Receiving this award, I am reminded of the power of mentorship, sponsorship, and collaboration. I would not be in the position I am in today if not for the mentors, sponsors, colleagues, and partners that have supported me along the way.

When I first started at Intel 25 years ago as an administrative assistant, I was a single mother and had not yet finished my bachelor’s degree. With the help and encouragement of my leader at the time, I went back to school. When I decided to pursue my master’s degree, another manager became a mentor to me and supported my efforts. I am a big believer in taking ownership of your career, and I know the integral role mentorship has played in breaking down barriers and facilitating change.

The past few years have been challenging. The global pandemic and impact of the “Great Resignation” have been difficult. Women and underrepresented populations have considered leaving the workplace or changed jobs at a record rate. Witnessing this across the industry has helped me understand the deep value of fostering a culture focused on flexibility, inclusion and respect for employees.

That’s why we have expanded programming to support the progression and retention of Black/African American employees and educate their managers on what it means to manage different cultures and individual experiences. Additionally, in 2021, we established a milestone goal to increase representation by 10% of Black/African American employees in senior, director, and executive roles in our US population. We exceeded this milestone, increasing representation by 11%.

We remain committed to accelerating outcomes through our 2030 goals, including increasing the number of women in technical roles to 40%, doubling the number of women and underrepresented minorities in senior leadership roles, advancing accessibility and increasing the percentage of employees who self-identify as having a disability to 10% of our workforce, and ensuring inclusive leadership practices are embedded in our global culture.

Just as one employee cannot achieve success alone, neither can one person or one company solve the industry’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) challenges. It requires all of us working together. Only through collaboration can we bring about industrywide change.

For this reason, in 2020 we launched the Alliance for Global Inclusion. The Alliance is a global coalition of companies who have publicly pledged their commitment to developing and aligning on shared metrics that track progress in diversity and inclusion. Recently, we held our first Alliance CEO Convening and Alliance Industry Convening when we refreshed our goals for 2023. These goals include publishing guidance on inclusive leadership development, inclusive product development, and supporting STEM access by hiring from nontraditional pathways through our collective initiative.

The future of DEI rests in the collective societal and workplace culture, which impacts what companies can achieve together.

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