Diversity is a top priority for many organizations, and it can be particularly difficult to build diverse teams in IT, where good talent is in demand with < 3% unemployment rate, urgency increased by Great Resignation and Silver Tsunami, finding talent fast, diverse and ready to produce, is harder to find than ever before. 

In this workshop, we are going to highlight some of the specific challenges that most organizations are facing when it comes to diverse hiring, as well as what Diversity truly means for your organization. And finally, share some strategies around how we as employers, hiring managers and advocates can be more educated and intentional, to be more involved in positive outcomes when it comes to hiring top talent, while Building a Diverse Workforce. 

A diverse team does not only apply to race, cultural or ethnic backgrounds and takes many forms in the workplace. We want to discuss and highlight additional facets of diversity and acknowledge groups that are often underrepresented within the IT space. Some of those diverse characteristics include, but are not limited to: Religion, Sexual Orientation, Marital Status, Parental Status, Gender, Blindness & Visual Impairment, Military Affiliation, Neurodivergence, Physical and Invisible Disabilities as well as Medical restrictions. 

We look forward to having an open discussion and approaching a topic that isn't always easy to approach, but we can all learn from one another through open dialogue and understanding. 

Our MC, Colette Cottman is a Regional Manager of Inclusion, Diversity and Equity for TEKsystems where she advises leadership and consults with IT organizations who are seeking to develop and adopt new strategies in support of ID&E initiatives. We hope to bring together our HDI community for a discussion around this topic, and hear from some of those in the field who have been impacted by the topic and highlight the importance of it within an organization. 

 Join us on Tuesday, October 18th from 1:00pm-2:30pm for this event. This will be a virtual event, and we anticipate active participation and engagement from the audience.  This engagement may be achieved in the form of polls, breakouts, panelists, and offering perspective on some of these topics. We are looking forward to this discussion!