Gender Equity Now and Puget Sound Business Journal recognizes VillageReach, an organization committed to gender equity and to diminish the impact of unconscious bias
SEATTLE, NOVEMBER 18, 2019 – Gender Equity Now, a Seattle-based organization partnered with Puget Sound Business Journal (PSBJ) to create the GEN Index, the PSBJ inaugural ranking list of Washington’s Most Equitable Workplaces. On Friday, November 15, the results were announced and VillageReach ranked seven on the list of fourteen organizations who were recognized.
VillageReach President Emily Bancroft said, “I strongly believe in an environment where everyone has a voice, no matter what your title or job description may say. I seek input from a wide variety of people throughout the organization on strategy, on decisions, and on what we are doing well and what we can improve.”
In addition to Bancroft’s leadership philosophy, VillageReach operationalized a Diversity and Inclusion strategy, which included establishing a formal group and sub-groups to oversee focus areas, such as External Communications, Internal Communications, Governance, Human Resources and Personal Learning and Development. The operational strategy plays a significant role on staff members’ contributions and experiences of equity within the organization.
The GEN Index is a standardized measurement of workplace equity where organizations are evaluated according to standards of excellence across five principles of workplace culture: bias neutrality, employee resonance, accessibility, experience perception gap and visible advocacy score. A 60 percent threshold across the rubrics was required to make the list. The survey was fielded during July.
GEN’s Executive Director Sara Sanford and her team led the survey, and she was, “impressed not just by VillageReach’s commitment to equity in the communities they serve, but internally as well. Their intentionally inclusive hiring practices, paid leave programs that extend beyond maternity leave, and commitment to pay equity demonstrate that their leadership goes beyond talk to meaningful action. In the nonprofit sector, it can be difficult to find the data needed to benchmark for equitable pay, but VillageReach put in the work to ensure their employees are paid fairly.”
For more information, visit the VillageReach Diversity and Inclusion web page.
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About VillageReach
VillageReach transforms health care delivery to reach everyone, so that each person has the health care needed to thrive. We develop solutions that improve equity and access to primary health care. This includes making sure products are available when and where they are needed and primary health care services are delivered to the most under-reached. Radical collaboration with governments, the private sector and other partners strengthen our ability to scale and sustain these solutions. Our work increases access to quality health care for 46 million people in sub-Saharan Africa.
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About Gender Equity Now (GEN):
GEN applies data-driven approaches to bring gender parity to the workforce. We employ the principle that you get the behavior you measure to create aspirational business models that harness the full potential of all employees. We’ve set bold goals to be a national force for change by partnering with conscious companies to elevate gender equality to a business imperative.