Why we joined the Diversify by Design coalition

There’s general agreement in the design community that diverse teams create higher quality work and ensure more inclusive design solutions by default. We also agree that is what we want and intend to build — diverse teams. Yet the best intentions are too often derailed by systems and infrastructures beyond the designer’s awareness and reach. And, although we may have changed ourselves and our mindsets to follow these “new” intentions, our impact will be limited until we address the frameworks that dictate what’s possible. What can we do to lay new tracks that open possibilities for creative, analytic, empathetic new talent advancing their careers and looking at design? 

I’ve spent the last few years hiring fairly continuously for design teams in different companies. Hiring can be exhilarating, nerve-racking, and a test of will. To think that a person will join your team, with all the unique facets of their character, is an incredibly exciting prospect. Just adding one person can create a new dynamic, bring new perspectives, and unlock ways of thinking and doing that were previously missing. It’s possibly the choice most rich in potential that we get to make as design leaders. 

There’s a lot riding on selecting the right person for a design role. Leaders are judged by who they bring in and how well they “fit” — on the team and within the organization. Factor in workload, deadlines, and the urgency to get new work delivered, and what could be a wondrous process becomes a fraught, anxious one with high stakes. Guess what people do when there’s a lot riding on a hiring decision? Take the “safe” option. They select the person like themselves; who looks like them and will “fit in.” 

Delta Dental’s offices are located in downtown Oakland,  a vibrant community filled with very talented Black and Brown artists. Crossing paths with all that skill and brilliance I’ve often wondered, “What’s their path into a design team like ours?” How can they find a way into the talent pool we recruit from? And when they do, will they have a portfolio and a resume that checks the boxes?

In my experience, more times than not, Black and Brown candidates get weeded out of the hiring process quickly. It also has been striking to me how limited the candidate pool is. That’s not for lack of trying by recruiters I’ve worked with, who have diligently prioritized diverse hiring, either at my request or by their own choice. There’s something systemic going on, internally and externally. I’ve seen a repeating pattern where it’s very predictable who shows up in the talent pool over and over: they’re white; attended certain colleges, have predictable qualifications, and they seem to have travelled down similar paths. There’s a lot of them and they are often strong candidates. How can kids that don’t have access to those well trodden paths have a chance of showing up in our recruiting pool, while a steady stream who check the boxes, keep coming? I don’t think anything will change unless we do something to intentionally shift the dynamic. 

Last year a member of our team, Kelsey Stroshane, connected us with Inneract Project, and that turned into a conversation with the founders of what would become the Diversify by Design (DxD) coalition. Together with DxD, we have defined a mission to make systemic change and create possibilities for Black and Brown designers that don’t exist in our current configuration. There’s going to be more action than talk, and we are going to measure success by the opportunities we create and the barriers we break. It’s a big challenge and realistically we will need to take one small step at a time, so a little patience will be needed. Watch this space though... something big will come out of this thing we are starting.