What Belonging Looks Like

I’m sad. And angry. Why? Because this image popped up in my LinkedIn feed from a well-respected industry organization. And it immediately made me feel, despite 20+ years in the industry, like someone may believe I don’t belong here.

I know SMPTE has been working on vital diversity initiatives for several years. And many individual awardees are valued mentors and allies. But I am wondering why it took several women across the industry to notice what was missing from this picture—us! Because looking at this image, this is what we see: an abject failure of our industry to build inclusivity into our business model.

The #GALSNGEAR initiative has been working to solving this challenge, alongside many other partners and allies across the industry. Shout out to Women in Film & Video (WIFV) WITI (Women in Technology International) Rise Women in Streaming Media SVG Europe (SVGW) NAB Show Women In Media Techqueria and so many more. We know there is no single answer.

So let me offer a few tactical ideas. Ideas to promote not just diversity, but a sense of belonging—what every person is entitled to feel in their working lives. You can find more ideas in this just-released report by McKinsey about empowering Black, Latina, and Native American women in tech. And you will also find real world to-do's in this 2017 SMPTE research paper, thanks to co-authors and industry diversity champions Kylee Peña, Katie Hinsen and Wilbur DiTullio.

What We DON’T Need More of:

1.      Panels (or Awards) where only men are invited to celebrate or share their technical expertise and accomplishments.

2.      The above all-male panels or awards, where one woman is invited to moderate, in order to make it appear diverse, but she/they are therefore nullified as a true participant.

3.      Panels where only women are invited to talk about the industry’s lack of diversity or work-life balance. Let's acknowledge these issues affects all of us.

4.      Companies tasking “diverse” employees with diversity committee or leadership assignments, without giving them the power, money or stakeholder buy-in to make a difference.

5.      Internship programs that don’t include post-internship resources and communities to help participants succeed.

What we DO Need Now:

1.      Train your managers, so they understand their own hidden (and not so hidden) biases. We all have challenges when working with people who don’t come from the same background as we do. Managers are in a position to make or break someone’s career trajectory. So ensuring they become informed allies is a key part of their development as leaders, and integral to training and maintaining a diverse community of employees.

2.      Set aside professional development dollars for emerging leaders. And then make them use it. I hear a lot of younger women who participate in our #GALSNGEAR programs during industry events share that they don’t have any funding from their company to participate. We do our best to find sponsors and wrangle hotel rooms and other support. If your company or organization wants to build the next generation of leaders at your company, don’t just send the C-suite to industry events. Be sure that demos, trainings, insights on industry trends, and human networks are also accessible to the next generation of leaders at your company. Have them give a presentation when they return—this is an added skill for them, and offers ROI for your entire team.

3.      Add more diverse perspectives to your hiring workflow. If one hiring manager gets to make every call, if one AI-powered system is filtering all inbound resumes, you are probably missing talented people who don’t look like your algorithm--the one that was created by the very people who don’t have those backgrounds or lived experiences. Experiences that lead to resilience and creativity. Build a more nuanced hiring process, with input from diverse leaders inside and even outside your business--and you will find key skills that power up your company success.

4.      Train to retain the women, people of color, LGBTQ+ people you already have working for you. Despite appearances from awards like SMPTE’s, there are plenty of women in STEM in our industry. But many are dropping out of the leadership pipeline before they get to senior level positions—not to be unemployed, but to work in other, more welcoming, industries. At #GALSNGEAR, we created an intentional, 4-pronged emerging leaders training program that encompasses negotiation skills, finance, leading teams, and building a leadership brand—all skills that developing leaders need, no matter what job they do in our industry. We offer parts of the program at conferences like NAB Show, and also offer it as an in-house program for individual companies.

5.      Nominate younger members of your team, especially women and people of color, to attend and speak at industry events. Visibility is key to career advancement. It validates expertise. It offers high level networking with other speakers. If you are asked to speak, instead or in addition, suggest a (younger or newer) member of your team. Give them the confidence to speak by providing resources on your products, and practice sessions in front of colleagues. That’s why at #GALSNGEAR, we have a speakers’ bureau to actively promote women for visible speaking roles at industry events. Since 2017, we’ve invited more than 250 women on stage, many of them for the first time. (We are always curating speakers for our monthly virtual #TequityTuesday meetups, as well as sourcing content for six industry events. Email us at [email protected]).

6. Take a look at who is beta-testing your hardware/software. Is it guys who are longtime friends of guys on your engineering team? Can you look for skilled women and people of color who could contribute to your product pipeline?  There are many women camera operators, UAV pilots, engineers, editors, animators who can contribute. Because they know being on the leading edge of tech, with early access to gear and software, also advances careers. At #GALSNGEAR, we are working with several manufacturers to ensure they have plenty of women in their beta-testing network.

Allyship is multi-faceted. It is hard, daily work. And we need to start demanding it of ourselves. So that our collective picture of success includes the widest possible range of people delivering award-winning work, and being recognized for it. Because we belong here.

Amy DeLouise is a writer, producer, director and founder of www.galsngear.tv. Join the Tequity Hub to expand networking and upskilling opportunities for people who identify as women.