How Forrester Approaches Diversity & Inclusion

Forrester believes that contrasting and diverse perspectives — comprised of different views, experiences, and backgrounds — fuels quality research and makes us a better organization. This has been a guiding principle since our founding over 40 years ago.

We are committed to building an inclusive workplace for all — a workplace where we consistently celebrate, appreciate, and amplify the value of uniqueness within our community. We are Bold, Together.

Fadjanie Cadet, Director, Diversity and Inclusion

At Forrester, diversity and inclusion is firmly rooted in our values. We believe in fostering a culture where diverse perspectives are invited, heard, valued, and are integral to propelling our business and employee experience forward.

Fadjanie Cadet
Director, Diversity & Inclusion

Fostering An Inclusive Workplace

Discover how we are building an inclusive culture at Forrester. Our key initiatives include:

Learning And Development

  • Increasing our D&I fluency: We offer companywide training to equip employees and managers to play an active role in fostering a safe, respectful, productive, and inclusive work environment. To reinforce the training, we also hold a series of discussions for employees to reflect on their own experiences. In addition, we offer self-paced e-learning courses designed to support employee comfort and competence across three important diversity & inclusion themes: allyship, awareness, and inclusive leadership. Both instructor-led trainings and e-learning help increase our D&I fluency as an organization.
  • Encouraging “Courageous Conversations”: Our Courageous Conversations series features expert-led conversations that explore important topics such as bias, identity, privilege, power, and impact to provide Forresterites with the perspective and tools necessary to promote diversity and inclusion.
  • Boosting awareness and appreciation for different cultural backgrounds and ethnicities: Through cultural heritage celebrations, guest-speaker events, and facilitated discussions, we strive to increase our knowledge of issues connected to our D&I focus areas: race, ethnicity, gender, LGBTQ+, ability, and age.

D&I Leadership Advisory Council

Our D&I Leadership Advisory Council is made up of executive and functional leaders who work collaboratively to help institutionalize initiatives that accelerate D&I goals.

Inclusion Sentiment Measurement

We continue to take steps toward providing a more inclusive experience for all employees. We measure inclusion sentiment in our annual employee engagement benchmark survey. We also leverage employee self-identification data to better understand employee engagement across identities and track our progress toward representation and inclusion goals. Employees’ candid feedback helps us understand what we’re doing well and where we can do better.

Enhancing Our Recruiting And Hiring Practices

  • Increasing race, gender, disability, and veteran representation across our candidate pipelines: We continue to engage with organizations including FourBlock, Mogul, Sistas In Sales, and Work Without Limits that prioritize opportunities for professionals and students of color, veterans transitioning to civilian careers, and people with disabilities.
  • Enhanced candidate accommodation process: To level the playing field for all applicants and to ensure that all candidates are able to fully participate in our recruitment process, we proactively share information about accessibility features and accommodations available to candidates with disabilities during the hiring process.
  • Training for hiring managers: We regularly conduct bias awareness trainings and workshops for managers to ensure that all candidates have an equitable opportunity to get hired.

Building More Inclusive Products And Services

  • Producing research to help business and technology leaders embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion best practices: Topics include: creating inclusive experiences in design; improving digital accessibility for users; inclusivity in advertising; the business of belonging; and inclusive leadership, to name a few.
  • Improving accessibility for our event attendees: Our slide presentation templates and content have been redesigned to be more visually accessible, with closed captioning available for all on-demand event sessions.
  • Offering women’s leadership forums and mentoring: We hold networking sessions and mentor/mentee roundtables for women in leadership roles to share their experiences, challenges, and advice. For example, in partnership with Women in Security and Privacy (WISP), we provide scholarships to women to attend our Security & Risk event with the aim of advancing diversity in the cybersecurity field.
  • Delivering inclusive client experiences on our digital platform: We believe all clients, regardless of permanent or situational disabilities, should have an exceptional experience on our client platform. We consistently work to maintain compliance of our client digital platform with Section 508 of the U.S. Rehabilitation Act of 1973, conforming with WCAG 2.0 AA.

Forrester’s D&I Journey

We are on a voyage to be better stewards of inclusiveness, fairness, and equity in Forrester and in society. We are far from perfect on this front — but will persist in taking a forward step every day as we navigate this essential journey.

George F. Colony
CEO and Chairman of the Board, Forrester
George Colony, CEO and Chairman of the Board, Forrester

Forrester’s D&I Goals

Our aspiration is for our workplace to reflect the diversity of the communities we serve and that every employee has an equal opportunity to join, belong, and thrive in our company. Accelerating this journey is a strategic priority for our business. We are committed to:

Increasing employee representation: Consistently increase candidate and employee representation of historically underrepresented groups across race, disability, and veteran status.

Enhancing gender diversity in senior roles: Enhance gender diversity in senior roles across all regions Forrester operates in.

Continuing to build an inclusive culture: Cultivate an inclusive global organizational culture that seeks, values, and respects differences.