Interview DEI essay

In 250 words or less, please describe a time when you contributed toward making a work environment or organization more welcoming, inclusive, and diverse.

At COMPANYX, our team-building events initially almost always revolved around “going for drinks” after work. While these outings were enjoyable for many, I noticed that as the team grew, some newer team members were consistently absent. Reflecting on this, I realized that by sticking to our status quo, we had inadvertently excluded colleagues who didn’t drink alcohol due to religious beliefs, personal choices, or as some mentioned later, health reasons. Having felt left out in the past myself, I felt compelled to create a more inclusive environment.

Taking the initiative to diversify our social activities, I organized a potluck dinner where everyone was to bring a cultural dish they loved. The response was overwhelmingly positive – team members who had been absent from previous events came, and we enjoyed it so much that we’re now planning our third annual potluck in January. My managers were so impressed with the turnout that they gave us an increased budget to host events that include everyone. Since then, we’ve had sports events like soccer and basketball matches, movie nights, karaoke nights, bowling nights, and most recently, a video and board game night.

These efforts led to a noticeable shift in our team’s dynamic. Colleagues who were initially hesitant to participate started joining in, and our events grew in attendance. We now have recurring events that people look forward to, and a broad variety of choices. If there’s an event that doesn’t appeal to someone, they know there will be something coming up that they will enjoy.