Advice for leaders on creating a culture of belonging | Melonie D. Parker

[00:00:00] TED Audio Collective

[00:00:13] In the late spring of 2020, just a few months after the announcement of the COVID-19 virus,

[00:00:19] lockdowns and restrictions in cities around the world took hold.

[00:00:23] At the same time, we watched from the purchase of our social media platforms

[00:00:28] as the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd unfolded before us.

[00:00:33] When the world erupted in mourning and rage, large tech companies proclaimed their support for black communities and professionals

[00:00:40] and made diversity and inclusion commitments to the tune of over $3 billion.

[00:00:45] At the time, my team of data journalists and I at the plug tracked and reported on those company pledges.

[00:00:53] We worked in tandem with Fast Company to understand how the spending worked out over time.

[00:00:58] We looked at companies like Google. They'd pledged over $175 million across various projects,

[00:01:05] including increased spending on programs that were skilling up black software engineers and other tech talent.

[00:01:12] They also directed funds towards evaluating internal practices of equity across their employee network.

[00:01:19] That included offering PTO and mental health services for employees, particularly during moments of racial violence.

[00:01:27] It is now nearly four years since the murder of George Floyd.

[00:01:31] Today, these companies have to face some serious heavy questions about their effectiveness, impact,

[00:01:38] and long-term solutions for systemic issues of diversity at the ending.

[00:01:43] I'm Cheryl Dorsey and this is TED Tech.

[00:01:49] Today, we're sharing a conversation I had at TED Women in Atlanta where I sat with Melanie Parker,

[00:01:56] Google's head of diversity and inclusion.

[00:01:59] Responsible for advancing Google's employee engagement strategy across diversity, equity, and inclusion.

[00:02:06] I wanted to understand how the tech giant sees what should be the key priorities in DENI

[00:02:13] and we discuss best practices for those leading similar efforts in the tech industry.

[00:02:18] Listen into our conversation.

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[00:03:32] Melanie, I'm so honored to be sitting and sharing the stage with you.

[00:03:35] I couldn't wait for today to have our conversation joined with all these lovely women.

[00:03:40] There's so much to cover.

[00:03:42] To be at this occasion,

[00:03:47] to be celebrating the power, the voice, the ideas of women.

[00:03:51] There's also some really grappling and gripping conversations that we have to have,

[00:03:56] particularly around diversity.

[00:03:59] This is a great opportunity for you to be able to get to know each other.

[00:04:04] And I'm really excited to be able to talk about this.

[00:04:07] I'm really excited to be able to talk about this.

[00:04:11] And I'm really excited to be able to become a model of the world.

[00:04:16] And I think that's one of the things that I think is really important to us today.

[00:04:21] In fact, the idea of the place that we're going to have is that you know,

[00:04:25] when we're in college,

[00:04:28] and we're going to have a conversation about what we are going to be doing next week.

[00:04:31] And I think that's what this is.

[00:04:34] And so I want to dive in today with you this morning about where we sort of were and where

[00:04:42] we're going.

[00:04:43] But maybe let's start with this commitment, particularly that Google made right out

[00:04:50] of the gate, particularly when we think about 2020, the murder of George Floyd and the

[00:04:56] sort of subsequent reckoning that our country that the world has had.

[00:05:02] And what that's meant for your team, for your organization at large and how we're starting

[00:05:08] to think a little bit differently about the shifts that are now happening.

[00:05:12] So it's a great question.

[00:05:14] And even before we get to like the horrific murder of George Floyd, you know, I think

[00:05:20] we need to step back a little bit further and think about COVID and the co-morbidities

[00:05:25] that were exacerbated, you know, we thought about who was killed by COVID.

[00:05:32] And I think that brought a spotlight that exacerbated when we started to look at police

[00:05:40] brutality and, you know, before George Floyd, there was Breonna Taylor, Ahmad, Arbery.

[00:05:46] And it wasn't like an episodic event.

[00:05:50] It really led to a global racial equity movement.

[00:05:55] And I think global here is important.

[00:05:57] So my, I have four generations in my household.

[00:06:00] My mom's 85, the youngest in my household.

[00:06:03] I'm a new Gigi to a granddaughter.

[00:06:06] Noah, and my mom said who marched in the 1960s with Dr. Martin Luther King, both my

[00:06:13] parents did.

[00:06:14] She said, I can't believe that people outside of the United States care about police brutality

[00:06:23] towards black Americans.

[00:06:24] I mean, she was stunned by this.

[00:06:27] And so I think that backdrop is important.

[00:06:30] So what we did at Google, like quickly recognizing, hey, this isn't a series of episodic events.

[00:06:37] This is a movement.

[00:06:38] And we need to immediately deepen the work that we're doing.

[00:06:42] So we went on a 100-day sprint as a company, like not just my team, which is a very representative

[00:06:50] team.

[00:06:51] I have a rock star team that enables everything that I do.

[00:06:54] But this was a company.

[00:06:56] So we did a call to action globally across Google.

[00:07:00] And our goal was to really ensure that we were building sustainable equity internally and

[00:07:08] externally.

[00:07:09] And so we had teams that looked at all of our products and how do we use our products

[00:07:14] for social good, which is embedded in the mission of Google to ensure that our products are

[00:07:19] helpful and accessible.

[00:07:21] And then internally looking at, we used our black leadership, our black executives, and

[00:07:27] our Black Googler network, which is our EAR, an employee resource group, to look at what

[00:07:32] are we need to do internally to build equity and not just across the black community but

[00:07:38] across underrepresented minority.

[00:07:40] So we looked at black Latinx, Hispanic population, as well as indigenous community.

[00:07:47] Out of that, we had eight commitments for external, for internal.

[00:07:53] We've invested over $500 million in the racial equity commitments.

[00:07:58] And they complete in 2025.

[00:08:00] So we've learned a lot along the way.

[00:08:04] And we do this work as a collective with civil rights organizations, human rights organizations

[00:08:11] you know, other organizations because you can't do this work in isolation.

[00:08:17] This work we have to go together.

[00:08:20] What's been really, first of all that's really fascinating and thank you for really

[00:08:24] explaining that for us.

[00:08:26] What's really interesting is there was almost this new identity around what discrimination,

[00:08:34] what marginalization and even racism if we can just call it by the term that it is has

[00:08:40] inflicted on various groups.

[00:08:44] And it is sometimes a challenge to think that it took a series of very catastrophic events

[00:08:52] including a tremendous public health crisis to get to a place where our ears were open.

[00:09:01] And even when I think about the nature of the partnerships that you all have had, particularly

[00:09:06] when it comes to HBCUs but there's some unique partnerships that are expanding beyond

[00:09:12] social justice initiatives and even stepping into an area of education.

[00:09:18] Yes.

[00:09:19] And very unique partnerships, particularly around the future of work which when we think about

[00:09:24] inequalities and we talk about the racial wealth gap and we talk about who gets to build

[00:09:28] the future, who gets to imagine a future, a lot of times when we think about the folks

[00:09:33] who are left out that is women, that is other marginalized folks of color who don't necessarily

[00:09:38] get access in the same way that some of our counterparts do.

[00:09:42] And there's a particular emphasis on unique partnerships in order to create upskill,

[00:09:49] re-skill or even teach particular skillsets that are going to be found in the future.

[00:09:53] Can you speak to that a little bit more?

[00:09:55] Yes.

[00:09:56] So it's an incredible observation and insight.

[00:10:01] You know our, let's start with our historically black colleges and universities which are national

[00:10:05] treasures and we have to surround our HBCUs and ensure that we continue the pipeline.

[00:10:15] And part of that, yes, is investing in the pipeline for development to make sure that

[00:10:21] we're hiring but there's a bigger part to this picture.

[00:10:25] So at Google I lead an HBCU Presidents Council and one of the things we're doing in addition

[00:10:32] to creating opportunities for internships and hiring is we are helping to amplify research

[00:10:39] opportunities.

[00:10:40] And so I'm not sure if you know this, Cheryl, but out of the HBCU landscape there are no

[00:10:48] HBCUs currently that are at R1 research standing.

[00:10:52] And that means that we have a stewardship responsibility to ensure that we're providing

[00:10:57] research opportunities but research opportunities also not, they don't just provide development.

[00:11:03] They also provide diverse voices, diverse ideas, diverse thoughts into cutting edge research.

[00:11:13] We just launched an applied research institute a couple of weeks ago in partnership with

[00:11:18] UNCF and TMCF focused on HBCUs with mathematical and computational research to provide these

[00:11:28] hands-on opportunities.

[00:11:30] And with Spellman College through Google.org, we provided a $5 million grant for a

[00:11:36] women of color, steam database.

[00:11:39] This is no one else is doing this.

[00:11:41] And so Google developers, other HBCUs are partnering hand in hand with Spellman to create

[00:11:48] this database.

[00:11:50] And this is the type of opportunity that we have to continue to provide.

[00:11:55] And just one other example at Howard University, we have a partnership that we just announced.

[00:12:03] It's called Project Elevate Black Voices.

[00:12:05] So how many of you are familiar with automatic speech technology?

[00:12:11] And I don't know about you.

[00:12:12] Sometimes I use it and it doesn't recognize my voice.

[00:12:15] So Google's research as well as external research has determined and validated that it doesn't

[00:12:22] universally recognize all voices.

[00:12:25] So Howard University will hold the licensing rights but they are doing that research to

[00:12:30] improve the technology.

[00:12:33] These are the types of opportunities and unique partnerships that we have to have to not

[00:12:38] only build the pipeline but to ensure that we have diversity in the design and the products

[00:12:44] and in the services.

[00:12:46] That's super incredible, particularly for students who are currently at these institutions

[00:12:52] and are going to get access and opportunity.

[00:12:54] I think also to Google executives and employees as well.

[00:12:58] Exactly.

[00:12:59] And provide mentorship and leadership as well amongst these particular programs.

[00:13:03] And you talked about the partnerships with the United Negro College Fund, that they're

[00:13:08] a good Marshall Foundation and oddly enough in 2020.

[00:13:13] And I always want to go back to that date because there were some really interesting realities.

[00:13:21] People for the first time we're learning about all of these organizations that we're supporting

[00:13:25] and have been doing work for decades.

[00:13:29] So for a lot of folks it was kind of a first-hand discovery.

[00:13:33] So when I think about this area of DE&I and sort of 2020 to 2021 we saw sort of the largest

[00:13:41] growth of cheap diversity officers being named for the first time in corporate spaces.

[00:13:47] We saw this kind of day loose of focus on things like a 15% pledge across retail or representation

[00:13:56] on stages or even within authorship and books.

[00:14:03] And then we hit 2022.

[00:14:06] And we saw this sort of decline economically, of course, housing to inflation to all of

[00:14:13] these things that started to take precedence which also meant the pullback of all of those

[00:14:19] big promises, those hyperfocuses.

[00:14:22] And the shift was very palpable for so many of us.

[00:14:27] And we kind of knew that it was going to come.

[00:14:29] We knew that the focus and the language and almost the hysteria around how do we elevate

[00:14:35] marginalized voices might take a turn.

[00:14:39] So we sort of had to think about, okay if we're going to have this spotlight for like 12

[00:14:43] to 18 months, how do we rush out and get it done?

[00:14:48] What's fascinating is you talk about these pillars, these eight pillars and these goals

[00:14:53] that are going to be accomplished by 2025 which is absolutely fascinating.

[00:14:58] And so I want to get an understanding of why has this work stayed the course?

[00:15:08] And where are we going?

[00:15:12] Because I hear of these amazing initiatives and opportunities.

[00:15:15] I hear of the dedication.

[00:15:17] You're one of the few remaining chief diversity officers unfortunately that's really heading

[00:15:23] a major company.

[00:15:27] But I think that many of us might be concerned about, is this a fat or are we going to have

[00:15:33] to change language now?

[00:15:34] We're only talking about ESG now.

[00:15:37] We're only talking about terms in a certain kind of way because now all of the language

[00:15:41] we learned in the last two years is somehow deemed offensive.

[00:15:45] So maybe you can paint a picture of hope.

[00:15:49] I was just thinking that so let me interject with some hope.

[00:15:54] So what we're seeing today, I don't lose heart.

[00:15:59] I do have hope.

[00:16:00] I mean my parents, I told you, marched in the 1960s with Dr. Martin Luther King and so

[00:16:07] we've seen this in history before.

[00:16:09] One of the things that we've normalized that we're not going to go back from, we talk

[00:16:13] openly about race in the workplace.

[00:16:16] I mean if you think about particularly black and brown communities are either hyper visible

[00:16:23] or invisible, in between that is a whole lot of stress.

[00:16:26] And so what we're talking about is how do we normalize black and brown communities

[00:16:32] in the context?

[00:16:33] And that's what we've done, follow in the murder of George Floyd.

[00:16:36] I think that's also why we see some of the push back but we're not going to go back

[00:16:40] to where we are.

[00:16:43] I have a lot of hope with Gen X, the way that they have forced a demand for how we interact,

[00:16:53] what they want, how they show up and we're really leaning into that.

[00:16:58] And so I want to make sure that we don't operate out of fear and that we don't retract, that

[00:17:07] we stand strong and Google is standing strong and unapologetic about the commitment we

[00:17:13] make.

[00:17:14] And we're able to do that and I'm able to sit in my role because we have an incredible

[00:17:18] CEO with Sundar Pashai who really gets it, understands it and it's a company imperative.

[00:17:24] So we have racial equity goals but we also have company-wide goals as well and our CEO

[00:17:31] meets with our HBCU President's Council as well and spends and force time there.

[00:17:37] And so these are the types of things that we have to hold onto but they're also the

[00:17:43] things that we have to push for and to continue to demand fairness and respect and dignity

[00:17:49] which go hand in hand with equity and diversity and inclusion.

[00:17:55] And there's a lot of talk now about belonging.

[00:17:59] And I think we should hit this head on.

[00:18:01] I believe that diversity, equity and inclusion is insufficient without belonging.

[00:18:06] Like insufficient without recognizing that everybody, the science of belonging says that

[00:18:13] people have to feel rewarded, seen, recognized and valued in order to feel like they belong.

[00:18:22] And so I think we see this added on.

[00:18:25] So these are the types of competencies and capabilities that are here to stay even

[00:18:33] though we get pushback.

[00:18:35] But pushback means there's progress happening and the research shows that there's progress

[00:18:39] happening.

[00:18:40] A little discomfort is good for all of us.

[00:18:42] I love how you talk about or you brought in that concept of belonging.

[00:18:47] And also highlighted the different requirements of generations.

[00:18:52] Our generation started to ask for more, more balance, more recognition, more sustainability,

[00:18:59] more consciousness around how we show up in the world and society as well as on the planet.

[00:19:04] And I think you reference as well, Gen Z, Gen Z asking for like Gen Z is bold but there's

[00:19:10] but that belonging component is almost a it's a force multiple with Gen Z.

[00:19:17] It is I'm going to show up in the environment.

[00:19:20] It's not an entitlement.

[00:19:22] When I grew up, you know my parents raised me to we're I'm first generation my brother

[00:19:28] and I first generation college.

[00:19:30] I'm first generation corporate America.

[00:19:32] And we were taught to be better faster smarter but to compete at average.

[00:19:38] That never's that right with me.

[00:19:41] But I was taught to fit in not add in.

[00:19:45] Gen Z is saying here's where I add in.

[00:19:48] And this is what we have to do as corporations and organizations.

[00:19:52] It's not about who fits into the culture.

[00:19:55] It's what's missing in the culture and who adds in the culture.

[00:19:58] That's an amazing point.

[00:19:59] Yes.

[00:20:00] And I love that you talked about the belonging because it's less of the quota of diversity,

[00:20:07] right?

[00:20:08] It's more than just I'm a data point that potentially represents something much broader

[00:20:11] than that.

[00:20:12] It's much broader than that.

[00:20:13] I mean, and talking about culture, add we've trained over 10,000 managers at Google on how

[00:20:21] to interview for additive skills not just fitting in because that's a mindset shift and change

[00:20:28] management that we have to do on our side from a corporate America side to ensure that

[00:20:35] we're taking full advantage of this incredible talent.

[00:20:39] That's how it will.

[00:20:40] So just as a closing, what is your advice to other leaders that are struggling to figure

[00:20:47] out how do we create this new culture?

[00:20:51] How do we still prioritize what diversity looks like, what belonging looks like and continue

[00:20:56] to even just measure the progress as we go along?

[00:20:59] My advice is to recognize what we're talking about are universal solutions that are common

[00:21:06] to humanity.

[00:21:08] But we have to recognize that there are communities within the universe that are situated differently

[00:21:16] and require different treatment to take full advantage.

[00:21:21] This is a basic right and a basic privilege, and if we could all as leaders stand and take

[00:21:27] stock of that and lift as we climb and ensure we're bringing everybody along, we will reach

[00:21:34] the culture that we aspire to.

[00:21:36] That's incredible.

[00:21:37] Yes, thank you.

[00:21:39] Well, we see why you are such an amazing boss.

[00:21:42] Thank you.

[00:21:43] Thank you to witness it live.

[00:21:44] This is incredible.

[00:21:45] Melanie, thank you so much for joining us here on the stage today at Ted Women.

[00:21:51] Thanks everyone.

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[00:24:09] I deeply enjoyed having this conversation with Melanie on the TED Women's stage but

[00:24:15] I want us to also understand that 2020's focus on inclusion and diversity starkly differs

[00:24:21] from today's climate.

[00:24:23] Our programming and initiatives focus on uplifting specific groups of people are currently under

[00:24:29] attack by groups who don't believe DE&I initiatives or efforts work and could be another form

[00:24:35] of discrimination.

[00:24:37] Lawsuits by proponents argue that real systemic change isn't happening or that DE&I discriminates

[00:24:43] against those who are not considered part of marginalized groups.

[00:24:47] The climate is fraught with uncertainty and seemingly an undoing of all of the work

[00:24:53] of 2020 and 2021's initiatives that seem to gain tangible traction.

[00:24:58] And while most corporate employers have not yet changed their DE&I efforts, it is worth

[00:25:04] considering as Melanie reference that the next generation of workers is looking to be

[00:25:09] valued in the workplace.

[00:25:11] DE&I extends far beyond just issues of race but helps us to ask deeper questions about

[00:25:18] what types of environments we are creating for groups of workers that enables them to

[00:25:23] feel valued, included and able to do their best work.

[00:25:31] TED Tech is part of the TED Audio Collective.

[00:25:34] This episode was produced by Nina Lawrence edited by Alejandra Salazar in fact checked

[00:25:40] by Julia Dickerson.

[00:25:42] Special thanks to Maria Lodias, Faraday Grange, Corey Hajim, Danielle Valeroso and Michelle

[00:25:48] Quint.

[00:25:49] I'm Cheryl Dorsey.

[00:25:51] Thanks for listening and talk to you again next week.