One year ago, Tier One shared our commitment to meaningful change. We pledged to do this through an open and ongoing dialogue about racial equality, as well as continued exploration of ways we can foster diversity and inclusion as a small business. Today, in honor of George Floyd and the countless other lives lost to senseless, racial violence, we remain committed to this mission. As we look back on the last year and forward to the next, we want to share our progress and plans for the future.
As part of that charge, we’ve looked inward at our agency culture and hiring practices. We’ve worked with HR professionals to expand the scope of our recruiting to include sites such as DiversityJobs.com and the ColorComm Jobs Board. Since taking these steps, Tier One has increased the members of our team who are Black or Brown to 14%. We’re committed to reaching candidates who more fully reflect the diverse communities in which Tier One lives and works, as well as our client organizations themselves.
We also host regular, agency-wide D&I sessions to spark difficult but important conversations. Past discussions focused on implicit bias and how to overcome it, the Crown Act (including a viewing of the short film “Hair Love”), and the shortcomings and dangers of a “color blind” perspective (based on Mellody Hobson’s TED Talk “Color Blind or Color Brave”).
Last June to support those doing incredible work towards equity in our communities, we also began monthly contributions to nonprofit organizations working to end inequality, starting with the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund. In the year since, we’ve given to a dozen organizations, including the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, the National Civil Rights Museum, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the Diversity Action Alliance.
Tier One has also become a member of the Diversity Action Alliance and signed its diversity commitment to make an impact on the communications and PR industry.
While we are proud of the progress of the past year, we know there is still a lot of work ahead. So we're going to keep at it by continuing to welcome those with diversity of perspective, race, sexual preference, and gender identity and expression into our agency. We will continue to hold ourselves accountable and remain steadfast in our efforts to foster equal opportunity in our agency and industry.
Black Lives Matter.
