Diversity, inclusion, and belonging are mission-critical

Yamini Rangan, CEO, HubSpot

 IWD 2022

CEO, Yamini Rangan, is pictured above center (kneeling with patterned blouse).

Growing up in rural India, I was raised in a society where not much was expected of women. But my mom always taught me to be independent, and that if I worked hard anything was possible. And so that’s what I did. From getting my degree in engineering, to starting a career in sales, and then becoming a tech executive, I’ve worked hard in order to prove myself in male-dominated fields and to challenge the status quo.

That’s why this year’s International Women’s Day theme, #BreakTheBias, is personal for me. My career path was about persevering, working harder and longer, and advocating for myself. That should not be how the next generation of women get to leadership. I believe we all need to #BreakTheBias so that the path is easier and more equitable than it was for women of my generation.

At HubSpot, we aspire to break biases for our employees, customers, partners, and communities. For us, diversity, inclusion, and belonging are mission-critical, not nice to have. As our Culture Code states, “We aspire to build a company that reflects the diversity of our customers.” That’s why, six years ago, we took a hard look at our diversity and inclusion data. We were not happy with what we saw. Our company wasn’t nearly as diverse as we aspired to be, or as our customers hoped us to be. Ever since, diversity and inclusion has been a top business priority, not just an HR or recruiting priority.

I’m proud of the progress we’ve made in building a more diverse and equitable company. Today, women represent 47% of HubSpot’s workforce, and 57% at the leadership level. We have four amazing women on our executive team, and 70% of HubSpot’s Board identifies as a woman or person of color. And as a mom, I’m incredibly proud that nearly 1/3 of our employees globally are parents.

As an industry we are making progress, but we can’t lose momentum. Women in tech are still grossly underrepresented in leadership, even though female-led organizations are proven to perform better than those lacking diversity. At HubSpot, we’re investing in leadership development programs for women and mentorship opportunities, as well as ‘Returners’ programs for women to get back into the workforce.

As organizations and as individuals, we need to constantly ask ourselves: What more can we be doing to #BreakTheBias? On this International Women’s Day, I encourage us all to reflect on this question. We each have an influence in building a more inclusive and equitable world. There’s power in our actions - big or small - for the next generation. My mom broke barriers all those years ago by showing me that women can achieve the unexpected.

Now, it’s our turn to #BreakTheBias.