Building a Radically Inclusive Environment at Ampersand

The global pandemic and the deaths of Ahhmaud Arbery and George Floyd motivated companies across the US to reexamine their diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts both externally and in-house. At Ampersand, it accelerated a journey that started when CEO Nicolle Pangis took the company's helm in 2018—growing gender diversity on the executive team to forty percent within a year. So, with a growing pandemic and protests rising across the country, she recognized the importance of quickly addressing what we were witnessing and engage in honest dialogue. We often ask employees to bring their whole selves to work, and there's no way we could afford to ignore the emotional and mental toll on our employees