Do What Matters

At Avanade, our purpose is to make a genuine human impact for our people, our clients and our communities. How do we achieve this? We do what matters. We empower our people to go beyond, with distinctive experiences, limitless learning and ambitious growth, so they feel inspired, confident and cared for.

​

Inclusion is everyone, everything, every day.

Avanade has pursued a deliberate and purpose-driven strategy around Inclusion & Diversity (I&D) since our founding in 2000. It started with our focus on a challenge that we face: the lack of women in the technology industry. To address that, we had to go to the root of the problem, which was attracting girls and young women to STEM, offering scholarships and creating programs. 

But Inclusion & Diversity is not limited to one group of people or one challenge. Inclusion is everyone, everything, every day. It’s the rising tide that lifts all boats. If our inclusive culture doesn’t consider all races, gender identities, ethnicities, sexual orientations, disabilities, ages, religions – all people and all phases of life – it falls short. 

In 2019, Pam Maynard became not only Avanade’s first woman CEO, but the first CEO who is a woman of color. She is passionate about building on the I&D foundation Avanade had already established with a comprehensive strategy that involves every person at Avanade. In 2020, Hallam Sargeant joined Avanade as our first Chief Inclusion & Diversity Officer to help accelerate this vision.

I&D is part of everything we do 

Our I&D framework is rooted in three concepts: 

• Inclusion: ensuring all individuals feel respected, heard, and that they can do their best work ​

• Diversity: ensuring our workforce demographics reflect our clients and communities 

• ​Belonging: ensuring that everyone can be their authentic selves at work and that they feel welcomed and valued 

To prioritize these concepts, we must invest in tangible, positive actions: create an inclusive culture, activate allyship, increase representation, accelerate development, communicate with transparency and amplify employee networks. 

At Avanade, Inclusion & Diversity is part of everything we do, from the way we treat people to how we make decisions, to the solutions we take to market. We believe it’s a discipline that must be practiced with vigilance every day. 

Women’s Employee Network

​Avanade’s Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) make up a cornerstone of our Inclusion & Diversity strategy, offering resources and opportunities to various communities within the company. 

Launched in 2014 by 13 board members, the ERG grew from the “Women’s Initiative Planning and Steering Committee.” In its early years, the Women’s ERG held numerous global membership calls to gather feedback and present on topics like mentoring, demonstrating confidence and unconscious bias. The group also hosted virtual book club discussions on “Lean In” and “Tipping Point.”

Today, the group has grown to support major global initiatives including the Pathways to Success Speakers series, International Women’s Day and Moms’ Coffee and Conversations. One new initiative for FY20 is the Local Leads, a group that advocates for the ERG at the local level. Local leads connect with the Global Board during a monthly forum to share knowledge, track events and activities and learn from each other.

“We have an opportunity to accelerate the progress of women at Avanade through workplace inclusion,” said Gina Wheel, chair of the Women’s ERG board. “In our community, we plan to continue to build internal and external connections, and to drive growth and innovation. Now is the time to continue to press for the progress of women. The decisions we make today will influence the empowerment of future generations of women at Avanade.”

The Women’s Employee Network is dedicated to accelerating the progress of women at Avanade through workplace inclusion. We inspire women and empower them through connections across the entire Avanade community to foster career growth.

Investing in the future of young women

Avanade has a mission to enable young people (especially young women) to achieve more through the power of our people and digital innovation. 

We care about the people and places where we work and want to make a genuine human impact by inspiring the business and technology leaders of the future. We care about the future digital workforce, and in particular the diversity of that workforce. And we recognize the importance of attracting more young women to study science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines. That’s why we created the Avanade STEM Scholarship. 

Our STEM Scholarship invests in the future of young women and offers internships, mentoring and a support network to help recipients achieve their education and career growth. We have partnerships with nine prestigious universities around the world — and since the program’s launch in 2015 we have provided scholarships to 57 young women, with more scheduled for 2018/19.