The progress we have made in 2022 on diversity equality, equity and inclusion (DEI)
In the end , diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) isn't a box-checking practice.
We strive to incorporate DEI principles into our business processes as a fundamental element for building high-impact teams and products. Why? because we believe in creating the right environment, transparent, and rooted in community will enable each worker to be at the best job they can and provide superior results for our clients. That in turn leads to more positive outcomes for our company as well as our shareholders and our wider community.
We are aware that real improvements can only be made with transparency and accountability. As we reflect on 2022, we are proud of the progress we've made on key issues, and we recognize that there are still some areas that need to be improved.
Team demographics
Below is a summary of our demographics for the team on December 31, 2022 which shows our progress year-over-year in the years between calendar years 2021 to 2022 in terms of global gender representation and U.S. race & ethnicity representativeness.
Areas of progress
The importance of representation is to have an inclusive workforce. we're extremely happy with the strides that we've made so far.
This year, we maintained our efforts to create an open and diverse pipeline of applicants for all new roles, and aiming to have 30% of candidates entering our process of interviewing come from minority groups that are underrepresented.
Also, we know that transformation starts at the top, which is why we took a deliberate decision to boost the representation of women within our executive team.
These actions have helped us reach the results we have achieved. At December 31 2022:
- 44 percent of our team consider themselves ladies (4 of 9)*
- The number of women employees globally rose by 4.6 percent from 35.7 percent in 2021, to 40.3 percent in 2022.
- The number of women who hold managerial positions globally (Manager degree +) increased by 3 percent from 33.7 percentage in 2021, to 36.7% in 2022
- The percentage of U.S. employees who identified as belonging to an Underrepresented Minority Group (URM) has increased by 3.3 percent from 18.3 percentage in 2021 to 21.6% in 2022
Apart from the gains made in our team representation, we also launched several initiatives to promote an inclusive and fair culture, including:
*At the publication of the report, our executive team consists of seven people. We're proud to share that now 60 percent of our team (4 of 7) are women. We have also recruited a new senior director for DEI, Renee MacLeod, who will oversee our DEI plans and strategies.
ECGs are Employee Community Groups (ECGs)
At , ECGs are employee-led and organizationally-supported groups of employees that are drawn together by shared characteristics or interests. Every ECG can be a resource and point of connectivity and a community for employees who are underrepresented as well as their associates, and these groups are an important part of building and maintaining an equitable, diverse, and inclusive workforce.
In 2022, our ECGs allowed our team members for a day of learning, growth and be celebrated by organising more than 20 events and initiatives ranging from discussions on entrepreneurship, burnout and mental health; to hosting a panel discussion on career development with NYC students to taking a cocktail-making class from the owner of a black-owned business.
In order to further increase our involvement in the community, we partnered to strengthen our community engagement, we partnered First Tech Fund, a NYC-based nonprofit dedicated to supporting the local high school students of different backgrounds. We hosted an evening of speed networking during October. There were over 50 volunteers who participated, and were represented by each department and students left having a new sense of curiosity, confidence and enthusiasm about the possibility of pursuing a career in tech.
Additionally, our ECGs have collectively contributed more than $20,000 to non-profit organizations that help empower and assist diverse communities as well as many minority- and woman-owned firms:
- The Cycle of the purpose of survival
- Daymaker
- First Tech Fund
- Hella Cocktail Co.
- Project Pop by Major Project Pop
- NewFest
- ReelAbilities Film Festival
- Let's Send Chinatown Love
- The Possibility Project
Report Highlight: Supporting Ukraine
In early 2022, our employees gathered together to aid Ukraine in the aftermath of its invasion by Russia. Through the generous support of team members and our company matching donations, we raised over $54,000 for nonprofits aiding Ukrainians seeking safety and relocation support. This money was distributed specifically to Ukrainian-focused campaigns through UNICEF, International Medical Corps, and the US Association for UNHCR (UN Refugee Agency).
Additionally, we provided help with relocation, such as accommodation and travel to nearly 70 individuals including our employees and family members. We organized a volunteer group comprising nearly 20 Vimeans that provided 24 hours a day assistance on the ground to family members and employees that require relocation assistance and assistance in the logistics of travel, arrangements and foreign language requirements and first-hand experience of the local areas as well as other needs.
We were in December when we formed a partnership together with Razom to Ukraine an organization dedicated to supporting Ukraine and expanding Ukrainian voices. We provided video production and streaming solutions for their sold out Notes from Ukraine concert, which commemorated the centennial of Mykola Leontovych's "Carol of the Bells," and the return of the show to Carnegie Hall. The concert featured four highly acclaimed choirs that included the Shchedryk Children's Choir, and was co-hosted by Academy-Award winning director Martin Scorsese, and Ukrainian-American actress, Vera Farmiga. The concert, co-presented with Ukrainian Institute and the Ukrainian Institute and the Ukrainian Contemporary Music Festival has been viewed by people all over the world and received more than 76,000 views.
Future-looking: DEI priorities in 2023
Although we're extremely proud of our achievements in 2022, we're committed to moving the needle further by 2023. The focus of our efforts is two main priorities this year:
- Diversifying our team by increasing participation
- Achieving an inclusive and welcoming society for all Vimean
Team representation goals
In order to determine our goals for representation for 2023 and beyond, we looked at the feedback and information of our survey to employees, "Voice of the Vimean" and our most recent population distribution and demographics; as well as reports like this one by the the EEOC* on representation and recent research about representation in tech such as this Statista report and this report from Womentech. Based on the information we've gathered, we've identified three key opportunities and 5 new representation goals.
*Benchmarks based on EEOC data, which is filtered through industry
Culture of inclusion
In keeping these goals of representation with us, we'll introduce the next generation of programs by 2023 that focus on developing employees as well as creating a home for diverse, highly-performant talent.
70% of the DEI budget will be invested in internal programs, thereby ensuring equity and access for employees who belong to historically marginalized groups. The remaining 30% of our budget will be committed to workforce development and recruitment efforts. Practically, this could look like:
- Introducing internal programs focused on inclusive leadership, career path guidance as well as help
- Advancing our diverse supplier efforts
- Creating greater transparency with our leveling and compensation structure for both prospective and current Vimeans
- Increasing access to resources for making our working procedures more inclusive. This includes the ability to access tools that support accessible language, in-person interviews, meetings and best practices for accessibility
Our goal is to use DEI principles to build high-impact products and teams. We've learned a lot and are making progress toward the goal. We're entering 2023 with more clarity and an eye on ways to achieve greater impact, more quickly. This can be done by making DEI practice a part of our day-to-day. Everyone is in charge of this, and we're excited about discussing our results in the near future.
Continue scrolling to get a comprehensive look at our work force data by gender, race, and ethnicity in 2022.
Love, with love.
The Team
Additional demographic data & category definitions
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2022 Report Terminology
Declined to self identify
The provision of "self identification" data on demographics isn't necessary. As a result, some employees choose to not share their personal data on their demographics with .
Hispanic or Latina/o/x
The term Hispanic was first introduced during the 1970s in the United States. It was an innovative method of categorizing people with roots in Spanish-speaking countries in the Americas that includes Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. The Latina/o/x term, which often is used interchangeably with Hispanic was coined in the late 1990s as a way to specifically highlight the gender-specific nature of the term and to be broad enough to encompass gender outside the binary. (Source)
Technical function
In this sense, the term "technical role" is defined as roles aligned with engineering or product.
Underrepresented minority
Underrepresented minority has a range of definitions. But typically, it refers to an individual or group of individuals that belong to an ethnic, race gender, identity group that is disproportionately tiny in the particular area or situation compared to their representation of the population as a whole. Gender demographics in this report are international. The demographics of ethnicity and race that are included in this report are limited only to U.S. employees.
For the purpose of this report, the following demographics are included to make up our Underrepresented Minority categorization. The person is:
- African American / Black
- Hispanic / Latina/o/x
- Native American / Alaskan Native
- Native Hawaiian / Other Pacific Islander
- Two or more races