KBS Awarded with 3% Certification for a High Level of Workplace Inclusion and Equality New York

Creative agency Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal + Partners (KBS) has received 3% Certification from gender parity organization The 3% Movement, signifying a high level of workplace inclusion and equality. The certification is a culmination of an extensive 18-month program of education, partnership, inclusion and leadership initiatives.

“We believe the diverse culture we’ve developed is a differentiator for talent, and drives better creative work for our clients,” said Michele Prota, Global Chief Talent Officer of KBS. “Our efforts won’t stop with this recognition. Our mission is to create and foster the most inclusive and collaborative culture possible, so employees can do the most transformational work of their careers.”

“KBS earned this certification through thoughtful reflection and implementation of comprehensive inclusion and equality initiatives,” said Lisen Stromberg, COO and Partner of The 3% Movement. “Their efforts put them in an elite group of agencies that are leading the industry in inclusion and equality.”

KBS’ path to 3% Certification began with the concept that diversity and inclusion foster a better place to work and a better agency. KBS then put in place a seven-pillar plan, covering:

  1. Recruitment that prioritizes candidate pipelines and finalist pools to properly reflect the U.S. market;
  2. Employee programs that incorporate mentorship, a diverse intern program and an inclusion survey;
  3. Parental leave that is equal for moms and dads for birth or adoption, providing three months of paid leave, three months of job protected unpaid leave and a returnship to ease the stress of re-entering the workplace;
  4. Education featuring unconscious bias training, an agency university focused on skills adjacent to diversity and inclusion and classes in partnership with Pacific Education Group focused on a shared language to deepen interracial dialogue within the company;
  5. KBShe, a network  that engages, retains and empowers women through an Action Network focused on activism, external mentorships with undergrad and high school students, volunteerism and job retraining and a new LGBTQ+ network;
  6. Sponsoring and partnering with other organizations that share our same or similar mission of inclusion and diversity, such as MAIP, Paradigm, Job Path, FindSpark, She Runs It, Diversity Best Practices, The 3% Movement, Handshake and 2020Shift;
  7. Shared accountability that makes it everyone’s responsibility at KBS to participate in this mission, to celebrate others’ work and ideas, to make an effort to understand multiple viewpoints and to work with those who think, act and behave differently.

The 3% Movement was formed in 2015 in response to an alarming agency statistic: Just 3 percent of creative directors are women. Designed to help set benchmarks for agencies, its Certification Program is a rigorous 60-day assessment of female leadership, workplace equality and culture and equal creative opportunity.

Links

http://www.kbsagency.com/

https://www.3percentmovement.com/

 

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