This is an email Ishared with Medallians outlining our commitments to addressing racial injustice.
Dear Medallians,
We know that confronting inequality takes more than words, it takes action. We are committed to doing our part to drive change through the following actions:
The population of this company must reflect society. The 2019 Census records the US population as 13% Black or African American. We are miles from this with only 1% of our US employees self-identified as Black or African American. We can do better. Our goals are as follows: increasing our Black or African American US population to 3% by February 15, 2021, 6% by February 15, 2022 and 13% by February 15, 2023. This is a measured approach and a real goal with real consequences. The Medallia Executive team is committed to achieving these goals. Accordingly, the Executive leadership will not receive equity award refresh grants unless these goals are achieved each year. We want Medallians and future Medallians alike to have visibility into our journey. By the end of this quarter, we will have our diversity data available on our website for all to see.
We are committed to stepping up our outreach and recruiting efforts to engage Black applicants. We are investing in two additional hires within People and Culture. Both hires will focus on diversity at Medallia. One will be focused on engaging diverse networks to increase the pipeline of underrepresented minorities for each of our open positions. Emphasis will be placed on roles where Black presence has been consistently low, for example sales and engineering. Additionally, to increase the pipeline of candidates we will focus on relationships with Historically Black Colleges and career fairs like AfroTech.
We encourage Medallians to refer candidates within their network. A candidate referral from your network is one of the best compliments you can give, and our People and Culture team is committed to personally reviewing each referral and tracking their progress in the application process. Our executive team will review progress each Monday.
To do our part to close the opportunity divide we will focus on enhanced partnerships with organizations like YearUp who are dedicated to closing the opportunity divide.
The second hire will focus on post hire inclusion, engagement, training, and career growth to ensure we have a diverse internal pipeline for advancement and promotion. We want all voices represented within all departments and at all levels at Medallia.
We are committing the following financial support to help drive action and change:
We are committing to the expansion of training and resources for all employees globally, on topics including anti-racism and combating unconscious biases. All Medallians will be required to complete anti-racism and unconscious bias training by the end of September. These training courses will become part of our required onboarding courses.
It is important to acknowledge the United States’ history of systemic racism and police brutality against the Black community, resulting in loss of life. Black men are nearly three times more likely to die from police use of force, this has to stop. Actions to effect change are critical and continued dialogue essential to moving things forward. Effective this year, Medallia will observe June 19th as a US holiday to commemorate the end of slavery in the US.
We are also committing to a speaker series, where we will welcome external speakers representing each of our ERGs. This will give Medallians a unique opportunity to listen, learn and discuss. This is our small contribution to changing the landscape of inequality. The recurring nature of these measures are very important to attempt to break the cycle of ignorance and inequality. As we grow, as a more diverse company, we will be stronger and better and we will be able to do more.
We encourage each Medallian to take this opportunity and commit to real change in the world. Remember, this Friday is another Medallia day off in protest. Black Lives Matter.
Sincerely,
Leslie Stretch
