“I can’t breathe.”
The last words of George Floyd, a Black man who died by a police officer kneeling on his neck while fellow officers did nothing to stop him, could be a metaphor for the suffocation of African Americans through systemic racism. The resulting widespread call to address racism extends to all aspects of society, including the workplace.
But decades of institutionalized racism can’t be reversed anytime soon, most companies acknowledge.
“To stand up against racial injustice, we need to commit, for the long-term, to actions that will bring this circle of inequality to heel,” Cara McCarty, a VP of Human Resources at Cognite, told Built In.
Those actions are both internal and external for the Austin-based company that merges AI with data science. Internally, Cognite aims to uphold its core value of equality by creating transparent hiring practices, actively recruiting candidates from diverse sources and incorporating unconscious bias training. The company is also investing in its community by financing and volunteering with STEM programs for communities of color and the Texas Alliance for Minorities in Engineering.
Anti-racism in the workplace happens through both actions and conversations. By creating a company culture that encourages sharing, McCarty said change can begin.
What steps is your company taking to support racial justice and equality in your community (or at the national level)?
While the protests, media coverage and political response have brought pervasive systemic racism to the forefront, this will not be reversed in a matter of weeks or months. To stand up against racial injustice, we need to commit, for the long-term, to actions that will bring this circle of inequality to heel. Companies, big and small, must make racial equality as important as the bottom line.
We are a new tech player in the U.S. but that doesn’t mean we can’t play our part. This requires recognizing and committing to a strong talent pool that includes communities of color, which is why we are investing in youth development in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
We are doing this with the Texas Alliance for Minorities in Engineering (TAME) through financial contributions, volunteering and employee action. Only by thinking long-term, setting clear targets and putting our time and money where it matters, will we be able to make a dent in socioeconomic injustices.
To stand up against racial injustice, we need to commit, for the long-term, to actions that will bring this circle of inequality to heel.”
How is your company ensuring equality within your workforce?
There are two ways Cognite works towards greater equality in our workforce.
The first is through our hiring practices. We actively seek a diverse pool of candidates, while building up and supporting communities of color to secure a future talent pool.
Second, we have rolled out unconscious bias training. We need to acknowledge that we make decisions everyday based on these biases, from who we hire, to who we promote. We want to empower our employees to acknowledge those biases in their decision-making, to make better decisions for our company and to ensure opportunity for all.
We’ve also started a program, “Equality for Breakfast,” where employees brainstorm and plan ongoing initiatives related to equality and diversity.
How are you ensuring your actions are impactful?
The most impactful thing we can do as an organization is to talk openly about race and seek input from the communities where we are present, too. We work everyday to ensure that we have a company culture in which people are comfortable sharing opinions, decrying injustices and posing solutions that will stimulate progress. To this end, we host regular discussions in which we take on some very tough topics.
As a young and dynamic tech company, we are eager to embrace progressive ideas, act fast, try, fail and try again. This is our way of work, and it doesn’t only apply to software development. It also applies to our actions towards our workforce and the broader community.
We promise to keep listening, always seek input, collaborate with the community and continually explore new ways to make a difference.
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