The impact of DEI strategies on the success of an organisation is clear - as research shows us time and time again - and the digital media industry is no exception. 

This year, in the months leading up to UK Black History Month, we launched a member survey to help inform how we approach DEI within, and beyond, The Women in Programmatic Network (TWIPN), a free-to-join community created to provide opportunities and support for women in the programmatic and digital advertising industry. On 8th October 2024 in a special DEI takeover, we revealed the results of the survey.

TWIPN’s definition of DEI 

Over the years, the term DEI has meant different things to different people, so within the network, we’ve established these core definitions: 

Diversity: The range of difference within a group based on differentiators such as experience, age, race, ethnicity, socio-economic background and gender. Groups are diverse, individuals are not - that is to say, they are only diverse in relation to the other people in the group. Diversity is the end state.

Equity: Considering the unique circumstances and systemic barriers that different groups face - for example, how they might show up in a network or organization - and adjusting treatment accordingly so the end result is equal for all groups.

Inclusion: The glue that holds successful networks and organisations together - so all team members feel valued and empowered to be themselves. Difference is celebrated, and biases are addressed. Without inclusion, diversity initiatives will fail.

How can we best facilitate DEI in the network? 

When we asked how best we could support members, the top request was for networking and knowledge sharing events (72%), followed by DEI training and best practice guides (58%), connections to DEI partners and events (51%), and data and research reports (32%).

There was a strong desire to connect with other members around DEI, with a preference to use our existing channels - e.g. our various LinkedIn and WhatsApps communities - for a more integrative experience, rather than building separate channels for DEI initiatives. In our experience, DEI is most successful when integrated into existing systems and processes rather than separate or additional - when they are totally separate, you risk preaching to, or only reaching, the converted.

Current barriers to DEI 

Despite improvements in all areas over the years, according to the survey, the biggest obstacle that people are facing right now is a lack of diverse representation (47%), followed by a lack of leadership buy-in (40%), and limited resources (40%). Other challenges include difficulty measuring impact (19%), and being unsure where to start (19%).

While the first three challenges tend to be the most difficult to solve, once we get them right, they start to unlock progress across everything else. So how do we solve these challenges? One person said: “I could use more information about how Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) are typically run at other companies.”

For another, there was a “lack of female representation and diversity in general.” 

And then tellingly, for one person, “management does not prioritise DEI,” which should be the starting point. But how?

How management teams can prioritize DEI

If there’s one takeaway from the session, it’s this: No matter your role, level of seniority in your team, or stage in your career, you can embody and advance inclusive leadership in your organization. Everyone can and should be involved in how to grow ideas for DEI initiatives. So which areas should the management team focus on? 

Here are some the topics in order of priority among respondents:

The top three interest areas among respondents were inclusive leadership (75%), mental health (64%) and gender balance (59%). Although it’s important to mention there was interest in all of these areas,  inclusive leadership is the key to unlocking progress against all of these topics, and so is a great starting point when it comes to building DEI strategies - and will be a really powerful catalyst in making the progress our industry needs.

Success stories

While there is inevitably still work to be done, it was great to hear examples from our members of what they consider to be positive experiences of DEI. These included:

  • “Gathering with underrepresented colleagues and coworkers outside of the standard events that are held in the industry.”
  • “Diversifying leadership, creating open forums and actioning feedback.”
  • “Helping companies support working mothers.”

DEI goals for the future 

Informed by the survey results, our proposed goals for the network, which will then help feed into the wider industry, are:

1. Embed DEI into existing TWIPN initiatives, events, and communications. DEI is most successful when integrated into existing systems and processes rather than separate or additional - when they are totally separate, you risk preaching to, or only reaching. the converted.

2. Ensure diverse representation and speakers in all TWIPN events and communications, as well as those we are part of within our organisations. Focus on giving platforms to people who don’t often get them - whether that’s the microphone on stage, or the floor in a team planning meeting. 

3. Support TWIPN members to advance DEI within their organizations and across the industry - through knowledge-sharing and training, resources, support groups etc. In particular, we’ll:

  • Host a DEI roundtable / networking session at The Trade Desk in H1 2025
  • Explore knowledge-sharing opportunities for 2025 through our virtual monthly calls and our in-person events
  • Highlight external partners and mentorship and volunteer opportunities that people can get involved with
  • Launch a follow-up survey in 2025 to evaluate progress

We hope you can be a part of this too! 

If you’d like to get involved, or to join the network for free, visit thewomeninprogrammaticnetwork.com. For the full survey results, click here.

By Hazel Broadley and Callie Strickland 

Hazel Broadley is Content Lead at The Women in Programmatic Network, and Director at Lexical Llama adtech content consultancy. 

Callie Strickland is Lead DEI Advisor at The Women in Programmatic Network, and Inclusion and Belonging Manager at The Trade Desk.