Diversity & Inclusion at Conversica: Free Augmented Workforce Solutions for Minority-Owned Businesses and Charities Supporting Minority Advancement

As a CEO of over 20 years, I’ve learned that companies differentiate themselves with their “people power.” After all, it is our people who work together to put our best products and experiences forward for our customers and partners. And it’s up to leadership to keep our people motivated and happy by ensuring a great working environment and consistent follow through on our promises.

In June, Conversica made a commitment to drastically expand our efforts around diversity and inclusion by establishing a nine-pillar framework. Two of our pillars that I wanted to talk about today include: 1) providing minority-owned businesses and charities with free augmented workforce solutions and 2) recruiting for diversity.

As I’ve said before, talk is weak if it’s not backed by actions. So consider this blog post as an example of Conversica putting its money where its mouth is.

Conversica has two big announcements this week. First, Conversica is following through on its promise to offer free Augmented Workforce solutions to minority-owned businesses and charities supporting minority advancement. This is a project I care a lot about and have worked tirelessly to formulate with our Diversity and Inclusion Committee. The second is an announcement about our new board member Elissa Fink who brings more than 20 years of experience as a marketing leader to our Board.

I’d like to talk about both of these announcements and expand on our diversity and inclusion (D&I) efforts within Conversica.

Free Augmented Workforce Solutions for Minority-Owned Businesses and Charities Supporting Minority Advancement

Conversica is following through on its promise to offer free Augmented Workforce solutions for minority-owned businesses and charities that support minority advancement. Organizations can apply for one free year and a guaranteed additional year at a 40% discount for any of our Intelligent Virtual Assistant solutions. That includes our recently released website chat offering which is included for free for new customers.

Our Intelligent Virtual Assistants help organizations attract, acquire and grow customers at scale by delivering personalized messages that engage contacts and drive them towards the next best action. Minority-owned businesses will benefit from our Sales AI Assistant which is specifically designed to engage leads in prompt, polite and persistent communications to determine intent and drive meetings with Sales teams. Or if they prefer, they can leverage our Customer Success AI Assistant to ensure each customer is given the attention they need to succeed. Charity and nonprofit organizations benefit from our Fundraising AI Assistant to cultivate prospective donors and re-engage current donors in a scalable manner.

To reap the rewards of these AI-driven technologies, businesses and charities should be a certain size and digitally enabled. Applicants for our Services for Diversity Program should meet the following criteria:

• Minority-owned business or charity for minority advancement
• $75 million or more in annual revenue (yes, you can measure based on gross proceeds)
• Strong digital footprint with >500 digital leads per month and have already invested in a marketing automation platform or CRM

Our organization will gladly work with you to onboard, deploy and manage your Intelligent Virtual Assistants.

We invite you to apply to our Services for Diversity Program by emailing us at [email protected]. Please provide us with an executive contact in your organization, your annual revenue, what CRM or marketing automation system you are using today, and your lead volume; and we’ll let you know if you qualify.

Welcoming Elissa Fink to the Conversica Executive Board

In another bit of great news, I can’t tell you how excited I am to welcome our new board member, Elissa Fink. OMG!!!! We’re thrilled to have her caliber of leadership on our Board, and honored to welcome her as the first female Board member at Conversica.

Elissa brings exceptional operational business experience to Conversica’s Board. With more than 20 years of experience at companies like Tableau Software and IXI Corporation, Elissa is a marketing powerhouse with proven success in leveling up enterprise technologies and transforming their go-to-market strategies for accessibility and democratized use. Her expertise in building communities with unprecedented brand loyalty will benefit Conversica as we prepare for 2021 and beyond.

“I’ve kept my eye on how Conversica assists Marketing and Sales communities through complex digital transformations with an intelligent, Augmented Workforce. To say I’ve been impressed is an understatement,” says Elissa. “In a world where you must digitally transform your business or get left behind, I’m honored and enthused to join the Conversica Board and ecstatic about helping the company grow and disrupt the market.”

Elissa’s passion for the health of Conversica’s culture is also undeniable. She shares our vision of building and encouraging a diverse, inclusive, and equal workforce; from the leadership down to each individual team.

Continued Efforts Around Diversity and Inclusion

While I am happy to share these announcements, I know that our work will never be done. We need to ensure that diversity and inclusion are foundational to our day-to-day operations and use the power of our company to create much-needed change.

As part of our continued efforts, we have established nine subcommittees to help us develop and carry out our nine pledges around diversity and inclusion:

1. Conversica’s Employee Day for Diversity: Set annual goals for diversity and inclusion within our organization each year on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and revisit those goals mid-year on May 25th (the anniversary of George Floyd’s untimely death).
2. Conversica’s Services for Diversity: Provide minority-owned businesses and charities supporting minority advancement with free augmented workforce solutions.
3. Conversica’s Recruiting for Diversity: Achieve our employee diversity mix targets by 2022 by requiring a diverse selection of candidates for every role.
4. Conversica’s Training for Diversity: Promote management training on diversity, inclusion, and equality will be provided annually, and maintain zero discrimination complaints/incidents by employees.
5. Conversica’s Community Support for Diversity: Encourage employees to volunteer in external diversity initiatives and reward them for their community service. Conversica will sponsor events and webinars to support our continued education and community participation in diversity, inclusion and equality topics.
6. Conversica’s Metrics for Diversity: Report Conversica’s progress on its diversity KPIs to employees, and to the public, ultimately holding ourselves accountable.
7. Conversica’s Retention and Advancement for Diversity: Increase career development for underrepresented group members, as well as retain employees and measure/manage the time and rate of promotions.
8. Conversica’s Trusted Exchange for Diversity: Offer an environment where all ideas are welcomed, and employees feel comfortable and empowered to have discussions about diversity, inclusion, and equality.
9. Conversica’s Ecosystem for Diversity: Enforce our diversity, inclusion, and equality by “firing” customers or partners who don’t adhere to our values. Encourage the use of minority-owned, women-owned, veteran-owned, LGBT-owned, and differently abled-owned businesses as suppliers to Conversica.

It is my joy to work towards these efforts alongside my fellow Conversicans. And I am looking forward to sharing more encouraging announcements down the line.

Stay tuned for more,
Jim