by Calvin Crosslin, Chief Diversity Officer and Lenovo Foundation President
SOURCE: Lenovo
DESCRIPTION:
At Lenovo, we have a vision to provide smarter technology that builds a smarter, more inclusive future for our colleagues and communities. During Global Diversity Awareness Month, we’re excited to announce new goals that build on the accomplishments of 2020 and seek to increase diversity in our leadership while fostering more inclusion in our workplace and products.
In 2020, my predecessor and Lenovo’s first Chief Diversity Officer, Yolanda Conyers, led the company to success with our first generation of workforce diversity goals. After achieving 21% representation of women executives and 29% representation of U.S. underrepresented racial and ethnic groups in our executive ranks, I have taken 2021 to reassess, align with our Diversity & Inclusion board of executives, and analyze our progress toward a more inclusive future. In my first few quarters as Chief Diversity Officer, I’m proud to carry on the legacy of my predecessor and share our next generation of diversity and inclusion goals.
Lenovo will maintain its focus on diversity in executive ranks, with goals to grow female executive representation to 27% and executives from U.S historically underrepresented ethnic and racial groups to 35% by 2025. In addition to our executive representation goals, we are implementing programs to strengthen our internal pipeline of diverse talent at early and mid-career levels. We’re also expanding our understanding of disabilities in our workforce through our disability inclusion initiative, which seeks to measure, understand, and better accommodate the needs of our employees who experience both visible and invisible disabilities. Initially launched during Global Accessibility Awareness Month in the U.S., we plan to expand this initiative to 8 markets around the world by 2025.
Finally, we know that as a technology company, we have a responsibility to not just provide inclusive and equitable opportunities in our workforce, but to ensure the technology we make is truly for all. We formed the Product Diversity Office in 2019 to ensure that our products met the needs of people from all backgrounds and abilities. We’re focused on taking the office’s function and processes to scale so that by 2025, 75% of Lenovo’s products will be vetted for inclusion by design experts.
As a global company with employees in more than 60 countries, Lenovo is reliant on the principles of diversity and inclusion. Our diverse, global workforce is an incredible strength for our business, and it also helps us understand the unique needs and contexts of communities around the world. Through the work of Lenovo Foundation, we share our strengths of diversity and innovation with communities around the world by providing contributions of funds, products, and employee time and talent to increase access to technology and education.
We are honored to harness the passion of our employees to enable digital and technology access for youth and transform the lives of adults as they upskill for the 21st century. We’re working to impact 15 million lives by 2025 through our programs and partnerships that provide access to technology and education for the next generation. However, we’re aware that the connectivity gap exists NOW, and has continued to widen since the onset of the pandemic. While we work to ensure that the next generation of youth is not left out of technology’s innovation, we’re focused on transforming 1 million lives by providing opportunities that help adults learn new skills and earn better opportunities in today’s workforce.
Throughout global diversity awareness month, we’ll be celebrating by sharing stories of innovation and inclusion from our workforce. I’m proud to kick off this month of awareness and understanding by sharing and our efforts to provide a more inclusive future – not just for our own workforce, but for all.
KEYWORDS: ADR:LNVGY, Lenovo
