Avanade STEM Scholarship
Learn more about our mission to empower young women to study the STEM disciplines.
The rising tide that lifts all boats
Avanade has pursued a deliberate and purpose-driven strategy around Inclusion & Diversity (I&D) since our founding in 2000. It started with our focus on a challenge that we face: the lack of women in the technology industry. To address that, we had to go to the root of the problem, which was attracting girls and young women to STEM, offering scholarships and creating programs.
But Inclusion & Diversity is not limited to one group of people or one challenge. Inclusion is everyone, everything, every day. It’s the rising tide that lifts all boats. If our inclusive culture doesn’t consider all races, gender identities, ethnicities, sexual orientations, disabilities, ages, religions – all people and all phases of life – it falls short.
In 2019, Pam Maynard became not only Avanade’s first woman CEO, but the first CEO who is a woman of colour. She is passionate about building on the I&D foundation Avanade had already established with a comprehensive strategy that involves every person at Avanade. In 2020, Hallam Sargeant joined Avanade as our first Chief Inclusion & Diversity Officer to help accelerate this vision.
“I'm passionate about inclusion and diversity and personally I don’t believe there is innovation without diversity. With diversity we challenge our thinking, we have alternative thoughts and mindsets.”
I&D is part of everything we do
Our I&D framework is rooted in three concepts:
- Inclusion: ensuring all individuals feel respected, heard, and that they can do their best work
- Diversity: ensuring our workforce demographics reflect our clients and communities
- Belonging: ensuring that everyone can be their authentic selves at work and that they feel welcomed and valued
To prioritise these concepts, we must invest in tangible, positive actions: create an inclusive culture, activate allyship, increase representation, accelerate development, communicate with transparency and amplify employee networks.
At Avanade, Inclusion & Diversity is part of everything we do, from the way we treat people to how we make decisions, to the solutions we take to market. We believe it’s a discipline that must be practiced with vigilance every day.
Insights
Black Employee Network commemorates Juneteenth and pushes for change within Avanade
Two members of INSPIRE, Avanade's Black Employee Network, discuss INSPIRE's Juneteenth efforts in the wake of global unrest.
What companies can do to support transgender employees
Hear from two Avanade employees on being transgender in the workplace and how companies can best support their transgender employees.
When we talk about diversity, we need to include disability, and here’s why
Marking International Day for Persons with Disabilities, three Avanade employees share their perspectives on the importance of disability awareness and supportive communities.