DEI Standard was founded with a desire to turn words into action.
DEI Standard’s founder and inaugural board of directors have worked in a wide range of industries and organizations from family foundations to Fortune 1000 companies and everything in between. We realized that what many of these organizations had in common was a public commitment to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion for their employees.
But those commitments, while looking great on paper, didn’t always contribute to policies that resulted in real change. So, clearly, there’s a disconnect and a gap of expectations.
DEI Standard is built on the belief that organizations genuinely want to do better, but may not have the information they need to make improvements that positively impact the lived experience of their employees. This is the missing piece of the puzzle that we seek to provide.
Most organizations rely on data to guide their decisions in almost every aspect of their operations. Making meaningful changes in the areas of diversity, equity and inclusion should also be informed by data.
Instead of spending time and money on programs that look good in a press release but don’t move the needle, we urge companies to create actionable goals that are informed, in part, by the feedback of their people. As the adage goes, what is measured can be managed.
Letter from DEI Standard’s Founder
The creation of DEI Standard began as an effort to contribute to my local community. It started as a modest idea but has grown into something that I truly believe has the potential to positively impact gender and racial inequality on a national scale.
I’m asking organizations to open up and take an honest look at how their practices impact their people. So I feel it’s only fair for me to be completely honest about what got me here.
As a privileged white man, I’ve come to realize that it’s not just luck, intelligence or hard work that contributed to my success. It has a lot to do with privilege, which I didn’t understand or recognize for many years. And I’m still on my journey to understand it better - it is a process without a finish line.
Confronting these truths in myself inspired me to take action. Cultivating DEI Standard and reflecting on how it could be used to improve opportunities and outcomes for marginalized and underrepresented people has created a profound sense of purpose and meaning in my life. Instead of lamenting the state of things, I’m actively working to make change happen.
I hope you’ll join me!
Robert C. Wilson
DEI Standard Founder