Diversity is a fact, inclusion is a choice

I strongly believe that everyone should have equal chances to pursue their career goals - whatever they may be. Obstacles can be hidden and hard to spot, especially when you’re part of the dominant social group. And dominant social groups are more often than not the decision-makers who shape the organizational reality. There’s a paradox here: we may want to do good, perceive our actions that way, but at the end of the day - that’s not enough.

There’s huge value in diversity - different backgrounds, mindsets, and skillsets can open up new perspectives that shape the business and deliver results. It allows for reaching untapped talent pools that don’t fit the “we like to work with people like us” skew which we often follow. Ultimately - working with and learning from a diverse array of people makes you a better specialist, leader, and person. There’s interest for everybody to approach the topic of diversity proactively.

Software is people - from the very first steps of ideation, through discovery and scoping, to the development phase. It's people's needs that are addressed by software, it's people who figure out how to make it happen, and finally, it's people who create it. 

Being such an essential part of the creation process, it's important to make sure that every person feels equally comfortable and equally engaged. It's also our obligation to others as human beings.

At Monterail, we care a lot about observing and learning about ourselves. The more we do it, the more we work on upgrading our processes, the way we conduct meetings, and interact with one another.

We pay a great deal of attention to creating an inclusive and diverse workplace. There's still much to do ahead of us. With every step we make, we discover something new. I'm happy to be a part of this discovery process.