This DC tech firm just released its third diversity report

Dan Berger didn’t speak a word of English when he moved with his mother from Israel to the U.S. when he was nine, and he’s taken some lessons to heart. His D.C.–based event planning company Social Tables just released its third annual diversity report, and the company of 100 employees is growing more diverse.

“Diversity and inclusion have been important to our employees, many of whom are millennials,” Berger told Technical.ly DC. “You can’t separate traditional political views from the workplace. Those lines are blurred, and employees are expecting employers to take a stand on issues that are important to to them.”

Social Tables has planned over 2 million events since it was founded in 2011, and Berger said that the company was inspired in 2014 by Facebook and Google’s diversity reports. As DC Inno pointed out, it’s one of the only local companies that releases such a report.

“We decided to release diversity reports to hold ourselves accountable in a public way,” he said. “There’s a void that kind of leadership in D.C. and we wanted to bring light to this issue.”

We are proud to present our third diversity report. It highlights the progress we’ve made during 2017 toward increasing representation of women and minorities in our leadership roles and our workforce more generally. https://t.co/KCASolNjkt pic.twitter.com/XXx6d4EzyU

— Social Tables (@socialtables) December 20, 2017

Overall, women make up about half of Social Tables’ team. According to the report, the company specifically aimed to increase diversity in its product and engineering team. The number of women increased 52 percent from last year. Women now make up 35 percent of the product, design and engineering team – a 12 percent increase from last year. The company’s executive team is one-third women, and the number of women in management teams is now around the same percentage, up from 26 percent last year.

In terms of race, the workforce is comprised of 70 percent white employees, and 30 percent people of color. Thirty-four percent of employees are non-citizens, immigrants or first-generation Americans.

While working on the statistics, the company has also looked to put processes in place to increase diversity. Employees are recruited through the apprenticeship program with General Assembly and at local colleges, including Howard University. 

“We’ve been focused on building a sustainable company that is built to last,” Berger said. “As of this year, we have started guiding recruiters to look for more diverse candidates.”

Berger said that employee happiness at Social Tables is also measured every other month, and that the last three check-ins with employees have been record-setting.