LiveRamp’s mission is simple: Make it safe and easy for companies to connect data. By powering the marketing and advertising strategies for leading brands, agencies, tech platforms and TV partners, LiveRamp’s technology greatly influences how modern consumers interact with global brands. And LiveRamp doesn’t take its influence and responsibility lightly. LiveRamp uses its influence to transform culture in and outside of its walls by placing an extraordinary internal emphasis on diversity, inclusion and belonging (DIB).
Growing from a 25-person startup to a public company with a global workforce of over 1,200 in the span of 10 years, LiveRamp’s culture is driven by doing what’s right, empowering people and getting stuff done. Incorporating DIB as a cornerstone of that culture was undeniably essential. LiveRamp leadership understands that the company’s team and technology aren’t immune to social issues and movements, and with 2020 being the catalyst year it was, employees have taken even greater strides to create an environment where all are welcome and can thrive.
LiveRamp’s three pillars of DIB — workforce, product & customers, and community — draw on this commitment to people and society.
Workforce: LiveRamp seeks out brilliant people from all backgrounds. It has a growing ecosystem of six Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), voluntary, employee-led groups that foster a workplace where all employees of all identities can experience belonging. Each ERG has dedicated funding, development opportunities, and executive sponsorship, and takes a global lens as they increase their groups’ visibility, representation and business impact across the organization.
Products & Customers: LiveRamp is committed to forming teams with diverse backgrounds. Hiring and cultivating a more diverse team of product managers and developers is an essential first step towards growing equity in this industry. LiveRamp designs its products for customers of all backgrounds and capabilities by taking into account a variety of perspectives and serve a wider variety of business needs
Community: LiveRamp harnesses the power of data as one way to positively impact underserved communities. LiveRamp.org leverages data and an ecosystem of partners on projects that solve some of society’s biggest challenges. From hosting a Back-to-School Drive donating over $10,000 worth of remote learning supplies to benefit Black communities during the pandemic, producing inclusive media highlighting diversity in the military in tribute to Veterans Day, hosting webinars to destigmatize mental health in the workplace, and launching a holiday-inspired 12 Days of Giving campaign raising over $26,000 for organizations like The Trevor Project and Feeding America, to name a few, the company has invested time, talent and funding to facilitate next-level opportunities for volunteerism, philanthropic initiatives and employee donation matching.
Integrating DIB into LiveRamp’s DNA is the work of the entire team, yet the company also invests in dedicated leadership. Kham Ward, Head of Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging, took the reins of LiveRamp’s DIB program in 2020 and has made significant positive change across the company. Under Ward’s directive, LiveRamp launched an internal speaker series to make space for conversations around traditionally underrepresented experiences. Key speakers from the program have included Donna DeBerry, Former Chief Diversity Officer at Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, Nike, Indeed and Starbucks; and Carlotta Walls LaNier, the youngest member of the Little Rock Nine.
LiveRamp’s devotion to inclusivity across all areas of the business is truly noteworthy. The company was awarded a spot on Fortune’s 2021 Best Workplaces in the Bay Area list. Just last year, Business Insider recognized LiveRamp as one of the 18 Hottest AdTech Companies of 2020, and AdExchanger dubbed Anneka Gupta, LiveRamp’s President and Head of Products and Platforms, a Rising Star Under 40 for her sponsorship of LiveRamp’s DIB initiatives. To cement LiveRamp’s commitment to DIB for years to come, CEO Scott Howe joined 1,000 CEOs from the world’s leading companies and organizations in signing the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion™ pledge — the largest CEO-driven business commitment to advance diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
Diversity, inclusion and belonging are easier to define than to put into action. For example, diversity focuses on tolerance, but a diverse space can stagnate in that tolerance rather than thrive on individual strengths, perspectives and experiences. At LiveRamp, inclusion transforms diversity into belonging. As Ward likes to say, diversity is like being invited to the party while inclusion is being asked to dance. And if belonging is when a person feels they can bring their authentic selves to the workplace, it should feel like the freedom of dancing when no one’s watching.
By maintaining its emphasis on creating a welcoming and empowering work environment, LiveRamp is constantly striving for exceptionalism. The company is actively recruiting exceptional talent from all backgrounds who want to be part of the team’s growth, success, and transformation.
To learn more about open opportunities at LiveRamp, stay connected here.
