No one could have expected the year that was 2020. We witnessed seismic cultural, political and social change, and through a global pandemic, we had to pivot the way we collaborate and begin to find our new best ways of working.

I am immensely proud not just of the work we produced, but of the new systems and cultural programming created by and for the people of VICE Media Group (VMG). This includes the hard work of our Community Groups, and the hours put in by our People, Culture and Impact team, led by our Chief People Officer (CPO), Daisy Auger-Domínguez, to continue evolving our company culture.

I’ve long known that better diversity, equity and inclusion practices are drivers of growth in a corporate environment, and I made this a priority when I had the privilege of becoming the CEO of VMG in 2018. 

Seeing the results of this 2020 report has been an edifying experience: we have made great progress in diversifying thought, experience and background, but we are also aware that we cannot take our collective foot off the gas at VMG (or in the wider industry). 

This year, our BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) employee population increased by 3.9% in the US, where data can be collected, with 42% of US employees now identifying as BIPOC. 53.6% of our US new hires identified as BIPOC and of these new BIPOC hires, 21.3% identify as Black or African American. Globally, we now have 55.7% employees who identify as women, that is 5.8% more than in 2019.

We also made a number of important hires to elevate our brand mission. In addition to our new CPO, Daisy, joining in early 2020, we welcomed Simone Oliver as Editor-in-Chief of Refinery29, and created the Global Chief Marketing Officer role for Nadja Bellan-White, who joined near the end of the year. I am endlessly inspired by their ability to lead this company towards (and define) our North Star. 

From the vital work of VICE News covering injustices across the globe, to the award winning Go Off, Sis podcast from Refinery29’s Unbothered platform, Vice World News’ Empires of Dirt, VICE’s Queers Built This digital package, and the Climate Uprise initiative, the content created at VMG continues to speak truth to power. 

Looking at the year ahead, I would like to call on our entire industry to come together and understand how we can put our collective momentum behind making a permanent difference to how we show up not just for ourselves, but everyone around us. Together we can make this happen.

Nancy Dubuc, CEO

At VICE Media Group, our goal is to build a company that mirrors the diversity of the world we shine a light on every day, the world our audience expects to see from us, and a workplace that is expected from our teams. While the business case for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) has been well established by now, the world is now paying attention to inequity at work in a way that I haven’t seen before. And VMG is here for it.

There are no shortcuts. No silver bullet. What we know is that neatly packaged, predictable formulas or quotas for DEI have failed to deliver meaningful progress. And while workforce representation data is important, it doesn’t tell the whole story. In my first year at VMG we focused on building the right foundation by reviewing and improving upon our people processes, policies, and programs. We’ve reviewed our talent acquisition process with a new Hiring Playbook, released our second Pay Equity Report and broadened our inclusive benefits, calibrated our performance management to be more objective and reduce bias, instituted management and inclusive leadership training, and launched new Code of Conduct and Respect in the Workplace policies. 

And while I know enhancing a company’s culture doesn’t happen overnight, seeing a 15+% point increase in employee sentiment of DEI, manager and leadership measures captured in our global Employee Engagement survey buoys me. A positive sign that even in these early stages, our thoughtful holistic approach has made an impact.

Because you can’t solve a complex structural problem that you don’t understand, Nancy and I also embarked on a global listening tour in July of last year to dig into the questions that mattered most to our teams. With their feedback empowering us, we focused on building our collective muscle for driving sustainable change and enabling allyship. 

We are holding ourselves accountable too; we created a DEI Dashboard for all VMG staff, where every piece of work launched under our DEI strategy is clearly explained, logged and tracked in complete transparency. 

Creating a culture of equity and belonging is everyone’s responsibility, particularly people managers. That is why going forward we are focusing on empowering leaders and managers to act inclusively and hold their teams to do the same. Scripts and talking points can only get you so far. This is about how to practically and intentionally be inclusive and anti-racist, and how to create conditions that enable managers, leaders and teams to stay on a consistent path, even when that means stumbling along the way.

All of this makes up the essential and timeless elements for a thriving organization.

Daisy Auger-Domínguez, CPO