Twitter Releases Inclusion & Diversity Q3 2021 Report

Twitter continued to make progress toward reaching the goals it set for 2025 of having women make up one-half of its global workforce, as well as having at least 25% of its workforce in the U.S. be made up of underrepresented minorities, with at least 10% of those being Black. The company released its Inclusion & Diversity Q3 2021 report Wednesday, and women accounted for 44.3% of all roles globally, as well as 39.3% of leadership roles. In the U.S., Blacks accounted for 9.2% of the workforce, Latinx for 7.5%, multiracial for 4.6% and indigenous people for less than 1%. Vice president, people experience and head of inclusion and diversity Dalana Brand wrote in a blog post Wednesday, “At this point in 2021, we know that there is no going back to the way things were before the pandemic. While companies reevaluate office reopenings and new ways of working, countries continue to deal with the soaring Covid-19 cases and challenges associated with vaccine access and uptake. This year is a solid reminder that our approach to what’s ahead requires a new way of thinking.” She added, “At Twitter, we’ve made strides. We’ve become a more distributed, more global ‘Tweepforce,’ putting our ‘Tweeps’ in the center and prioritizing flexibility and choice in how we work. We also recognize that it’s more complex than this, and collectively, we’ve got work to do to build a truly inclusive culture.” Brand detailed three important pillars in Twitter’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, and progress the company has made implementing them in the U.S. Diversity partnership strategy and engagement: Twitter introduced its #TwitterIgnite program earlier this year to elevate diverse communities and ignite change, starting by engaging partners from civil rights organizations, historically Black colleges, non-governmental organizations and the National Pan-Hellenic Council to ignite conversation via a video series, ignite action by partnering with local chapters of national organizations and grassroots organizations in 10 cities and ignite change by identifying barriers to inclusion through research, spotlighting best practices and identifying recommendations to move workplace solutions to industry solutions.Supplier diversity: The company implemented initiatives in the U.S. such as introducing diverse spend goals by team, quarterly spend reporting and connecting suppliers to Twitter’s teams through monthly showcases. By 2025, it intends to: double its spend with suppliers from historically excluded communities; expand the program to represent the social network’s global footprint; create the ability to measure its economic impact in these communities; and share its progress and plans across the industry.Diversifying corporate development investments and mergers and acquisitions: The team invested in companies led by women, Black, and Latinx founders and funds that support historically excluded communities. Brand wrote, “As of June 30, our team met with 65-plus funds to help them understand our objectives, learn about how they support the communities we seek to invest in, get their feedback on our thinking and identify areas and startups that overlap with Twitter focus areas.” Brand concluded, “Our multifaceted approach will help us continue to hold ourselves accountable against our I&D goals while leveraging the power of Twitter to expand our impact. While there have been nonstop curveballs since announcing our bold 2025 goals back in January 2020, we continue to prioritize staying on course to make Twitter the most inclusive, diverse and accessible tech company. This work is a journey, and thanks to our committed Tweepforce, we won’t stop #UntilWeAllBelong.”