We have spent the past few weeks actively listening and learning from Black educators and activists, as well as taking in the voices of our employees as they advocated for change.
While we engaged in an internal dialogue with our team, it became clear we needed to step back and digest the educational resources we are seeking out and reading. During this period of reflection, we have been diligently reviewing our workplace practices and recruitment platforms to ensure there is equity in our hiring process, as well as how we do business and interact with our community.
We know talk is worth very little at this moment so we are taking actionable steps to be a part of the local, national, and worldwide movements to end white supremacy.
Our Commitments
Short term:
- We are hiring a diversity consulting firm to audit our practices and provide a strategy for improvement across departments, beginning with bias reduction within our hiring and recruiting teams, as well as a deep dive into improving communication and management styles.
- We are engaging with The Local Job Network to handle posting our roles on diverse local and national job boards. This firm also partners with 15,000 community-based organizations to conduct community and diversity outreach, connecting Terakeet jobs to active and passive talent. They will also help connect our employer brand, We Are Terakeet, with a more diverse candidate pool through company page and social integrations.
- We are evaluating available enhancements to our recruiting platforms which help to eliminate hiring bias by operationalizing inclusion practices and prompting employees and hiring managers to consider diversity in real-time.
Mid-term:
- We will apply consulting firm strategies to broad-based bias training and anti-racism education for all employees.
- We will elevate our community involvement via Cause for the Cuse by connecting with similarly aligned organizations to help maximize our work alongside others with a further added focus on people of color.
- We will engage with 100 Black Men of Syracuse to increase our support of local community-based programs and take on an active role in exposing Syracuse youth to future career opportunities in tech and marketing through mentorships, workshops, and career development programs.
- We will identify vendors owned by POC and switch our office ordering over to them.
Long term:
- We will become a more diverse and equitable company that makes consistent, sustainable strides towards racial justice in our local community and beyond. This will become ingrained into our business practices, our hiring practices, and our community initiatives. It will not be forgotten once our short and mid-term commitments are in place, it will be part of who we are.
We will provide updates and insights on our blog in the weeks and months to follow. This is an important issue that cannot be treated as a short-term, cosmetic “fix.” We understand that Terakeet is responsible for permanent change across our business and hiring practices over time. Thank you for accompanying us on this journey and for holding us accountable. We pledge to do better.