo_ai_jobs_impact_study/" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">change the roles and responsibilities of a job</a>, the way people work, and how teams communicate. Companies will have to reskill and upskill their workforces in order to remain competitive, and employees are expecting them to do so.&nbsp;

According to a <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/09637214221091823" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">recent report</a> by Salesforce, more than 67% of employees expect their company to provide the training they need to best use generative AI, but 66% say their company does not currently provide learning opportunities.

From a DEI perspective, without a strategy in place to guarantee a diverse group of employees gains access to the skills needed to adapt to AI in the workplace, training has the potential to perpetuate disparities&mdash;especially considering the individuals whose jobs are most threatened by AI.

A <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Automation_LO_v7.pdf" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">report</a> by The Hamilton project by the Brookings Institution finds that AI poses greater job security threats to Black and Hispanic workers than their White and Asian counterparts: a quarter of the Black workforce is employed in one of the 30 jobs with the highest risk score for automation, while 30% of Hispanic workers are.&nbsp;

Women face higher risk from AI, too. Clerical positions, for which women are overrepresented, are considered one of the roles most susceptible to automation by generative AI, according to a <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---inst/documents/publication/wcms_890761.pdf" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">recent report</a> from the International Labour Organization.

DEI professionals should work in tandem with L&amp;D teams to create equal access to employee development and training opportunities. One way to do so is by bringing more transparency into the process. For example, posting opportunities publicly across the entire org so people can see what&rsquo;s available&mdash;even if it&rsquo;s for a different career tract, or they aren&rsquo;t yet qualified&mdash;and publicizing the criteria for admission into a program or nomination-based opportunities are good places to start.

Takeaway: DEI leaders can and should play a key role in guiding upskilling policies, ensuring that no one is left behind as workplace tools change.

<h2 style="margin-top: 18pt; margin-bottom: 6pt;">Inclusion and belonging look different in the AI workplace</h2>
AI is changing not only how work gets done but also how people feel about their work and their professional identity. While we know that AI is not going to take everyone&rsquo;s job, it is possible that generative AI will so significantly alter the roles, responsibilities, and the work environment that employees find that they are essentially working in new fields.&nbsp;

Consider a loan consultant responsible for the complex financial analysis of loan decisions valued at millions of dollars. With time, their employer is likely to replace these once human-only tasks with an algorithm that&rsquo;s automated and more precise, eliminating the need for the role, or much of it. Or think of a surgeon who is analyzed in real-time by AI-driven analysis which promotes patient outcomes and increases accuracy while operating.

These fundamental changes to a role are poised to affect how individuals view their contributions to the workplace, the sense of belonging they feel, and the identity they derive from their work.&nbsp;

&ldquo;Workers who lose significant aspects of their jobs, or their job roles, will face the greatest identity challenge,&rdquo; write the authors of <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/09637214221091823#bibr19-09637214221091823" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Work: A Functional-Identity Perspective</a>. &ldquo;How can they protect their self-esteem and achieve a sense of self-continuity and self-verification if the social self-categorizations enabling those functions no longer exist?&rdquo; they ask&mdash;and how can their organization support them in doing so?&nbsp;

DEI practitioners will be on the hook to foster a culture of belonging in workforces where roles and responsibilities have drastically changed. This will be new ground for all of us, and DEI teams will have to pioneer creative ways to respond to the shifts in identity, belonging, and inclusion in the workplace.

Takeaway: DEI leaders must bring an intersectional outlook to questions of inclusion and belonging to understand which employee populations are being impacted&mdash;positively or negatively&mdash;by their new, non-human colleagues.

<h2 style="margin-top: 18pt; margin-bottom: 6pt;">DEI is key to equitable outcomes in the age of AI&nbsp;</h2>
It&rsquo;s impossible to project the ways in which AI will alter the workplace, but it&rsquo;s clear these technologies are reshaping the roles and responsibilities of DEI in real time. Further, DEI professionals will be key to addressing the enormously consequential outcomes and effects of these tools.&nbsp;

In the AI-powered workplace, the need for clear, effective DEI leadership is both strategic and moral. They&rsquo;ll be essential in guiding the use of AI in recruiting, where the potential for deepening an already-biased process is all but guaranteed without oversight. DEI pros will also be critical to ensuring all employees gain equal access to the upskilling and retraining that AI in the workplace demands, all while redefining what inclusion and belonging mean in a workplace transformed by AI.

These are just a few of the critical ways DEI will continue to matter in the AI workplace. Rather than threatening DEI, AI further cements the need for DEI in the workplace.

<h3>The workplace is changing. Dandi analytics give HR and DEI leaders the power to change with it. <a href="https://demo.itsdandi.com/" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Book a demo to learn more</a>.</h3>

Employee resource groups are hugely popular, but often go unmeasured. In this article, we explain how to support your ERG programs with data.

How to Define Success for your ERGs

Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) just might be the most popular DEI tactic used in workplaces today. They are flexible, relatively easy to start, and often beloved by employees.&nbsp;
At their best, ERGs can foster increased feelings of inclusion and belonging among different employee groups, and build new connections across the company. Too often, though, companies simply implement ERGs without stating or measuring goals for them. The risks to this approach are both obvious and subtle.&nbsp;
Without goals, it&rsquo;s impossible to know if your ERGs are actually moving the needle on DEI. That&rsquo;s the obvious problem. The subtle problem is this: From staffing support to event budgets, there are real dollars going into ERG programs. Budgets are always at risk of being cut, and if we cannot demonstrate effectiveness, we increase our risk of losing funding.

Speaking of funding, what if ERGs are not successful? Could we re-allocate those dollars and employee time into programs that are effective? Would that better serve our mission? If so, isn&rsquo;t that something we should know?
Furthermore, we need to be able to celebrate our successes. If we know that ERGs are working, then we can shout from the rooftops. We can let our employees know, our investors know, our leadership know, &ldquo;Hey, this program works!&rdquo;&nbsp;
In short, there are many reasons to bring a data-driven mindset to your ERG programs. In this article, I&rsquo;m going to explain how you can get started.

<h2>ERGs, explained</h2>
ERGs typically originate when a group of employees share a common cause. Commonly, a women&rsquo;s ERG is one of the first to start, followed by ERGs for LGBTQ+ and BIPOC employees. These usually start as communities, organically designed to bring folks of the same identity together. In DEI lingo, they may be at the maturity level of an affinity group.&nbsp;
By building a community that provides a place for employees to connect with others like them, a support network can be developed. If someone is the only Black person on a team, they may feel alone. But, with an ERG for Black employees, that person can easily find other Black employees with shared experiences who can relate to and support them.&nbsp;&nbsp;
As ERGs mature, they tend to become more goal-oriented. For instance, an ERG might host educational events, develop mentorship programs, and provide formalized networking opportunities. They often have an executive sponsor and a leadership team, and perhaps even some budget to host events and gather resources. In the rare case that an ERG evolves into a Business Resource Group (BRG), there is close alignment between ERG goals and strategic business imperatives.

The impact of ERGs can potentially extend far beyond the individuals directly involved. These groups can play a crucial role in shaping company culture and promoting diversity and inclusion at all levels of the organization. By providing a platform for underrepresented voices to be heard and empowering employees to contribute their unique perspectives, ERGs can contribute to a more inclusive and innovative work environment.&nbsp;
Additionally, ERGs often collaborate with other departments and business units, fostering cross-functional collaboration and helping break down silos within the organization. As a result, ERGs can become catalysts for positive change, driving initiatives that promote equality, advance social justice, and enhance the overall employee experience.

<h2>Defining ERG Success</h2>
There is lots of potential upside to ERGs. Yet, many organizations lack the formalization of ERG goals and purpose. As a result, it can be nearly impossible to deem an ERG successful.
I once started an ERG for Jewish employees. Following the shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, I was looking for community to reflect and react to this tragedy. So, I rallied the troops. I found co-leaders and we quickly started organizing events. Typically, our events centered around Jewish holidays and food. We ate a lot of bagels and lox, and enjoyed donuts at Hanukkah. So was this ERG successful?
It&rsquo;s hard to say, because we never defined success up front. In fact, I had initially wanted to form the group specifically to provide a forum for difficult conversations about public events. So was that my goal? If so, I can almost certainly say the ERG was not successful. I&rsquo;m not sure that we ever had a moment for reflection. Yet, if I focused on using the ERG to build community, I could argue it was successful. We had high attendance at events, and I know that I personally met some folks I wouldn&rsquo;t have met otherwise. So, is that enough?
Honestly, it&rsquo;s hard to say. It all comes down to how you define success for your ERG.

In my Jewish ERG, maybe &ldquo;working&rdquo; meant that employees built community. In other ERGs, success might mean that employee experience scores increase for employees of that identity, and turnover rates decrease. In still other groups, the main goal might be to improve employer branding and to increase referrals into the organization. It's all relative.
Ultimately, the most important thing is to simply state the goal. Once you've done so, the next step is collecting data that helps you measure progress towards it.

<h2>Measuring ERG Success</h2>
DEI teams often focus on the logistics of supporting ERGs. They manage budgets, coordinate executive sponsors, and engage community managers. They facilitate events. They source new ERG leaders. Defining and tracking success should also be part of this support.
Qualitative measurement is highly valuable, especially when data is hard to come by. At one of my ERG events, we decided we wanted to capture attendance. Many folks pre-registered, but not all attended. So, we brought an iPad for employees to sign in. With all the chaos and a single iPad, 4 people signed in. Yet, the room was full. We didn&rsquo;t have the numbers or the names, but we did know that the event was well-attended.&nbsp;
Anecdotal evidence can be biased. If there are 100 attendees, and we hear one anecdote, that is likely not representative of the entire population. Person A left early after they tried to join several conversations but felt left out. Yet, Person B, C, and D had an amazing time and met 10 new people each. If we relied on Person A&rsquo;s story to measure if the event was successful, we would be biased. So, it takes a careful lens to use this data well.
Quantitative data has some distinct advantages. Person B, C, and D each said they met 10 new people. Fabulous! Yet, when using network data to measure this, none of these people maintained relationships after the event. There was no record of Slack conversations or emails or meetings between these people in the 6 months after the event. They may have had a good experience at the event, but they did not build a network. If the ERG goal was to expand networks, this event was not effective.&nbsp;
There are many other concrete data points that might help quantify effectiveness. From number of referrals from ERG members, to employee engagement scores, to number of incidents reported in a population, these metrics can be highly valuable to deeming an ERG a success. But it all depends on the named goal in the first place.

<h2>Conclusion</h2>
Like everything else in business, ERGs must have goals. And these goals must be measurable. When informed with the right metrics and data points, you can celebrate your successes, and refocus your efforts when needed.&nbsp;

Myths and misconceptions frame much of the conversation today about DEI and people data. In this article, we're sorting fact from fiction.

Busted: Debunking 4 key myths about DEI and people data

There are so many myths about DEI work.&nbsp;
Some believe these efforts do not help the business. Some believe that this work leads to discrimination itself, and many hold the belief that collecting data around DEI introduces a lot of risk.&nbsp;&nbsp;
While none of these myths are rooted entirely in truth, the reality is they continue to frame at least part of the DEI conversation today. It&rsquo;s essential that DEI leaders be able to navigate these conversations successfully.
So, let&rsquo;s debunk some of these myths!

<h2>Myth: Collecting DEI data puts the organization at risk of lawsuits</h2>
<h3>Fact: Collecting data can actually help protect the organization from legal action</h3>
This is a big one!&nbsp;
So much reluctance to engage in DEI analytic efforts is driven by fear. Why? Well, for decades, organizations were held accountable for any discriminatory findings, leading to a mentality that, if you don&rsquo;t know if there are any problems, you can&rsquo;t be responsible for those problems. So organizations didn&rsquo;t look under the hood, in fear of what they might find.&nbsp;&nbsp;
But, there has been a significant mindset shift. Now, we know there are problems, and by ignoring them, we are only perpetuating the issues. Organizations have come to recognize that collecting data can actually help protect the organization from legal action by identifying and mitigating potential risks before they become larger issues.&nbsp;&nbsp;
To be fair, it is still possible for diversity metrics to be used in employment and discrimination disputes, because they can provide concrete evidence of discrimination against a protected group. Still, there are <a href="https://hbr.org/2022/03/data-driven-diversity?registration=success" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">bigger risks</a> in not collecting the data and conducting analysis at all.&nbsp;&nbsp;
One risk is perception: It&rsquo;s possible that employees and the general public will see a company&rsquo;s reluctance to collect employee data as being indicative of a general lack of concern for DEI in the workplace. It&rsquo;s also possible that companies will still be sued for discrimination, and will be completely in the dark as to whether those suits are accurate. Being caught off-guard is not advantageous for anyone, legal counsel especially.&nbsp;
Furthermore, there are now regulations about managing employee data, <a href="https://www.itsdandi.com/blog/privacy-best-practices-for-dei-data/" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">enforcing privacy statutes</a> and implementing security controls that didn&rsquo;t previously exist. This means that technology is generally configured to be much more protective of data than in prior decades.&nbsp;&nbsp;

<h2>Myth: Employees do not support the collection of employee data</h2>
<h3>Fact: Most employees support data collection&mdash;especially when they understand the benefits</h3>
Employees will never share their most personal details with employers&mdash;right?
While it's certainly true that some employees are uncomfortable with the idea of data collection, studies have shown that <a href="https://hbr.org/2019/02/how-companies-can-use-employee-data-responsibly" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">the majority of employees are actually supportive of data collection efforts when they understand the benefits</a>. In fact, many employees see data collection as a way to improve their work environment and make their jobs easier.&nbsp;&nbsp;
So how can we help employees understand the benefits of data collection?&nbsp;
Perhaps the most important piece of the puzzle is to be transparent about data collection practices. When employees understand why data is being collected and how it will be used, they are more likely to support these efforts and to see them as a positive development. This does not mean that all results must be shared organization-wide. But it does mean that there is intentionality about how the data will be used, and employees are in the loop about it.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Employees must also trust that their data will be kept private. <a href="https://builtin.com/people-management/dei-data-privacy" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Threshold reporting</a> is a key mechanism for data confidentiality. I can&rsquo;t count the times employees have insisted that managers can see their very specific engagement survey responses. They are up in arms, upset that their feedback has been disclosed.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Most often, this reaction is due to a lack of understanding regarding system thresholds. Typically, a sample size of 5 or more is required for any manager to get dashboard access, and it is literally impossible to see individual responses. Instead of simply insisting that managers can&rsquo;t see responses, employees must be brought more closely into the process, perhaps even shown a sample dashboard, to see that responses cannot be identified.

<h3>Learn how Dandi&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.itsdandi.com/blog/introducing-enterprise-grade-roles-and-permissions/" rel="follow">roles and permissions controls</a> help businesses collect, analyze and share people data&mdash;safely and securely</h3>

<h2>Myth: DEI data collection is inherently discriminatory</h2>
<h3>Fact: Collecting employee data is a key driver of equity in the workplace</h3>
The myth that DEI data collection is discriminatory is based on a misunderstanding of the purpose and intent behind collecting this type of data. In fact, collecting DEI data is an essential first step in identifying disparities and systemic issues that may exist in an organization.&nbsp;<a href="https://fortune.com/2022/06/20/data-first-diversity-equity-inclusion-careers-black-workers-gender-race-bias-dei-roland-fryer/" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">This data can help </a>identify where resources and attention are needed to improve equity and inclusion for all employees.
In fact, DEI data collection can help promote a more equitable workplace culture by identifying where disparities exist and how to address them. However, the collection of this data is still typically voluntary, and employees can choose whether or not to disclose their identity information.
One particular example where individuals are reluctant to disclose their identity is in the candidate experience. Individuals&mdash;particularly those belonging to historically marginalized groups&mdash;are often hesitant to disclose their identities for fear of discrimination. They want to be given an equitable chance at gaining employment in the organization.
In turn, many applicant tracking systems (ATS) actually restrict recruiter access to these data points. A recruiter, then, is not exposed to how an applicant identifies, removing (some of) the risk for bias in the process. Instead, candidate identities are used for aggregate analysis to ensure processes are equitable overall, not on an individual level.&nbsp;

<h2>Myth: DEI data collection is a one-time effort</h2>
<h3>Fact: Companies need to take an always-on approach to data collection</h3>
Data represents a moment in time. It shows how your company looked at the moment the data was captured. And since a company&rsquo;s workforce is constantly changing and evolving, it&rsquo;s necessary to keep collecting new data that reflects these changes.
For instance, pay equity has historically been an annual analysis. Once a year, we pull the compensation data on existing employees, compare job families, geographics, and levels by gender and race, and then move on with our lives. But that&rsquo;s not enough.&nbsp;&nbsp;
When just one highly paid employee leaves the organization, pay equity shifts. When just one underpaid employee joins the organization, pay equity shifts. Each and every person counts. And you shouldn&rsquo;t wait until next year&rsquo;s annual review to see a compensation adjustment to right a pay inequity wrong.

DEI data collection should be viewed as a starting point, rather than a one-time event. As an organization evolves and grows, so too will its workforce and the challenges it faces in promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion. For this reason, regular data collection and analysis is necessary to track progress, identify trends, and adjust strategies as needed.
In reality, collecting DEI data is an ongoing process that requires continuous analysis and progress tracking to measure the effectiveness of DEI initiatives over time. Regular data collection allows organizations to stay on top of these changes and make adjustments as needed to ensure they are still effectively promoting diversity and inclusion.

<h3>Fact: Forward-looking companies trust Dandi with their people data. Ready to join them? <a href="https://demo.itsdandi.com/" rel="follow">Book a demo</a> to learn more.</h3>

Over 400 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced in state legislatures across the US since the start of the year. This Pride Month, Dandi is speaking with leaders across the DEI space to learn what Pride means to them, and how organizations can support LGBTQ+ employees at a time of increased political attack.

Pride @ Work: Jennifer Brown, CEO of Jennifer Brown Consulting

Words like &ldquo;legend&rdquo; are thrown around a lot these days. But if there&rsquo;s anyone that qualifies for such lofty labels, it&rsquo;s <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://jenniferbrownspeaks.com/" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Jennifer Brown</a>.

As CEO and Founder of <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="http://www.jenniferbrownconsulting.com/" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Jennifer Brown Consulting</a> (JBC), Jennifer has left an indelible mark on the DEI space. Through JBC, she and her team have designed and executed inclusion strategies and trainings for some of the biggest companies and nonprofits in the world.

Jennifer is the author of four books on inclusive leadership, including her most recent, &ldquo;How to Be an Inclusive Leader,&rdquo; which is currently in its second printing. Her podcast, &ldquo;The Will to Change,&rdquo; is one of the top DEI podcasts today.

Here&rsquo;s what she had to say about Pride.

1. What does Pride Month mean for you?

Even though I&rsquo;ve been out now for over 30 years, Pride month is still an emotional one for me. I am not only reminded of my own journey &ndash; from the fear and excitement of coming out to discovering this whole new community that would support, inspire, and teach me &ndash; but I feel an enormous pride to be certified as an LGBTQ+-owned business for nearly 20 years, and to have the opportunity to teach inclusion from stages around the world, speaking and writing from my own lived experience, and sharing my vision of a workplace &ndash; and a world &ndash; where all of us can thrive.

More than this though, it&rsquo;s a time for me to remember how many around me every day, and around the world, are still facing their fears and grappling with safety, disclosure, discrimination, and persecution. Given the record number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills making their way through the country, this sacred time always re-ignites my energy and focus on the work ahead, and reminds me of my relatively more comfortable circumstances. From this place, I recommit to give back, and give more.&nbsp;

This is why the celebrations of this month are so important; for a community who&rsquo;s experienced such invisibility and stigma, to be prioritized, and to be the focus of so much positive education, empathy, and celebration, matters more than ever. We must mark each step in our progress, too. 

What makes me happiest during Pride Month is to see how many companies are taking strides to publicly support the community, in some cases at greater risk than ever before given the political climate. Although I know this kind of corporate support can be performative, or non-existent, I still see legions of long-time&nbsp;and new supporters, with each passing year, standing up for us. I often get to play a part in helping organizations awaken and mobilize in this way, which is deeply fulfilling work.

2. In many places across the country, the rights of LGBTQ+ folks are under renewed attack. What are some ways that employers can show up for their employees at this particular moment?

It&rsquo;s more critical than ever that institutions go beyond &ldquo;business as usual,&rdquo; and utilize their might to push for equality more broadly than their &ldquo;four walls.&rdquo; The most recent <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.edelman.com/trust/2023/trust-barometer" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Edelman Trust Barometer</a> found that business is still the most trusted, over government, and with this comes the responsibility to stand up for and protect marginalized people&mdash;whether they be the employees within those organizations experiencing workplace bias, or customers and stakeholders experiencing societal bias. This all impacts companies&rsquo; ability to succeed and grow&mdash;environments of belonging are critical to creativity, innovation and customer relationships. Younger generations of talent and customers are also raising their voice and demanding that more be done, and companies ignore this at their peril.&nbsp;

Employers should not just wait for Pride month but communicate 365 days a year that LGBTQ+ people are an important priority, that they&rsquo;re not where they should be on a variety of metrics, and how they&rsquo;re holding themselves accountable for progress. 

Studies show that <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/adv/article-making-it-easier-for-lgbtq-workers-to-come-out/" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">nearly 50% of LGBTQ+ employees are still closeted in the workplace</a>, which harms not just the individual but the institution. Closing gaps in representation, belonging, and promotion and advancement should be a focus. The work is never complete, but progress matters, and transparency is key&mdash;acknowledging challenges openly and tackling them systematically goes a long way. The active support and sponsorship of affinity groups, LGBTQ+ 101 and allyship education, and community engagement are all areas of focus that can accelerate this journey.&nbsp;

Companies also increasingly need to be on the front lines of the difficult but necessary culture debates, as their employees and constituents are directly impacted by these and there is considerable reputational risk to remaining silent. Many savvy organizations are trying to walk the walk of their values, jumping in and leveraging their might, while others are sitting on the sidelines&mdash;which may feel like safety, but can have an equally negative effect on morale and company culture.&nbsp;

3. How are you celebrating Pride this year?

I usually have a very busy speaking schedule during Pride, and enjoy every moment of it because I get to connect with audiences and companies at a unique time of celebration, community, and shared humanity. 

At this time of year, I also make a point to thank the allies in my life. Allyship has shifted opportunities for all of us and provides such invaluable air cover for many vulnerable people as they make their way to the destination of authenticity. Lastly, I check in on my allyship; how am I standing up alongside those in my community who deserve more of a voice?&nbsp;

4. What's a favorite Pride celebration you&rsquo;ve been part of?

Although they get longer every year, the New York City Pride Parade defies description&mdash;in its scope, energy, music, diversity&mdash;like all things NYC, it&rsquo;s larger than life, and still takes my breath away. I love running into friends, seeing my clients marching, and witnessing all the new and growing organizations marching every year&mdash;communities that I never knew anything about, registering their values in public and showing up publicly. Such a powerful reminder that LGBTQ+ people are everywhere, in every facet of life, and in every variety of humanness. It&rsquo;s beautiful to behold, and be a part of.&nbsp;

5. What's one tip you have for other orgs that might want to celebrate Pride, but don't know where to start?

The Disability community has a saying: &ldquo;Nothing about us, without us.&rdquo;&nbsp;

It&rsquo;s so critical to find internal champions to consult with for Pride, and they do exist; every org has either LGBTQ+ people in it, or if no one is out, at least allies who can inform the work and help lead the charge. If an LGBTQ+ affinity group exists, they can effectively develop and steer a Pride strategy. External partners or community orgs can assist as well. Either way, going to the community for this is the ideal scenario because they know the landscape best and can guide the company on what will resonate.&nbsp;

Failing this, orgs can pull together a working DEI group of folks passionate about equality to look at what can be a small effort to mark the month&mdash;at least to start. Possible activities could include a message of support and celebration from leadership, gatherings and events, a speaker or panel, or a small philanthropic donation to a community organization in their ecosystem.

Other cultural heritage months may be already celebrated by a company, and those models can be leveraged for Pride month as well.

Engineered to meet the highest enterprise-grade privacy standards, our new roles and permissions controls give businesses granular access control over every part of Dandi.

Introducing enterprise-grade roles and permissions controls

People data can reveal powerful DEI insights. But many businesses today are limited in their ability to analyze people data because their existing softwares cannot adequately protect the information.&nbsp;

Our new roles and permissions controls are designed to solve a core security challenge around people data&mdash;access&mdash;so businesses can learn more and do more for employees.

Engineered to provide granular levels of access control to every part of our product, roles and permissions allow businesses to precisely manage who can view and analyze people data, across their organizations.

<h2 style="margin-top: 18pt; margin-bottom: 6pt;">Powerful levels of control</h2>
Dandi now allows the centralized creation and management of user roles in Dandi. Each role can be assigned permissions around key product features, metrics, and data fields. 

Since different people throughout a company have different needs to view and analyze people data, the configurations available through Dandi can be highly specific.

As an example, let&rsquo;s imagine a 5,000-person company with offices in the United States, LATAM, and EMEA. With Dandi roles and permissions enabled, every full-time employee of the company could have access to a DEI overview dashboard that contains multiple reports. However, the reports and information visible in that dashboard would automatically change based on an employee's role assignment:&nbsp;

<ul style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;">
<li style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
Regional DEI leads would have permission to view reports and run analyses for their particular region
</li>
<li style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
Global C-suite leaders would have access to reports at the corporate level
</li>
<li style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
Operations analysts dedicated exclusively to DEI would have full access to all reports and all analyses, as they need this level of permission in order to do their jobs
</li>
<li style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
Talent leads for the engineering department would have permission to only view recruiting and hiring reports for their department
</li>
</ul>
In this way, roles and permissions allows everyone at the company to have a view of DEI, while ensuring that no one sees data they shouldn't.

<h2 style="margin-top: 18pt; margin-bottom: 6pt;">Seamless role management</h2>
As part of this update, we&rsquo;re also adding integrations with four popular identity providers:
<ul>
<li>Okta</li>
<li>OneLogin</li>
<li>Google</li>
<li>Microsoft Azure</li>
</ul>
By connecting to your identity provider, Dandi will automatically sync all your users and groups.

Once Dandi pulls in your groups, you can then assign Dandi roles to those groups as a whole. Dandi role assignments will automatically update as users are added or change groups within your identity provider.

<h2 style="margin-top: 18pt; margin-bottom: 6pt;">Why roles and permissions matters</h2>
Data-driven DEI cannot move forward without appropriate security measures. 

Today, people data often lives in spreadsheets and business intelligence tools, or general purpose people analytics platforms. None of these options offer robust roles and permissions controls, which means that&mdash;in order to protect the data&mdash;access is often limited to a select number of people. 

In order for data to make an impact, it needs to be shared. But that doesn&rsquo;t mean organizations should assume needless risk or violate employee trust. 

We built our roles and permissions to address this balance between visibility and privacy. We want to ensure that the right data is seen by the right people&mdash;and no one else.

<h2 style="margin-top: 18pt; margin-bottom: 6pt;">Going forward</h2>
No two companies will have the exact same setup for their roles and permissions.&nbsp;

Current customers are working with our CS team to set up the appropriate roles and permissions for their organizations. Going forward, roles and permissions setup will be a central aspect of our onboarding process.

Roles and permissions is included across all Dandi pricing plans. View the <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="http://itsdandi.com/pricing" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Pricing page </a>to learn more.

<h2>More to come</h2>
From <a href="https://www.itsdandi.com/blog/announcing-soc-2-monitoring-powered-by-drata/" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">our recent SOC 2 attestation</a> to today's announcement, Dandi is committed to being the leader in people data privacy and security. 

We&rsquo;re hard at work building more features in this important area, and look forward to sharing more soon.

<h3>Want to see roles and permissions in action? <a href="https://demo.itsdandi.com/" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Book a demo</a>.</h3>

This Pride Month, Dandi is speaking with leaders across the DEI space to learn what Pride means to them, and how organizations can support LGBTQ+ employees at a time of increased political attack.

Pride @ Work: Dave Ciliberto, DEI leader and educator

As a DEI leader with over 25 years of executive experience, Dave Ciliberto advises Fortune 500 businesses, nonprofits, higher education institutions, and government sector clientele on a range of issues, including inclusion, engagement and equity; organizational development; and anti-harassment training.
He&rsquo;s also an adjunct instructor at Cornell University ILR, where he leads several courses on DEI, including Emerging Trends, DEI Councils, Education &amp; Training, and ERGs.
Here&rsquo;s what Dave has to say about Pride.

<h3 style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;">What does Pride Month mean for you?</h3>

Pride Month is a chance to remind ourselves and others that we are here and we have overcome so many obstacles to be out and proud of who we are and that we matter. We are a diverse community that continues to need each other and our allies to fight the fight for equity.&nbsp;&nbsp;

<h3 style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;">In many places across the country, the rights of LGBTQ+ folks are under renewed attack. What are some ways that employers can show up for their employees at this particular moment?</h3>

There are over 417 anti-LGBTQ bills introduced in state legislatures across the US since the start of the year (according to the American Civil Liberties Union data as of April 3rd, 2023). It&rsquo;s getting worse each year. HELP us fight back!&nbsp;

At a minimum ensure that your workplace is safe for us. Educate around biases, inappropriate behaviors, bullying. Seek feedback from out LGBTQ+ employees, ask if the organizational culture is safe, what is working well, what needs attention for a safe and secure workplace culture.

We do need the help of our allies at work and elsewhere to push back on the anti-LGBTQ legislation and politicians who create that legislation. We are under attack by many politicians and some of their followers for just existing as ourselves, not pretending to be someone else, just as human beings in the human race that we are part of.&nbsp;

The best support is not supporting the anti-LGBTQ legislation and going against the politicians who do support it. Be verbal about the discrimination that LGBTQ+ folks will face, write to your representatives, call your representatives, express your frustration, anger, disgust&mdash;whatever you are feeling about the inequity of how we (LGBTQ+) are being unfairly treated. All we want is what straight people have, but we do not.&nbsp;

I know a lot of straight allies and I THANK them all. For those who aren&rsquo;t I typically ask&mdash;When did you decide to be straight? &ldquo;I am just straight,&rdquo; they say. Well I didn&rsquo;t decide to be gay&mdash;I just am&mdash;and I am proud of who I am and know my life is harder. I can&rsquo;t freely kiss or embrace my husband without fear of verbal or physical attacks depending upon where I am in the country and world. Try to live like that yourself.

<h3 style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;">How are you celebrating Pride this year?</h3>

This year I won&rsquo;t be marching in the Pride parade as I have done before (okay many years ago when I was younger lol) though I will be a speaker during Pride month at several organizations and I will be on many LGBTQ+ panels this June.&nbsp;

Personally I will celebrate with my husband and close friends while we are at the Pines in Fire Island (this is a predominantly LGBTQ+ community and majority and we do welcome our straight family and friends but it is nice to be the majority) enjoying our community and the beach.&nbsp;

We celebrate in the Pines now since even in parts of NYC it isn&rsquo;t safe for us (LGBTQ+) especially since I was recently called the f-word in my own neighborhood where I used to feel safe. That is a story for another time.&nbsp;&nbsp;

<h3 style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;">What's a favorite Pride celebration you&rsquo;ve been part of?</h3>

Being on LGBTQ+ panels is my favorite Pride celebration and I am thrilled I get to share my lived experiences with audiences who are interested in hearing and learning about them. I am honored to be part of any organization who wants to celebrate us and create a safe workplace culture for us.&nbsp;

<h3 style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;">What's one tip you have for other orgs that might want to celebrate Pride, but don't know where to start?</h3>

The first place to start is if you have an ERG (Employee Resource Group) for LGBTQ+ employees to see what is important to the members. If you don&rsquo;t have a LGBTQ+ ERG then I&rsquo;d start with a Pride panel (I know you see a pattern here&mdash;panels are my favorite).&nbsp;

If this is new I would suggest bringing in a guest speaker to set the stage about psychological safety, storytelling and sharing about successes and challenges one has faced based upon one&rsquo;s identity. Next, if an organization wants to do more to connect people, and you have skilled facilitators, you can organize small roundtable discussion to have others share their lived experiences.&nbsp;

We’re proud to announce today that Dandi has received a clean SOC 2 Type 1 attestation report.

Announcing SOC 2 monitoring powered by Drata

We&rsquo;re proud to announce today that Dandi has received a clean SOC 2 Type 1 attestation report.&nbsp;
This rigorous, independent assessment of our internal security controls serves as validation of our dedication and adherence to the highest, enterprise-grade standards for security, confidentiality, and availability.
Dandi uses <a href="https://drata.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Drata</a>&rsquo;s automated platform to continuously monitor its internal security controls against the highest possible standards. With Drata, Dandi has real-time visibility across the organization to ensure the end-to-end security and compliance posture of our systems.

Mamdouh AlRamadan

Cofounder & CTO

Conducted by Sensiba LLP, a nationally recognized CPA firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, this attestation report affirms that Dandi&rsquo;s information security practices, policies, procedures, and operations meet the rigorous SOC 2 Trust Service Criteria for security, confidentiality, and availability.
To learn more about our security protocols, visit our&nbsp;<a href="https://trust.itsdandi.com/" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Trust Center</a>.

<h2>More to come</h2>
DEI is an inherently data-driven field, and security is central to its success.&nbsp;
We&rsquo;re hard at work building powerful new privacy and security features, and look forward to sharing more soon.

<h3><a href="https://demo.itsdandi.com/" rel="follow">Book a demo</a> to learn what Dandi can do for your DEI efforts.</h3>

Over 400 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced in state legislatures across the US since the start of the year. This Pride Month, Dandi is speaking with leaders across the DEI space about what Pride means to them, and how organizations can support LGBTQ+ employees at a time of increased political attack.

Pride @ Work: Larry Womack, Manager, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging, HubSpot

Over a career spanning more than a dozen years, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/larrywomack/" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Larry Womack</a> has led DEI programs and initiatives at startups, non-profits, and consultancies.

Today, Larry is a manager on the Diversity, Inclusion &amp; Belonging team at <a href="https://www.hubspot.com/" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">HubSpot</a>, where he oversees community programs and employee resource groups (ERG&rsquo;s) across HubSpot&rsquo;s global offices.

From leading DIY Pride celebrations at previous jobs, to coordinating global celebrations like this year&rsquo;s festivities at HubSpot (more on that below), Pride has always been an important aspect of Larry&rsquo;s life and work.

Here&rsquo;s what he has to say about Pride this year.

<h3>What does Pride Month mean for you?&nbsp;</h3>
Unapologetic Authenticity and Joy. 
Pride was the first time I had been around so many queer people of all backgrounds and I have never felt so much joy exude from my body. Since then, I have been fortunate enough to have gone to numerous Pride celebrations around the world and it honestly is just such a fantastic experience. Every single person can be themselves unapologetically. I try to live that way day to day but Pride month it&rsquo;s on overdrive.&nbsp;

<h3 style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;">In many places across the country, the rights of LGBTQ+ folks are under renewed attack. What are some ways that employers can show up for their employees at this particular moment?&nbsp;</h3>

Lead from the top and the front. Executives should be amplifying these voices and using their power to influence in these areas.&nbsp;

Center the people who are most marginalized. That would be trans and non-binary people and more explicitly trans and non-binary people of color. It&rsquo;s important that we show up and support them, elevate their experiences, ensure that our leaders are trained on how to support gender diverse employees, and educate all employees on what gender identity is and its impact.&nbsp;

This will allow folks to have more empathy and understanding for our trans and non-binary siblings and not just avoid the topic because of fear that they might get something wrong.&nbsp;

<h3 style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;">How are you celebrating Pride this year at HubSpot?&nbsp;</h3>

So much!!!! We have a variety of in-person and virtual events across the month. Our theme is Queer Joy and one big event&mdash;because everyone in the company, across the globe can get involved&mdash;is <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.hubspot.com/pride" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Growing With Pride</a> where employees complete challenges daily online and each point goes towards charitable donations for regional LGBTQ+ charities globally. &nbsp;

Challenges include things like taking a moment for yourself during the day to breathe to sharing content from queer creators to our Pride 5k where HubSpotters run, walk, or sashay (anything they&rsquo;re able to do) and take a picture and share it within our LGBTQ+ Community.&nbsp;

People get so involved and it's really cool to see people participating across the globe. It&rsquo;s almost like our own little Pride Parade over the last couple of weeks of June!

<h3 style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;">What's a favorite Pride celebration you&rsquo;ve been part of?</h3>

This is the hardest question to answer. Honestly, I think any time I go to city&rsquo;s Pride that I haven't been to. I try at least once a year to go to a Pride that I haven't been to before, big or small. It's really cool to see people from around the world celebrating in a similar fashion and just shows how grand and expansive our community is.&nbsp;

<h3 style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;">What's one tip you have for other orgs that might want to celebrate Pride, but don't know where to start?</h3>

Get feedback from your LGBTQ+ employees, first and foremost. Not everyone needs something flashy. A lot of companies will sponsor a Pride parade or partner with a charity to get their names out there but is that what the community wants?&nbsp;

Then start small. Have someone in your leadership team talk about why Pride is important to them as an ally. Have your leaders be visible. I think meaningful programming is more important than what you can post on social media. Think about the stories that are most important and find a way to tell those either by bringing a speaker in or giving employees the opportunity to attend something externally.

Learn about the career path of Dwight Phyall, Head of DEI at Total Wine & More

DEI Journeys: Total Wine & More’s Dwight Phyall is probably the world’s only sommelier DEI leader

How does one find themselves leading DEI for a 10,000-person wine and beverage retailer?

According to <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/dwight-a-phyall-pmp/" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">Dwight Phyall</a>, being a certified sommelier definitely wasn&rsquo;t on the job spec when he applied for the role of Head of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Total Wine &amp; More. But it didn&rsquo;t hurt, either.

&ldquo;The wine thing&mdash;,&rdquo; he chuckles. &ldquo;I actually got into it because I wanted to drink something a bit more quote, unquote sophisticated, so I went to the liquor store and picked the bottle with the prettiest label. I really wanted to be better than that, so I started learning everything I could by volunteering at a shop after work, and training for my certification.&rdquo;

But knowing his way around a wine list is just one of the career milestones he&rsquo;s accomplished on the path to becoming a DEI leader at the $5.5 billion revenue drinks company.&nbsp;

Dwight had been serving underrepresented people, in one way or another, for most of his adult life before he got his first stint in DEI. Recruited straight out of college as a scout for the Philadelphia Eagles, Dwight quit the mud and melee of the sports field to take a year out to volunteer with AmeriCorps.

Unexpectedly, sports led him back to his true calling.

&ldquo;I was running this after-school program for fourth and fifth graders,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;There was this nonverbal student&mdash;she was one of maybe 15 kids in the class. At that time, we were focusing on sports, and we were playing basketball. I line the kids up to do free throws, and Maya&mdash;the nonverbal student&mdash;gets in the back of the line as she always does.

&ldquo;The first student in line hits the rim. The second makes the shot. We keep going through the line until we get to Maya. Everyone around her is kind of snickering. She gets the ball in her hands and crouches down right up close to the basket. She makes the shot. All the kids cheer.

&ldquo;And she comes up to me and taps me on the shoulder saying, &lsquo;Coach D, I made it.&rsquo; It was the first time I&rsquo;d ever heard her talk. It made me realize that if you put people in a position to be successful, there&rsquo;s no limit to where they can go.&rdquo;

<h2 style="line-height: 1.5; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding-bottom: 6pt;">Dwight&rsquo;s biggest learning stepping into a DEI leadership role: Managing strategy at scale</h2>
Life after AmeriCorps took Dwight to the Department of Labor, where he worked on creating technical work programs for low-income 16 to 24-year-olds as part of the National Office of Job Corps. The experience taught him a lot, he says, about seeing people succeed despite the odds.

&ldquo;I saw folks going from having almost nothing to getting a sufficient income that could sustain their needs,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Seeing that progression from where they started to coming back and mentoring other students was incredibly powerful.&rdquo;

But joining health provider Oscar Health as the Program Lead of Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging in 2020 during the aftermath of George Floyd shifted his internal drive from serving the underrepresented to pushing for more equitable outcomes.

It was a time when global social media had become an endless midnight of blacked out tiles. Corporate entities were wrestling with how to show support without looking performative. And Dwight knew that any DEI efforts he put his hand to needed to be both intentional and substantive.

&ldquo;What we were doing at Oscar Health felt measurable, tactful, and real&mdash;it connected back to the business,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;We wanted to make sure that we had a connection to each one of our patients, our clients, and all the doctors, and that they felt comfortable being in a space with someone who knew what they were going through from a cultural standpoint. We wanted to put our money where our mouths were.&rdquo;

Moving from the 1,000-person team at Oscar Health to a 10,000-strong retail organization like Total Wine &amp; More came with new DEI challenges. And where there&rsquo;s a big footprint, there are big shoes to fill.

&ldquo;We have entirely separate cultures across our different stores, between different regions, and between the corporate and retail sides of the business,&rdquo; Dwight explains. &ldquo;Our folks on the sales floor only have time to absorb a fraction of the DEI initiatives and content we share compared to how we engage with it at the corporate office. Like any other retail organization, we have to be very intentional in setting a DEI strategy that makes sense for the whole, not just what we think works from afar.&rdquo;

Creating a strategy that works for the whole, Dwight says, involves finding out what the whole wants and needs to feel belonging at work.

&ldquo;When scaling DEI in a big retail organization, you can&rsquo;t take actions from the corporate office based on your own subjective assessment. You need to hear from the people on the sales floor. You need to understand how folks have reacted to past actions, what has been meaningful to them, and what will be successful for the largest number of people.

&ldquo;If you don&rsquo;t know how people feel about coming to work each day, then you can&rsquo;t make changes that feel meaningful to them.&rdquo;

<h2 style="line-height: 1.5; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding-bottom: 6pt;">Dwight&rsquo;s biggest success scaling DEI: Understanding the wider impact of individual stories</h2>
In a 10,000-person organization, it&rsquo;s easy to lose sight of people. But when that organization operates over 250 stores across the country, each with their own unique needs and cultures, it dials up the difficulty just a notch.

Dwight knew that to make the biggest impact in DEI at Total Wine, he needed to understand its people. To do that, he needed to find out what they were thinking.

&ldquo;One of the battles you have to face in this space is being performative&mdash;or being construed as such,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;If you show support, march in a parade, or hang a banner&hellip; You have to strike that balance between taking intentional action and pushing people to be more educated and aware.

&ldquo;In retail, you need to visit the stores and listen to people to make a real difference on DEI,&rdquo; Dwight adds. &ldquo;One of the most important things I&rsquo;ve learned was that folks sometimes don&rsquo;t feel seen. The smallest of shifts can do so much to help that.&rdquo;

Listening to people is how Dwight found out that one person from Total Wine&rsquo;s retail team wasn&rsquo;t feeling included.

&ldquo;It was our name tags for the sales floor team,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re just a name&mdash;they don&rsquo;t tell a story about who that person is or how they identify. But when one of the sales floor team members wrote in to tell us they were being misgendered, it was our chance to listen.&rdquo;

From a logistics perspective, changing store name tags was a small thing. But it ended up having a huge impact. Because it didn&rsquo;t just mean that the one employee in Washington State felt more seen, or that they could come to work as themselves. It also meant that countless others, who were thinking and feeling the same, did too. To Dwight, that was the whole point of building a strategy that works for the whole.&nbsp;

&ldquo;We wanted to make sure that all of our team members feel supported in being identified the way they want to be identified,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;We changed our name tags so that employees now have the option to identify themselves with their pronouns if they want to. It was a huge success among our wider team. That&rsquo;s all that counts.&rdquo;

<h2 style="line-height: 1.5; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; padding-bottom: 6pt;">Dwight&rsquo;s one action that made the most impact: Applying project management principles to DEI</h2>
For the entirety of his career, Dwight&rsquo;s experience has kept coming back to project and program management. It&rsquo;s just what he knows how to do, he says, but the experience has been instrumental in how he&rsquo;s approached each of his DEI roles so far.

&ldquo;Our world and our society is progressively more fluid than ever before,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Operating in it requires one to be more open-minded, nimble, and agile so I can&nbsp;navigate, educate, and advocate.

&ldquo;My experience in program and project management has allowed me to have a more keen understanding and awareness of prioritizing, and implementing the right procedures, processes, and resources in place to get a job done. It helps me maintain a mindset of continuous improvement and iteration.&rdquo;

As DEI continues to evolve, Dwight has found himself drawing on his project management experience to stay responsive to new challenges, and make sure his DEI strategy continues to stay in step with both Total Wine&rsquo;s strategic and workforce needs.

His philosophy boils down to a few key tenets:

<ul style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;">
<li style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">
Sometimes less is more. &ldquo;Never underestimate the importance and impact of making subtle changes,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Crawl before you can walk. Don&rsquo;t try to boil the ocean. All the clich&eacute;s ring true here.&rdquo; Instead of making big gestures, Dwight&rsquo;s strategy is based on <a style="text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.itsdandi.com/blog/to-close-the-pay-gap-think-small/" rel="follow noopener" target="_blank">smaller actions that contribute to measurable progress</a> coupled with continuous testing and measurement.
</li>
<li style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">
Leverage relationships for continuous feedback. &ldquo;Getting the feedback from our customers and our employees alike is a huge privilege, and there are so many DEI flagship projects that we have put in place that we know will be long-lasting,&rdquo; Dwight says. Dwight gathers input from employees and customers to improve how DEI contributes to the business. Consumer surveys tell him what customers care about, while cross-functional teams on key campaigns create internal DEI feedback loops.
</li>
<li style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">
Continuously evaluate gaps and opportunities. Increasing capacity for progress means staying responsive to challenges old and new. Dwight continuously draws on DEI data and analytics that inform an ever-evolving approach to DEI, talent, and culture across the organization. Quarterly reporting among teams creates trickle-down data stewardship, while employee feedback identifies gaps and opportunities in the employee experience.&nbsp;
</li>
</ul>

Dwight&rsquo;s growth mindset on DEI doesn&rsquo;t just apply to his career&mdash;it&rsquo;s fundamental to who he is as a person. He&rsquo;s always asking questions as to who he is, and what he stands for in this space.

&ldquo;Being the first person to kind of build this function up [at Total Wine] has been so meaningful,&rdquo; Dwight notes. &ldquo;To be able to set the strategy, to identify the gaps and opportunities that we have as a company, but also highlight some of the strengths that we have and the people that help to serve and make our company what it is&mdash;that&rsquo;s what I&rsquo;m here for.

&ldquo;But I still ask myself daily: Am I qualified enough? Do I have a voice? Do I have buy-in from the people that have the biggest level of influence? Do I have the energy to sustain what this is and what it could be? 

&ldquo;Then I think: DEI isn&rsquo;t about me&mdash;it&rsquo;s about everyone else. This work is iterative. Our society is fluid, so the work has to be. If you&rsquo;re not constantly on your toes, you&rsquo;re in the wrong profession.&rdquo;

Oscar Health: Publishing a first-ever annual DEI report

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