Freshworks, a leading software company empowering businesses to delight their customer and employees, announced the appointment of diversity advocate Randi Bryant as the company’s first Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer.
With more than 20 years of experience, Bryant has helped large and complex organisations like Comcast, McDonald’s, the New York Transit Authority, and the U.S. Department of State, to equip employees with the tools to foster an inclusive work environment.
In the past year, Freshworks improved diversity across all levels, with women and people of colour composing a majority of its recent leadership hires. At the moment, 80 percent of its executive team are people of colour and 20 percent are women. Freshworks has more than 1,300 women employees globally and has issued a pledge to increase the representation of women in its workforce to at least 40 percent in the next two years.
Bryant’s expertise will contribute to ensuring diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) continue to be woven into every part of the company, from hiring and supporting employees to partner vetting, product strategy, and beyond.
Randi Bryant, chief diversity and inclusion officer of Freshworks, said:
“I’ve spent my career disrupting the way legacy organizations manage diversity and inclusion and it was clear right away that Freshworks is a kindred spirit in its approach to upending the status quo with a better way.”
“I was impressed by Girish’s leadership during the pandemic, as the company went above and beyond to support a global team with innovative programs, no furloughs or massive layoffs, and vaccination assistance for our employees and their families in India. The company has already made impressive steps in DEI and I look forward to building on that momentum across the company.”
Before joining Freshworks, Bryant was founder and president of Bryant Consulting Group, where she helped Fortune 500 companies and government clients navigate DEI issues and achieve breakthroughs across groups that advanced greater teamwork and productivity. She authored a book that provides practical advice on how to have challenging conversations around race, ethnicity, gender, religion and more.
Girish Mathrubootham, founder and chief executive officer of Freshworks, said: “Freshworks has been a global company since day one and we’ve long been committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace.”
“Now we are at a place where DEI merits a strategic leadership function of its own to ensure a holistic, integrated approach for global scale. Randi’s expertise from working with a wide variety of companies and governments will be invaluable for our DEI initiatives as we continue to grow.”
