Kinnevik: Diversity & Inclusion in Our Group part 2

Diversity & Inclusion Highlights in Kinnevik’s Portfolio

In May 2019, Kinnevik launched a Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) Framework to drive the important change we want to see in our portfolio and the broader industry. As part of that ambition, Kinnevik is the main sponsor of three events in 2020 that aim to empower female founders, decision makers and investors: Nine Muses Festival, Female Founders and the Women in Fintech Powerlist.

On this Stories section of our website, we have previously highlighted some of our portfolio companies and their efforts to create more diverse and inclusive working environments. Building on that theme, we would like to share a few more inspiring examples from the Kinnevik Group of companies.

Livongo

Livongo has been voted one of the best places to work in healthcare by ‘Fortune Magazine’ and ‘Great Place to Work’. At Livongo, people believe that personal and professional diversity is key to innovation and as such have built a culture around that as well as integrated D&I into its recruitment process and formed a dedicated D&I committee.

The company has also inaugurated their own award, “She Powers Health™ Award”, to recognize individuals who are making a significant impact on people’s health, are empowering women, and are progressing diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

Despite making up nearly 80 percent of the healthcare workforce, women only make up 28 percent of board seats and 35 percent of C-Suite positions. In addition, companies with more women in leadership were 21 percent more likely to outperform EBIT margins and 27 percent more likely to outperform on economic profit margins. These powerful statistics depict the importance of shifting the status quo.

- Jennifer Schneider, President Livongo

Betterment

Betterment sits at the intersection of two industries; finance and technology – both with large historical gender gaps and underrepresented populations. Betterment is working hard to change this by building a community where everyone can feel they belong, and one that reflects a wide range of perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds.

The driving force behind the company’s efforts is their D&I Committee responsible for working with leadership on their annual strategy and implementing the D&I roadmap. One of those initiatives has been empowering their Employee Resource Groups to create opportunities to build wider networks and get Betterment on a larger talent pool’s radar. So far, the Women of Betterment group has launched SHARE (Support, Hire, Aspire, Relate, Empower), a network of diverse individuals aimed at fostering deeper connections among women in the fintech community, and last year the People of Color group launched TECH (To Elevate Color in Hiring), a quarterly meetup for People of Color working in or interested in working in Technology in the NYC community.

We’re dedicated to staying active until we see an ongoing impact on representation and inclusion. We see these efforts as an opportunity to create unity at Betterment, we’re all in this together.

- Lucy Babbage, SVP People

Zalando

Zalando believes that the diversity of people, lifestyles, opinions and attitudes are crucial drivers of innovation and success. In October 2019, Zalando announced new diversity targets for its top leadership levels. The company aims for a balanced representation of women and men on its top management levels by the end of 2023, meaning at least 40% of the underrepresented gender. 

The new targets are part of a general revision of the company’s D&I strategy, in which Zalando aims to diversify its workforce across several metrics including gender nationality and educational background. Over the next few months, Zalando will launch several initiatives to achieve this goal, such as updating its decision-making bodies and committees, changing hiring practices and introducing holistic succession planning.

During the past 11 years, we have been very focused on establishing and growing our business, and we didn’t put enough effort into countering structural imbalances that have evolved. We acknowledge that today we lack diversity in our senior management, and we are committed to changing this. We strongly believe that only a diverse and inclusive culture will ensure that we have the best talent on board and can truly serve our customer base.

- Rubin Ritter, Co-CEO of Zalando

Diversity at all levels of a business drives better decision making and fosters a culture of creativity, and when at its best it also boosts overall performance. I am also convinced that diverse teams are more apt to create unique products and relevant user experiences for customers, as well as value creation for stakeholders. The Supervisory Board supports the adoption of these diversity targets as a means to step-change Zalando’s progress in building a more inclusive organization over the long term. 

- Cristina Stenbeck, Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board of Zalando.

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