Dalana Brand, the vice president of people experience and head of inclusion and diversity at Twitter, knows that lots of people are looking to work in the fast-growing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) field.
She frequently fields questions from aspiring DEI leaders.
"I can't tell you how often my phone rings with younger folks who are, like, 'How do I get into DEI? How did you get into the DEI?,'" she told Insider in a July 2021 interview. "There's not one path."
DEI is a growing field. The hiring of new diversity chiefs of companies listed on the S&P's 500 index nearly tripled from December 2020 to March 2021, per research by management consultancy Russell Reynolds Associates reported on DiversityInc. Many companies continue to post openings for diversity and inclusion roles. The median income for a chief diversity officer role is $126,000, according to PayScale.
InaMarie Johnson, the chief people and diversity officer at Zendesk, has been in HR for over 30 years. She took on the role of chief diversity officer in 2019, in addition to her job as chief people officer.
"It was really important to me to make sure that our DEI efforts were in the C-suite, and since I was already chief people officer reporting to the CEO, I felt like that would be the best way to ensure that all of the conversations we were having — strategy, customers, product delivery — could be aligned and threaded with the diversity, equity, inclusion," Johnson said.
But you don't need a background in HR. Vinay Kapoor, global head of DEI at FactSet, worked in technology until he was 30. Rajiv Desai, former head of global diversity, engagement, equity, and CSR at Gartner, worked as an auditor and financial services consultant for over a decade before getting into the field. He now works as an independent DEI consultant for small and midsize organizations.
While understanding HR and how engagement ties to the overall business strategy was a missive repeated by several DEI leaders about their job, experiences outside the business world can be helpful.
Desai talked about the opportunity to gain experience in equity work as a volunteer. Brand said those with teaching or social-work backgrounds could develop into strong DEI leaders. And JT Saunders, the chief diversity officer at Korn Ferry, reflected on how his experience as a campus tour guide prepared him.
"It really taught me how to think on my feet, to be able to quickly assess situations, read people and their emotions, and be able to change my thinking or approach," Saunders said. "A big part of this role is spending your day talking to multiple people from different cultures, from different experiences of diverse backgrounds."
Insider spoke with six current and former DEI leaders to get their best advice for getting into this highly desirable field.
Editor's note: This article was orginally published in July 2021.