Participation in Summer Conferences Helps Identify Opportunities to Enhance Diversity and Inclusion

By Rhonda Crichlow, Senior Vice President, Chief Diversity Officer

At Charter, we are striving to integrate diversity and inclusion into all aspects of our business.

An important part of our efforts include expanding the diversity and inclusiveness of our workforce, of which 43% is multicultural, to ensure that we can best understand and respond to the needs of our customers. To build on our progress, Charter is partnering with organizations who serve communities across the country. We also rely on the collective knowledge and expertise of our External Diversity and Inclusion Council (EDIC), which is comprised of accomplished and highly respected community leaders, for guidance on the steps we can take to better serve our employees and customers.

This summer, Charter proudly sponsored several annual meetings hosted by these national civic engagement and civil rights organizations represented on our EDIC, including the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), Unidos US (formerly the National Council of La Raza (NCLR)), and the National Urban League (NUL). These annual forums allow us to reflect on the work we are doing and identify opportunities to further our efforts to enhance diversity and inclusion in the American workplace.

At NUL, I had the pleasure of serving on a panel consisting of Chief Diversity Officers from other Fortune 100 companies and law firms, and other leaders for a plenary discussion that focused on the state of diversity in American business. Our discussion underscored that successful diversity and inclusion integration require interfacing at all levels of the organization, beginning with our executive leadership team. Additional measures include creating employee resource groups, enhancing cultural awareness and understanding, and expanding the diversity of our supplier base.

These strategies will enable Charter to recruit the most competitive talent, enhance employee engagement and productivity, improve our customer orientation, and improve customer satisfaction through better decision-making and innovation.

At Charter, we do not want to simply operationalize a diversity and inclusion program, but we seek to institutionalize our learnings across our business to make a meaningful and sustainable impact. By doing so, we are able to offer products and services addressing the needs of our customers, support our local communities, and create an environment where our employees of various backgrounds, experiences and perspectives can thrive.