How PMG Celebrates and Drives Diversity & Inclusion

In 2018, four PMGers embarked on a journey to bring diversity and inclusion to the forefront of who we are and what we believe in at PMG. While inclusion was visible in daily life at PMG, these founding members wanted to raise their voices and challenge us as an organization to have more conversations around diversity and inclusion.

Founding members of PMG’s DIG group included; Eric Elsken, Senior Developer; Cynthia De La Torre Castro, Senior Graphic Designer; Pam Buyers, Head of Culture; and Leslie Baucom, Lead Recruiter. All had different ideas on how we, as a company, make sure that everyone – from employees to prospective talent to clients and partners — feels like they can be their true authentic selves every day at PMG.

The PMG DIG mission is to cultivate a workplace of diversity & inclusion. We believe success stems from a culture where every employee has a voice, makes an impact, shares experiences, and celebrates uniqueness.

PMG’s DIG founding member group was small, but they were nothing short of mighty, creating action plans and outlining ways for us to continue the conversations at PMG. They understood that conversations about diversity and inclusion could sometimes be uncomfortable, but they also knew the gravity and importance of having those conversations. To start, our DIG leadership team began educating all of PMG on a number of different national celebratory months, including Black History Month, Pride Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, Mental Health Awareness Month, and more. 

At PMG, we’ve always held great pride in fostering a great culture, and always looking for ways to improve and be better. A large part of our day-to-day interactions include talking to one another and any opportunities we’ve had to spark conversations we’ve always hopped on. During Pride Month in 2018, we focused our conversations and company education on “Being Your Authentic Self in the Workplace.” That same year,  46% of U.S. LGBTQIA+ workers were not out in their workplace. Below you will find quotes from some very impactful people in our organization about how they feel being their authentic selves in the workplace.

Another part of DIG’s mission was to continue to educate and grow as a leadership team, many of who had taken time to attend conferences that focus on diversity and inclusion in the workplace. In 2019, Cynthia De La Torre attended the #NowNotLater: The National Diversity & Leadership Conference on behalf of PMG’s Diversity & Inclusion Group. During her time there, she was immersed in sessions with attendees and speakers who were equally as passionate as she is about diversity and inclusion. 

From this conference, Cynthia brought back new goal-setting tactics, which included dividing our DIG goals into awareness and impact goals. Awareness goals are short-term goals and mostly include initiatives. Impact goals are more long-term and involve things such as company-wide trainings, collecting diversity data, and changing policies. Some of her other favorite takeaways can be found in a full recap here.

While 2020 might not be the year we all had imagined it would be, it has sparked more people and organizations to have some of the most challenging conversations around diversity and inclusion yet. We at PMG realize that there is a lot more listening, learning, and action-taking to be done in regards to diversity and inclusion, not just in the workplace but in our daily lives. 

Our DIG group has recently grown to be 40+ strong, loud, and supportive humans who are ready to lead our organization in growth and change for the better. Something we’re looking forward to unveiling in the later of 2020 is employee resource groups to further build out goals and take action across the many different areas of diversity and inclusion at PMG. 

PMG’s DIG is committed to fostering and educating all employees through consistent communication and in-depth training. Our support never stops, and we are eager to continue our Diversity and Inclusion journey!