Journey to equity
Learn about our four areas of focus—and progress so far.
Slalom officially added Equity to our Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity (ID&E) mission and vision in 2021. To support this shift and accelerate our existing ID&E priorities, we grew our program into a robust, fully resourced ID&E Center of Excellence, integrated into our Global People Team.
ID&E is a critical part of Slalom’s strategic growth. We invite you to learn more about our approach, teams, and progress.
Focusing for impact
In June 2020, in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and the Black Lives Matter protests, Slalom CEO Brad Jackson made commitments that started us down a path to become an anti-racist company. Work began quickly on the seven commitments.
We are pleased to share progress on several of those commitments:
- In July 2020, we established the United for Equality Initiative and stood up an Anti-Racism Advisory Committee. We remain a company committed to anti-racism and this continues to be a guiding principle.
- Beginning in Q2 2020, we began development of strategic programs to develop, retain, and attract top talent such as our Inclusive Recruiting program (launched Q2 2020), Breaking Barriers (launched Q2 2021), and the soon-to-launch Sponsorship pilot.
- In Q3 2020, we shared companywide organizational demographics and an update on pay equity for the first time. Our ongoing commitment is to share our progress and hold ourselves accountable by annually publishing this data to all team members and including highlights in our Corporate Social Responsibility report.
- In January 2021, we launched our formal racial justice education process with a select group of our senior leaders who went through the “Groundwater: An Intro to Race Equity” trainings, hosted by the Racial Equity Institute. We are in the final selection process for a vendor to help us bring racial justice workshops to the entire organization with the goal of launching a Q3 2021 rollout.
- In H1 2021, we announced our five H1 2021 recipients of the Social Equality Initiative: The Hidden Genius Project, For Oak Cliff, Hopeworks, CASA for Children, and Intertwined. In partnership with Slalom LLC and the Slalom Foundation, the Social Equality Initiative supports organizations whose missions are centered on addressing systemic racism and empowering disenfranchised communities through skill-building.
Equity focus areas
As our understanding grew and teams assembled, the Anti-Racism Advisory Committee (ARAC) made recommendations on how Slalom might best activate the executive team’s goals and thinking. The ARAC is a committee of Slalom team members and leaders from across the organization chartered to advise on our anti-racism efforts and to drive forward the Social Equality Initiative.
Based on the ARAC’s recommendation, we have streamlined our thinking from seven commitments into four areas of focus. The ID&E Center of Excellence—a full-time and fully resourced team dedicated to advancing our ID&E priorities—is moving these areas of focus forward on behalf of the organization. These ARAC’s recommendations have been adopted as foundations of our Equity work and are woven into our strategic priorities and initiatives.
Education
Executive sponsorship of racial equity learning for all levels of leadership and Slalom team members.
Partner with local, national, and global organizations to provide ongoing workshops and trainings on anti-racism and how its many intersections impact our society.
Impactful conversations
Build regular, meaningful opportunities to provide feedback to leadership through ongoing assessments and surveys, leader round tables, and listening sessions.
Host ongoing “Listen & Learn” session for leadership and team members to provide our community with time and space to discuss anti-racism, current events, and related matters.
End-to-end experience
Partner with Talent Acquisition to advance hiring practices for diverse candidates, with unique focus dedicated to the experience of Black and Hispanic/Latinx candidates.
Performance and leadership development framework for monitoring and progressing diverse team members to leadership.
Enhance retention of diverse work force with unique focus dedicated to the experience of Black and Hispanic/Latinx team members.
Partnerships
Launch Social Equality mission to fund initiatives that fight racism, promote social justice, improve healthcare access, and alleviate educational disparities.
Ensure that 1/3 of all pledged money supports partners working with marginalized communities.
Utilize our talent to activate key external partnerships with organizations that focus on dismantling racist policies and practices.
Our responsibility
Creating an inclusive, diverse, and equitable environment is the responsibility of everyone at Slalom. Our specialized programs and teams accelerate unique commitments and ensure that ID&E is infused into Slalom’s culture and ways of working.
We are grateful for those who have grown our understanding, driven our progress, and will continue this work, together.
