WHO :
Elizabeth Harz, CEO of Sittercity
WHEN :
Since 2017
WHAT :
Sittercity is an App that radically simplifies the way families and sitters connect. That means smarter matching on skills and schedules, tools and information that make evaluating your shortlist a breeze, and the game-changing convenience of instant book and pay. I came to Sittercity with the the goal of transforming it into the first truly modern, national brand in childcare technology and knew that diversity and inclusion would be an an essential part of accomplishing that goal. That’s why I made the responsibility to build a diverse and inclusive culture internally - one that reflects the community of caretakers and families that are at the core of this business. I’ve focused on building upon our strength in gender diversity and female empowerment - our founder is a female entrepreneur, our board is now three-fifths female and our team is 60 percent female (at a time when most tech companies are closer to two-thirds male). But diversity and inclusion is not achieved solely by promoting gender diversity, which is why our team at Sittercity is determined to improve on multiple dimensions, especially racial diversity.
HOW :
Our team takes a bottom-up approach by making diversity and inclusion a central part of our hiring process. To do this, we’ve worked with third-party recruiters who focus on diversity sourcing and piloted partnerships with organizations like People of Color in IT and The Mom Project. Additionally, to reduce hiring bias, we’ve put together cross-functional interview teams to ensure that feedback is collected individually before a group debriefs. We jump-started our thought processes on diversity and inclusion by surveying to create a focus for improvement. From there, we formed a Diversity & Inclusion committee that recently created a mission statement that informs every aspect of our work. We want to encourage all of our employees to voice their opinions, so we have implemented a design thinking process to engage entire teams when building community contracts and policies.
WHY :
As a mother of two, I have experienced many of the challenges that come with being a parent while having a career. I know what it’s like to fear workplace discrimination and to be in an environment without leaders who value parent and work life. For these reasons, it has been my priority to provide family-friendly policies at Sittercity from the get-go; that’s why employees have the option to work from home or head out early if they’re in charge of after-school pick-up or want to catch the school play. We also have an open time-off policy, competitive benefits, and industry-leading maternal and paternal leave. I’m grateful to be able to use my experience to create a company culture that helps make it a bit easier for our employees to shorten the distance between the desk and the dinner table.
COUNTRY: United States
INDUSTRY: Childcare
SOCIAL MEDIA: @sittercity
