This year’s theme for International Women's Day 2020 is #EachforEqual “drawn from a notion of 'Collective Individualism.’ We are all parts of a whole. Collectively, we can make change happen. Collectively, we can each help to create a gender-equal world.” By taking a day to focus on opening our minds, addressing conscious and unconscious bias, and challenging stereotypes, we as individuals can make a significant impact as a whole. For me, #EachforEqual means that each of us, no matter our gender or background, can thrive in our careers, and our colleagues will recognize our contributions at Veritas. We have the opportunity to contribute to a company that values and supports a balance with family and other life commitments.
In celebration of International Women’s Day, Veritas’ Corporate Responsibility team partnered with Women at Veritas Empowered (WAVE) employee resource group, to host an Inclusive Leadership workshop at Veritas headquarters in Santa Clara attended by leaders and employees representing a wide span of organizations within Veritas. As Veritas’ General Counsel and Senior Vice President of Legal, and an advocate for equality and inclusion, I was so pleased to have the opportunity to kick off the workshop featuring guest speaker Marilyn Nagel, CEO of Ready-Aim-Aspire.
At Veritas, diversity and inclusion are part of our core values. We’re actively creating a workforce that embraces every culture, language, age, gender, sexual orientation, disability, and background, giving each individual a voice. This workshop reinforced the importance of diversity and inclusion, addressed the presence of unconscious and conscious bias, and focused on empowering our team to take responsibility for continuing to create an inclusive working environment. In addition to an engaging presentation, Marilyn led us through various exercises that encouraged a collaborative and engaging environment for our colleagues. One exercise called “what I want you to know” focused on experiences of those belonging to a particular gender, various races, LGBTQ, and people with disabilities. This lively and interactive forum allowed us to share, laugh, understand our different perspectives and experiences, and walk away with actionable learnings.
In addition to the Inclusive Leadership workshop, Veritas is embracing #EachForEqual by joining a growing coalition pledging to advance diversity and inclusion in the workplace. As one of more than 550 CEOs who have come together for CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion, Veritas CEO Greg Hughes committed himself and Veritas to advance diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
Veritas chooses to be #EachforEqual.
