Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
What we stand for.
Aquent is committed to fostering an inclusive environment, where different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives are valued and where everyone can contribute, grow their careers, and thrive. We believe that diversity goes beyond ethnicity and gender. It includes things that are visible and those that are not—a person's age, veteran status, ability, neurodiversity, sexual orientation, gender identity, and so much more. These differences help create a more dynamic and innovative workplace. We embrace them all.
Aquent is an equal opportunity employer.
“Time's up for talk—we need to take action.”
JOHN CHUANG / CEO, AQUENT
Here's how we're taking action.
Recruiting
- Developed ongoing audit of the full recruitment life cycle.
- Expanding diversified talent networks and pipelines.
- Offering unbiased anonymized resumes.
- Creating gender-neutral job descriptions.
- Reinforcing interview best practices.
- Improving pay parity and equity.
Monitoring
- Expanded equality data collection, monitoring, and reporting in line with Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) guidelines.
- Measuring progress on an ongoing basis.
Education
- Formed Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Council with representatives from across the company.
- Developed company-wide education materials, training, and discussions around underrepresented groups, racial injustice, and its historical significance.
- Expanded our resource library and access to external courses on themes like mitigating bias, diversity recruiting strategies, and fostering an inclusive workplace.
- Introduced ongoing internal training, including unconscious bias training.
- Started book and film clubs that foster insightful conversations about books such as “The New Jim Crow,” “The Nickel Boys,” and “Who Moved My Cheese” and the short videos “Otis' Dream” and “Finding Confidence in Conflict.”
- Built mentoring and employee development programs.
- Hosted thought-leadership roundtables.
Community
- Raised over $110,000 in contributions to social justice organizations including more than $66,000 to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
- Formed Employee Resource Groups for BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and working parents and allies.
- Giving time off to vote in local, state, and national elections.
- Awarding Designing for Good grants that help bring creative ideas to life for nonprofits.
- Sharing talent art from creators of color or that celebrate diversity, equity, and inclusion across our social media platforms.
- Providing free market pay data to the public through our Check Salary Tool.
- Engaging in candid conversations as part of the Voices of Aquent series that explores topics like “The Black Family: Representation and Identity” and the AAPI experience.
Outreach and partnerships
- Corporate Plus member of the National Minority Supplier Development Council, achieved by 1% of certified Minority-Owned Businesses.
- Automated posting of open jobs to affinity career sites through the Professional Diversity Network, including Asian Career Network, Black Career Network, iHispano, Military 2 Career, Out Professional Network, Pro Able, and Women's Career Channel.
- Increasing recruiting presence at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), and diverse professional organizations.
A commitment to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion is in our DNA.
As an organization, we have been committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion from day one, and we're now formalizing our approach and building it into every aspect of our company. We've created an employee-led Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Council and appointed a Head of Culture and Community to help drive this work forward. We're holding ourselves accountable to create a better future, assess our progress, and identify opportunities to continuously improve.
