Fostering diversity, equality and inclusion in the workplace

IntelePeer signs the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion™ pledge to create and maintain a trusting environment where people of all races, religions, ages, classes and genders are equally embraced and empowered

We do not need to look far to see disparities growing within the nation’s workforce. Age, class, gender, race, religious orientation and sexual identity are all part of workplace inequality, which presents barriers that either prevents employment or allows an employee to be recognized and promoted. Realizing the need to address these disparities, drive action, and foster meaningful change, CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion™ was co-founded and launched in 2017 by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and 175 signatories, all sharing the belief that diversity, equality and inclusion is a societal issue rather than a competitive one. Central to bringing about change at scale is collaboration and bold action from the business community, particularly CEOs.

At the core of the initiative is The CEO Pledge, which outlines a specific set of actions the signatory CEOs will take to cultivate a trusting environment where all ideas are welcomed, and employees feel comfortable and empowered to have discussions about diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

Today, I am honored to announce that, on behalf of IntelePeer, I join the more than 2000 CEOs of the world’s leading companies who have signed the pledge and are actively creating change to address the most urgent disparities impacting racially marginalized communities, women, veterans, people with disabilities and members of the LGBTQ community. Collectively, we represent more than 85 industries along with 90+ university presidents and approximately 13 million employees and students.

As a signatory, I pledge to:

1. Continue to cultivate workplaces that support open dialogue on complex, and sometimes difficult, conversations about improving diversity and inclusion in the workplace: I pledge to create and maintain environments, platforms and forums where our employees feel comfortable reaching out to their colleagues to gain greater awareness of each other’s experiences and perspectives.
2. Implement and expand unconscious bias education: I commit to rolling out and/or expanding unconscious bias education within our company in a form that best fits our culture and business. To support this, I will make non-proprietary unconscious bias education modules available free of charge.
3. Share best known—and unsuccessful—actions: I commit to helping other companies evolve and enhance their diversity strategies and encourage them, in turn, to share their successes and challenges with others. This includes creating an accountability system to track progress and share regular updates in order to catalog effective programs and measurement practices.
4. Create and share strategic inclusion and diversity plans with leadership: I commit to working with IntelePeer leadership through the development and evaluation of concrete, strategic action plans to prioritize, drive accountability, and foster diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Given the shared responsibility for driving strategies that help companies thrive, we play an important role in driving action together to cultivate an inclusive culture and talent.

While this pledge is seen as a first step in leveraging the collective power of the business community, it is a critical one. When we foster, appreciate and value the uniqueness of individuals, we build more than a better company. We contribute to building a better world.