Why Diversity and Inclusion are Integral Parts of Propel
You may already be thinking, ‘Another company jumping on the bandwagon of D&I.’
While diversity and inclusion increasingly generate buzz across industries, these values are not to serve as tokens or trendy accessories.
For those who know me personally, I am differently abled and use leg braces to help me walk. I have experienced anti-Semitism many times, and learned first-hand through these experiences how meaningful it is to be accepted (or not).
And as one of the only venture-backed tech entrepreneurs with a physical disability in the world, I knew I had to help make waves for D&I.
Diversity runs in the DNA of my PR SaaS company Propel PRM and starts at the top.
I began by centering D&I as one of the company’s four core values. This way, we always train our employees to “embrace diversity” from the start. But actions are more important than words. So, let’s get into what we are actually doing about D&I at Propel...
The Team
I am a firm believer that diversity and adversity are key ingredients to success, and I see this every day from my incredible team.
The Propel dream team is composed of a wide variety of ethnicities, national origins, races, religions, sexual orientations, gender identities and abilities. Over 50% of our team members come from diverse communities.
The variety of talent, life experiences and backgrounds that make up the Propel team has unlocked limitless potential for the company at large.
And finally, it’s important to remember that a business' sole purpose is not just creating shareholder value -- it’s also about giving back to the community, helping people, and making the world a little better. I will champion this issue, and make sure that our company is the leader in diversity within the PR technology industry.
The Propel Diversity Board
We have recently taken an industry-first step of forming our own advisory board focused on diversity and inclusion.
Studies indicate that the industry struggles to break from the status quo -- the US PR industry is predominantly White (82.6%), with 8.1% Black or African American, 6.2% Asian Americans, and 12.5% Hispanic or Latino. Focusing on providing marginalized communities’ opportunities to participate in the industry equally is the first step to achieving a work environment that fosters diversity, inclusiveness, and equity. Likewise, only 17% of journalists are not white according to a recent study and those with a disability are exceedingly rare.
Formed with the goal of providing equal opportunities for PR professionals and journalists from various backgrounds, including BIPOC, LGBTQ+ and disability communities, our diversity board helps incorporate a wide array of seldom-considered perspectives into product development and expand access to stories and storytellers in overlooked communities.
Some of the specific initiatives include making the Propel media database the most diverse in the world, hosting webinar guests from diverse backgrounds, assuring that our platform is the industry leader in accessibility for vision impaired, dyslexic and other neurodiverse individuals, and advancing diversity and inclusion in the PR industry at large through thought leadership and content.
Especially exciting: In November, we officially launched the UserWay Accessibility Widget in our Platform. The widget offers several display personalization options that officially make our platform and website disability friendly – for blind/visually impaired, dyslexic, neurodiverse and elderly people. This marked Propel as the first PR software platform to implement a tool like this, and we've already seen others in the industry show interest in doing the same.
Our diversity and inclusion board includes public relations award winners and entrepreneurs:
- Candice N. Mackel, Owner of Candice Nicole Public Relations and Public Relations Lead at We Are Rosie
- Dana Kaye, Founder of Kaye Publicity
- Tanisha Colon-Bibb, Founder of Rebelle Agency
- Zach Cutler, Co-Founder and CEO at Propel.
Our diversity board members will assist Propel in shaping its future growth plans, and lead the team in achieving its goals relating to D&I.
To learn more about Propel PRM, book a demo with our team below:
