Global Company Intel, and Four Others Develop Metrics To Track Diversity and Inclusion

Global tech company Intel, recently announced in a press release that it has joined heads with other major companies like NASDAQ, NTT Data, Dell Technologies, and Snap Inc. to form a coalition called the Alliance for Global Inclusion. In an interview with Afro Tech, the company's CDIO (Chief diversity and inclusion officer) Dawn Jones, revealed that the purpose of this coalition is to push the commitment to develop metrics that will track progress in diversity and inclusion.

According to Jones, Intel has long been growing and expanding efforts to create more inclusiveness and close representation gaps for years.

“As we’ve done so, we realized that our efforts alone are not enough,” Jones said.

 “We connected with companies who aligned with our belief that the best way to accelerate the adoption of inclusive business practices is through data transparency and collaboration on a unified set of measurable goals.”

This coalition will focus on four key areas which are: 

Inclusive language: 

Their activities in this area will be to drive awareness, dialogue, and industrywide change for inclusive language in products and documentation - all of this which will be amplified through partnerships. This involves other coalition partners and other interested organizations to align on a standard set of language changes that all can support.

Inclusive product development:

Their activities in this area include committing to leveraging existing intervention points in AI product development to reduce bias and embed diversity and inclusion considerations into AI product lifecycles. This involves creating a multi-stakeholder or cross-industry forum to discuss and share all the best practices on an AI governance approach.

Leadership representation:

Their activities here include developing representation guidance for the board of director roles and direct reports to CEOs that reflect the customers and communities served. The Alliance intends to create and distribute guidance for boards to use when identifying and assessing diverse talent for board consideration. All partner companies commit to sharing this guidance with their boards.

STEM readiness in underserved communities:

 Their activities here include improving STEM readiness in higher education for youth in underserved communities by increasing technology access and partnering with wrap-around support services. This includes a collective investment in global inclusion centers for underserved communities in partnership with established organizations.

Last year, after the Black Lives Matter protests which rocked the nation, exposed the façade of progress, Intel launched a global survey to look into diversity and inclusion progress in companies. Overall, 13 companies participated in the survey, and even though they were all anonymous - all the Alliance for Global Inclusion companies participated, and data from the survey was used in determining the four key focus areas for the Alliance's work.

“The coalition will work together, combining the collective power and resources of our global organizations, to meet our goals and create a more equitable and just tomorrow,” Jones said. “We will openly share best practices, progress made and lessons gained through this collective effort on the Alliance For Global Inclusion website.”

One of the coalition’s goals is for the index to align on a consistent system of measurement to better track progress and identify areas for improvement. The data will be updated twice a year and shared with the public. All five partners believe that the best way to accelerate the adoption of inclusive business practices is through transparency and collaboration. 

The Alliance will constantly assess and monitor the index, and report yearly, how much progress has been made. The next survey to gauge progress will be at the end of this year.