Bolt’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Initiative: Our Commitment to Bettering the World Around Us

Introducing Bolt's new DEI InitiativesBefore bettering the world around us, we have to better ourselves and find ways to reflect this change outwards. To do this effectively, Bolt is establishing a commitment and set of programs to build a Diverse, Equitable, and Inclusive (DEI) workplace. We firmly believe that this will enable our team members, our products, and our retailers to better accomplish our vision of democratizing commerce.Change doesn’t happen without action, which is why we’re outlining program objectives to drive our initiatives and ensure we successfully instill these principles across our entire organization, including how we work, how we hire, and how we connect with the world around us. RecruitmentStarting in 2019, the Talent Team began focusing on increasing the diversity of outbound sourcing — sourcing beyond the traditional structured means to gather a diverse slate of candidates. They have also made DEI-focused improvements to our hiring process, including changes to our current scoring system and improved training for interviewers (both generally and through a DEI lens).&nbsp;DEI TrainingPeople Ops is currently evaluating 3 external DEI consulting firms to create training programs tailored to Bolt with the goal of launching in August of 2020. This will build off of the Unconscious Bias training we completed in 2019 and expand the scope to cover more DEI related areas.Compensation, Promotion, and DevelopmentThe Executive Team and People Ops are working to ensure that our compensation, promotion, and career development programs are equitable and support each team member’s upward career path. For our H2 2020 review cycle, we will start implementing programs for this initiative, but expect that most of the work on this program will be done in Q4 ‘20 and Q1 ‘21.&nbsp;DEI Working Group CommitteesThe DEI Working Group consists of 5 committees, each focused on a different aspect of DEI at Bolt. Individuals from across the team and 5 executives have volunteered to sponsor one or more of these committees in order to help move these initiatives forward. DEI is a company initiative and we are so thankful for the support of everyone who has stepped up to get involved.Product UpdatesIn order to have our product more closely match our company values, Bolt has decided to rename several settings. We’ve eliminated the terms “whitelist” and “blacklist,” instead selecting terms that more accurately describe the function of the lists. Blacklists are now&nbsp;blocklists, and whitelists are now&nbsp;approved-lists. This update is live in our product and documentation.<h2>Affinity/Inclusivity Groups Committee</h2>Objective: This committee focuses on facilitating the creation, success, and effectiveness of affinity groups at Bolt. These groups will encourage and engage the company in conversation and action with the purpose of increasing diversity and inclusivity via events, discussions, and activities. Employees are encouraged to join any/all of our current&nbsp; 3 affinity groups, and reach out to Aimee Moyer (<a href="mailto:aimee@bolt.com">aimee@bolt.com</a>) if you are interested in starting a new group.<ul><li>BoltQ (LGBTQ+)</li><li>The Bolt Women’s Network</li><li>Asians of Bolt&nbsp;</li><li>Lantinx at Bolt</li></ul><h2>DEI Events Committee</h2>Objective: This committee team will initiate ideas and create a calendar of events to collaborate with other committees to host DEI related events that foster learning and inclusion while celebrating the vibrant histories, cultures and wins of the diverse communities within Bolt.&nbsp;<h2>Mentorship Program Committee</h2>Objective: This committee team will be working on facilitating mentorship opportunities across the company to help develop our team and give them access to leadership and other areas of the business, with the focus on diverse team members. The mentorship program will not only include goals centered around career growth specifically at Bolt, but also professional development as a whole.&nbsp;<h2>Community Engagement Committee</h2>Objective: This committee will evaluate ways to increase Bolt’s DEI by engaging with diverse groups and getting more involved with diversity events.&nbsp;<h2>Procurement Committee</h2>Objective: This committee will focus on increasing the proportion of BIPOC businesses in our procurement process. This team will work closely with Finance and Operations teams to identify BIPOC businesses in procurement and to increase the percentage of BIPOC businesses that Bolt supports as Bolt vendors.<h2>Recent activities</h2>COVID-19: We are continuously supporting all team members throughout this unprecedented period of time. Caring packages were sent out for both Mother’s Day and Father’s Day to support employees with caregiving responsibilities. The Bolt Women’s Network spearheaded a wellbeing series with work out sessions, a meditation workshop, and other virtual events to support physical and psychological wellbeing! Below are some survey results for focus on employee satisfaction over the past few months, People Ops appreciate everyone who shared their opinions and will continuously increase our employee satisfaction, wellbeing and engagement through out COVID:<ul><li>Remote work average over past few months: 86%</li><li>eNPS (I would recommend Bolt as a Great Place to Work) score average since COVID: 85%</li><li>Internal communications during COVID (April Survey): 93%</li><li>Have to tools and resources to work effectively (April Survey): 96%</li></ul>BLM Movement: Besides our discussions and concerns over the heartbreaking cases that rose to the world’s attention regarding the BLM movement, Bolt made a donation to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. We’ve also officially included both Martin Luther King Day (which we had off in January) and Juneteenth as company-wide days off to commemorate the ending of slavery in the United States.Pride: We are proud to support Pride and what it represents. For Pride month, our content club hosted a meaningful discussion around the movie Moonlight, which is a film with themes at the crossroads of race and sexual identity. Izzy Friedman also presented a lecture of Pride History 101: It’s a Riot.The above DEI initiatives are meant to provide an avenue for team members — and Bolt as a whole — to effectively create a diverse, equitable, and inclusive work environment. The initiatives and groups above are meant to be a starting place, giving us a place to begin and work from. As a team, we are committed to working collectively to create a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workspace, as well as extend these principles into how we do work and how we connect with businesses, partners, clients, and our community.