When the mass protests of last spring and summer drew sharp attention to the issues of social injustice and inequality in our nation, the Sightly team felt it was important to commit formally and long-term to addressing them through ways in which we could make a meaningful impact in our industry and local communities.
The result was a new company program called United Outcomes.
The purpose of the program is to uplift our community by creating opportunities for under-represented groups through youth education and engagement. We are also doing more to strengthen our diversity and inclusivity through our recruiting and retention practices. Our desired outcome is to help dismantle systemic racism through significant and long-term commitment.
In its initial research, United Outcomes identified an opportunity with The Boyd Initiative, a New York-based organization focused on bridging the gap between Black college students and the advertising and media industry. The Boyd Initiative is led by former Google and DataXu executive, Steven Golus, who is also an advisor to Sightly.
The Initiative helps students learn the fundamentals of media and advertising, and connect with influential employees at some of the top media companies in the world.
“The Boyd Initiative is happy to partner with the Sightly team,” says Golus. “We are aligned with Sightly’s long-term mission to increase diversity in adtech and to make the industry more inclusive. Sightly has backed this commitment by connecting with and hiring Boyd Initiative participants. We look forward to working more closely with them in the future.”
Last September, Sightly sponsored a session where several employees talked to students about the types of roles and career paths in a marketing and media technology company like ours. That led most recently to hiring our first intern through the program for our product marketing team. Narklie Gervil is a junior from Cornell University, majoring in communication and double-minoring in business and information science.
“I chose Sightly because the Brand Mentality mindset inspires me,” Gervil explained. “I wanted to work for a company that listens to the brand’s needs and goals, and helps them grow with that intention in mind. Furthermore, I want to have an impact at any company I work for, and I feel my internship role at Sightly will be important and valued.” Narklie’s overall goal is to gain skills and insight that she can apply to future career roles.
For Sightly’s part, we will continue to create mentoring and internship opportunities for students through The Boyd Initiative and other like-minded organizations in alignment with our ongoing mission to help under-represented groups through youth education and engagement.