Catchpoint’s Women’s Initiative

According to a report from Level Playing Field Institute, 82% of males employed at startups believe that their companies spent the “right amount of time” addressing diversity while 40% of women said that “not enough time was devoted”. Couple this with the steady decline of women in computing roles since its peak in 1991 (36%), and you’ve got an undeniable diversity imbalance at every level.

In this era of viral campaigns and the reach that social platforms and sponsored posts provide, there’s an even bigger problem feeding into this gender disparity. Organizations often jump on social change initiatives, not for employees, but for the brand recognition that comes with being “diverse,” or “accepting.”

To inspire real change and not front with hollow support for a movement, organizations must get behind a cause and empower employees with resources and programming. True support enriches employees’ experiences and resonates brand authenticity.

This is precisely what Catchpoint is trying to accomplish with our newly launched Catchpoint Women’s Initiative.

The goal of Catchpoints Women’s Initiative is to create an open forum where employees can ask questions, explore new topics, and spark conversations about what it means to hold others up as women and other underrepresented groups in technology.

The initiative launched just last month with its first speaker; Wendy Lewis, Chief Global Diversity Officer at McDonald’s Corporation. The topic was centered around genuine vs. fabricated diversity in the workplace, how to effectively raise concerns at the team and company levels, and how to hire, recruit, and set goals to attain a healthy and diverse workplace.

The sessions are open to all employees and will meet regularly to host speakers on a variety of topics – technology, recruiting, career development, time management, etc. The group recommends books on relevant subjects for the downtime in between meetings. While in session, we highlight projects, accomplishments, and women and minorities in performance monitoring and technology that are making a difference.

As detailed by Catchpoint’s VP of Global People Operations, Eva Bose Chatterton: “The mission of this initiative is to create an environment where we can educate, empower, and inspire our diverse population. We are hoping to foster an open environment to support employees of all backgrounds as they grow their careers and take on personal challenges. Supporting personal interests outside of the office is just as important as supporting their career growth – whether that includes training for a marathon or volunteering with at-risk youth.”

If you know any speakers – no matter how they gender identify – that can speak to a relevant topic, or if your organization has a similar initiative and you’d like to swap tips and ideas, please don’t hesitate to reach out to ssanders@catchpoint.com!

Women make a huge impact in our industry and on each of us every day – so why limit celebrating women in performance monitoring to just one month a year?