International Women’s Day collaborated with, Rosanna Durruthy, LinkedIn Vice President of Global Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging. Rosanna spoke about the importance of building an equitable workplace and how each of us play a role in building equitable change.  

“Women and underrepresented groups alone cannot solve diversity and inclusion problems. An ally is a person who stands up for others to proactively build inclusion in our workplace. And active allyship is a key driver to an inclusive culture, yet our research found that almost half of Black professionals (48%) do not know someone who they consider to be an ally at their place of work. This lack of allyship has consequences—over 1 in 4 (26%) Black professionals feel isolated at work, and 1 in 3 (33%) have experienced discrimination and/or microaggressions in their workplace,” explains Rosanna. 

Building equitable pathways for future trade, STEM and health care leaders 

WSOS was created 10 years ago—a first-of-its-kind program to help students facing barriers to higher education and employers struggling to hire talent. Currently, there are not enough Washington students pursuing the education and training necessary to compete for high-demand STEM, health care and trade jobs in Washington’s economy. These industries all thrive when they reflect the communities where they’re based. We work to ensure our programs create opportunities for women and students of color. Opportunity Scholars are 72% students of color, and 56% are women.  

WSOS gives Scholars access to more than just money. Our student supports are a fundamental reason why our Scholars graduate faster, take on less debt and earn a higher average salary than their peers. Some of these programs include Skills that Shine and Scholar Lead. During every step of the Scholar journey, we work to support a diverse group of Opportunity Scholars as they work toward family-wage careers. 

WSOS recognizes the educational and socio-economic inequalities that exist throughout Washington state. We acknowledge that systemic barriers, institutional racism and gender disparities exist—and we are working to remove the barriers our Scholars face and empower their social and economic mobility. 

“From there, we can build actionable change.” —Rosanna Durruthy