As part of its continuing effort to become the most inclusive company in software, low-code application development company Quick Base has hired Andrea Forsht in the role of Director, Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Impact. It is Forsht’s charge to lead all diversity and inclusion initiatives and partner with leaders to develop an action plan for responding to the discussion about racial and gender disparities that has only intensified in 2020.
Forsht has spent the last decade working in corporate philanthropy, whether it was foundation work or leading corporate citizenship efforts. Five years ago, she expanded her scope to include employee experience. Most recently, she worked on community partnerships and alliances for Thomson Reuters in her home area, the Twin Cities.
“Deciding to leave one job to start another is always a complicated choice,” says Forsht of her move to Quick Base, noting that the pandemic and civil unrest following the death of George Floyd – and her own pregnancy, at that point 30 weeks along – added to the difficulty of the decision. This, plus the fact that the Quick Base role would be a remote position over 1000 miles away from headquarters.
“While I was drawn to the goal of becoming the most inclusive company in software, what really excited me was the opportunity to have an integrated approach to D&I and social impact work,” Forsht says, noting that since Quick Base’s product Is inherently inclusive, the connection to her work was undeniable.
“Oftentimes a company’s philanthropic efforts are less connected to the business or driven by marketing and brand strategy,” she adds. “We are fortunate to be able to leverage our product and people as our biggest assets in our social impact work.”
The overall D&I strategy, Forsht says, is focused on creating more equity at the company by examining data related to pay, performance reviews, and career development for women and BIPOC employees.
“We are finding ways to be more intentional when it comes to our talent pipelines, taking steps to assemble more diverse interview candidate slates and setting goals for growing our talent across different dimensions of diversity,” Forsht explains, adding that she is also focused on refining Quick Base’s social impact strategy in order to positively impact minority-owned/run/founded small businesses and nonprofit organizations.
“It’s more than just writing a check or attending a gala,” she says. “It is building strong, long-lasting relationships and upskilling the community for greater professional and economic opportunity.”
The company’s low-code technology, Forsht says, is in an ideal place to narrow the opportunity gap in technology and reach people who traditionally have not had access or exposure to code development, citing an opportunity “to not only create a community of app developers and builders that is diverse and inclusive, but also an organizational makeup and culture that reflects that community.”
Forsht admits the road is difficult, and the needed changes will not come courtesy of an overnight fix. The company is focusing now on a dual-track approach to its D&I initiatives, focusing on both short-term gains and long-term goals.
“Another thing to keep in mind is that we don’t have a lot of examples of companies who have gotten it right, especially in tech,” she says. “I think we need to be flexible, try new things, fail fast, and reset quickly. It is going to be an iterative process.”
