{"id":43541,"date":"2023-10-20T15:29:20","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:29:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/dropbox-partnership-to-drive-diversity-in-startups-unless-we-do-this-the-business-is-not-successful-startupsmart-2\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:29:20","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:29:20","slug":"dropbox-partnership-to-drive-diversity-in-startups-unless-we-do-this-the-business-is-not-successful-startupsmart-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/dropbox-partnership-to-drive-diversity-in-startups-unless-we-do-this-the-business-is-not-successful-startupsmart-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Dropbox partnership to drive diversity in startups: \u201cUnless we do this the business is not successful\u201d – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/div>\n

When a Melbourne-based social enterprise reached out to the managing director of Dropbox APAC they asked him one simple question: \u201cWhy is diversity important to Dropbox?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Diverse City Careers (DCC), an organisation helping women pursue IT careers, were so impressed with Charlie Wood\u2019s answer and the startup\u2019s workplace that they decided to team up with the global cloud storage firm in order to combat the lack of women in the tech sector.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Wood says his answer to that one question stemmed from his past experience in launching a startup and his previous work at Salesforce.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cDiversity is important to us because in order for us to have an environment where we get the best talent and retain it we have to be a diverse workforce,\u201d Wood tells StartupSmart.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just doing diversity for diversity\u2019s sake. It\u2019s about having an environment that is flexible and accommodating so that the right talent can thrive in the right environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

According to internal statistics, only 19% of Dropbox\u2019s technical team are female \u2013 a 7% increase from 2014 – and women make up 21% of its senior leadership. Nearly 60% of the startup\u2019s global team are white.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Wood says this needs to be improved.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cOur customers are diverse so we need to be an organisation that\u2019s reflective of that,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cUnless we do this then the business is not successful and I haven\u2019t done a great job as a leader.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The partnership<\/strong><\/h3>\n

 <\/strong><\/p>\n

The partnership will see DCC and Dropbox working together to promote diversity and raise awareness of this issue in the startup world through educational events, campaigns, webinars and free resources.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A lot of consideration and effort goes into picking which organisations DCC partners with, co-founder Valeria Ignatieva says.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re committed to supporting diversity in companies and we only promote organisations that are doing really great things,\u201d Ignatieva tells StartupSmart.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cDropbox certainly falls into that category.<\/p>\n

 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe spoke to staff members at Dropbox and it was really evident that everyone could be themselves. It\u2019s really inclusive \u2013 what Dropbox has provided is an ideal environment for anyone.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about showcasing where the awesome companies are.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For Wood, diversity has always been a central consideration when building out Dropbox\u2019s operations in the region.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something we\u2019re doing as part of our overall strategy of building the business out here,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to make sure we\u2019re pretty deliberate and specific about the kind of organisation we build. We want to hire the best talent and make sure that we get the kind of people that will help us with the longer term vision about what we can do.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This has played a part in all of Dropbox\u2019s strategic plans in Australia, down to how the workplace looks and feels.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re making sure we have a welcoming and diverse environment,\u201d Wood says.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re a very mixed bunch of backgrounds and origins but we need to make sure we\u2019re diverse from a gender perspective.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThis partnership helps us consolidate the work that we\u2019re doing and validate it.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Diversity in the startup sector<\/strong><\/h3>\n

 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Diverse City Careers was launched by Ignatieva and Gemma Lloyd at the start of last year, and works to help women pursue \u201crewarding careers, particularly in sectors with high gender inequality rates\u201d.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This includes the startup sector; an area which Lloyd says is improving on the issue, pointing to the Victorian government\u2019s recent emphasis on having gender equality on boards.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cStartups are getting better and it\u2019s fantastic to see LauncVic get a board with 60% women,\u201d Lloyd tells StartupSmart.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great message that they\u2019re going to be investing in this issue and starting with a really diverse board.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that it is being spoken about is really important. We need those role models and to see what other women are achieving \u2013 it takes away that intimidation factor.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Follow StartupSmart on Facebook<\/strong>, Twitter<\/strong>, LinkedIn<\/strong> and SoundCloud<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When a Melbourne-based social enterprise reached out to the managing director of Dropbox APAC they asked him one simple question:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":59739,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,24,1,29],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43541"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43541"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43541\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}