Over the past five years, I’ve had the privilege of leading Yelp’s diversity, inclusion, and belonging efforts and accomplishments. However, it is the commitment and collaboration of our entire organization that allows us to cultivate an environment where employees can be their authentic selves.
These years have been some of the most challenging and rewarding of my 16–year career at Yelp, especially because the role of the Chief Diversity Officer has been completely transformed during this time. In 2020, the pandemic completely shifted the employee–employer dynamic, with work coming into our homes, and brought the importance of mental health to the fore.
Yelp has always stood by its values, especially during the turbulent times of the past five years. When we saw the impact of regressive reproductive healthcare legislation, we not only took swift action to protect our own employees by implementing a new benefit that provides reimbursement of travel expenses for those who must travel out of state to access reproductive health care, but also advocated for comprehensive reproductive healthcare and access to safe and legal abortion services. We also used our platform to combat disinformation for users seeking related services on Yelp. Reproductive justice and abortion access is an issue Yelp will continue to take action on as any restriction to equal healthcare access for half of the population poses barriers to equitable participation in the workforce.
Our commitment towards improving opportunities for underrepresented groups to take on leadership roles in our organization remains a focal point. Embracing fully remote work has enabled us to expand our talent pipeline; our Diverse Slate approach allows hiring managers to consistently consider historically underrecognized candidates; and our Diversity Task Forces hold leaders accountable for supporting the advancement of underrepresented talent. We’ve also continued our support of the LGBTQ+ community, having been recognized as one of the best places to work by HRC and partnering with organizations like Open to All to allow all individuals to feel safe, respected, and accepted where they live, shop, and work. Fundamentally, we aspire to be a workplace whereeveryonehas the opportunity to succeed and thrive.
We have laid a strong foundation for progress over the past five years. The road ahead to a world where everyone has equal opportunity to belong and to succeed is long, and we face many headwinds. Despite these challenges, I am optimistic that we will continue to advance diversity, inclusion, and belonging both within Yelp and beyond, not simply because it is the right thing to do, but becausethe programs and practices we have establishedare well–ensconced in our everyday operations, and because our values tolerate nothing less.
