Over the last couple of months, DAC’s People and Culture team has taken the time to audit our existing policies, practices, and training. We’ve evaluated how they support our long-held values around diversity and inclusion, as well as our zero-tolerance policy against racism and discrimination.
In light of our findings, we’ve taken tangible steps to better promote diversity and inclusion at all DAC offices across the US, Canada, and Europe—starting with these four initiatives.
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Diversity and inclusion training
Throughout the month of August, all staff will be engaged in a new mandatory diversity and inclusion training program. Through these 90-minute interactive sessions, small groups will explore topics of cross-cultural communication, radical listening, and have the opportunity to share their thoughts and stories in a safe place to get a sense of different perspectives.
As always, our goal is to encourage and facilitate a safe and open space for people to communicate. As such, this training is designed to not only expose team members to new concepts and fresh thinking, but provide a sounding board to communicate with one another on a human level.
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The Open Book Club
Our new book club is a monthly virtual meetup where members discuss a selected text or documentary to continue our ongoing education on various social justice topics. The first book is Ijeoma Oluo’s So You Want to Talk About Race, which not only explores the topic of racism but also provides practical frameworks for its discussion.
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Paid time off specifically for learning
In addition to training, we’ve given all DAC team members access to a half-day of paid time off that is to be spent educating themselves on the topics of discrimination and prejudice. Staff have been encouraged to spend a morning or afternoon reading, watching, or connecting with coworkers on the topic of race and diversity.
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Inclusive recruitment
DAC is an incredibly diverse workplace—but we’re always striving to do better. From a recruitment perspective, we’re providing actively promoting our job postings to marginalised communities and under-represented groups. In the fall, we will conduct our first annual benchmark survey to identify gaps in the organisation.
Want to exhibit your digital expertise in a workplace that’s diverse, inclusive, and always looking for ways to improve? Visit our Careers page to view current openings and get a taste of what it’s like to be one of our talented “Geeks with Personality”.
