2023 State of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging at Plaid

Andrea Cruz
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging, Plaid

Andrea leads DEIB efforts on the People team at Plaid, she works to weave DEIB into all we do so our organization is one employees are proud to work at.

We’re excited to publish our third annual State of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) report. In this year’s post, we’ll highlight progress made from the previous year and our reflections on how our DEIB efforts have grown at Plaid—including our focus on sustainability and creating a shared responsibility for DEIB across the organization.

Building sustainable practices

In 2023, our DEIB team continued moving towards our vision that DEIB is embedded into who we are, how we work, and what we build. We deepened partnerships across our People organization to ensure that DEIB is integral to every team’s roadmap.

Specifically, our Recruiting organization and hiring teams continue to drive the Pleadership Rule, our initiative aimed at increasing diversity in leadership. Our Workplace Experience team has incorporated cultural and community dates of significance (Black History Month, Women’s History Month, AAPI Month, Pride, Hispanic Heritage Month, and more) into their employee engagement strategy. And, our People and Organizational Development team has ensured that DEIB principles are reflected in our structured manager development program, creating cohesion between learning and development and DEIB. Aligning strategies between our teams is a tangible example of shared responsibility for DEIB programming. 

Supporting our Plaid Communities

Our Plaid Community Groups (PCGs - our name for Employee Resource Groups) curate programming to foster community, create developmental opportunities, and give voice to their communities. We have three PCGs at Plaid — Plaids of Color, PLGBTQ+, and Women+. In 2023, our PCGs offered over 30 events and programs to foster connection between their members (regional lunches, meet and greets, and more) and created educational opportunities (career-focused fireside chats, mentorship programming, and more). 

In 2023, we increased our investment in PCG leaders and curated developmental programming to support them in leading their respective groups. We partnered with an external vendor for specific skill development on topics like prioritization and influential communication. We also collaborated with another company to create a space for shared learning and community building between Employee Resource Group leaders at different organizations. 

Our continued investment in PCGs and their leaders is a testament to the valuable programming they build and the positive impact they have on employees’ experiences at Plaid.

Looking ahead

We’re proud of the continued investment in DEIB at Plaid and know that a focus on creating sustainable practices across our organization and investment in the leaders of our PCGs are important steps. However, there is still progress to be made. 

As we design for the future, we use data, including representation data (below), to guide our focus and make informed decisions about our DEIB programming. We’re excited to see the increase in the representation of women and Hispanic/Latino Plaids overall and the increase in Asian representation in leadership. That said, we’re also cognizant of the dip in representation in leadership. We know we need to focus on both attracting and retaining talent to make progress. Our company surveys continue to show career development and belonging are key drivers of engagement at Plaid, particularly for underrepresented groups. As a result, we’ve put the following in place and will continue to make investments in these areas:

• Increased our investment in the education and development of our Plaid Community Group leaders

• Improved our career development systems across the organization by introducing a quarterly cadence for formal feedback to ensure Plaids are aligned on expectations and have what they need to succeed

• Expanded the Pleadership Rule, our initiative aimed at increasing diverse representation among leadership roles

• Expanded our investment in leadership development across the organization to ensure that all Plaids have the necessary support systems in place to shine

We’re proud of the growth of our DEIB efforts and are excited to continue investing in this space to ensure that every Plaid has what they need to thrive.