Diversity at Google: A Conversation With the Tech Giant’s Senior Director of Diversity Strategy, Narrative and Partnerships

As a child of immigrants to the United States, Maria Medrano was the first in her family to graduate from high school, the first to attend college and the first to obtain a graduate degree.

She spent the first 16 years of her career working in finance and operations, leading business strategies and working with data and analytics to create alignment within organizations.

Being a woman of color working in the technology industry dominated by men, a handful of her colleagues and friends encouraged her to join employee resource groups (ERGs) to connect with other women in the industry. It was there Medrano first began understanding the complexities of diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) in the workplace.

As she became more involved in the DE&I space, the leadership team at her then-employer, Cisco, took notice of how she was transferring skills, knowledge and opportunities she had gained through her involvement in the ERGs into her day job. She eventually had an opportunity to lead a DE&I team at Cisco, where she learned the ropes of actually understanding how to tie DE&I initiatives into business strategies.

Then after spending more than eight years with the company, she moved into her first Chief Diversity Officer role at Visa, where she served for over a year before moving to Google, where she now holds the position of Senior Director of Diversity Strategy, Narrative and Partnerships.

The Org speaks with Medrano to learn more about her work at Google, and the initiatives she and her team have to make the workplace a more welcoming space for all employees at the Tech Giant.

DE&I initiatives at Google

Talent attraction

Having a diverse pipeline of talent is critical to building a more representative workforce. So Medrano and her team have been paying a lot of attention to how they attract and assess talent with Google’s recruiting and hiring team. For Medrano, it is essential to differentiate between candidates who are a cultural addition versus candidates who are a cultural fit.

“We want to make sure that we’re continuing to add diverse elements to our team but we also need to ensure we are hiring and retaining the best talent,” Medrano told The Org.

To achieve this, in 2019 the team at Google use a database approach to reduce bias in job descriptions. They looked into the historical data from more than 6,000 job postings in an 18-month period to analyze how word count and language in job postings affect applicants.

“One of the findings that we had was if a job qualification summary had more than 54 words, women applicants decreased dramatically,” Medrano said. “The data gave us insight and guidance needed to be more intentional about making changes that were necessary.”

Talent retention

Making sure that diverse talent actually wants to stay at Google is another important piece that Medrano and her team work on.

“We have a dozen programs across the company that are specifically designed to help people from underrepresented groups connect and support one another,” Medrano said. “We have dedicated teams who are focused on ensuring that all Googlers are finding their happy place.”

Since 2020, this team has been in the process of doubling in size as part of Google’s commitment to racial equity.

Medrano is actively involved in connecting with partner organizations such as the Othering & Belonging Institute, an institute that uses research, analysis, policies and strategic narratives to build stronger relationships among diverse groups. She also manages ERGs that help employees build communities within the company.

“ERGs are not just for those who are part of the community, but for their allies as well,” she said. “They get an opportunity to learn, and ask questions in a way that advances them to be active allies.”

There are currently an estimated 16 ERGs at Google, and they’re all focused on sharing experiences, addressing opportunities and challenges and supporting professional development for the employees involved. As a result of the pandemic, the ERG meetings have been held virtually, but are always recorded so that it allows for employees to tune in from anywhere at any time.

“We also have an ERG buddy program that provides early and direct connection to ERG communities for new employees from underrepresented groups of communities,” she said. “I think the biggest piece is for us to be available and really hear from our Googlers – because a lot of what is going on are just everyday activities that we have no control over, but we want to create a safe space for them to connect and have a voice.”

How to measure success

Measuring the success of DE&I initiatives is not necessarily the most simple task, especially in a space that is changing every single day. For this reason, Medrano and her team are actively looking at ways to evaluate the success of their initiatives.

Other than having regular surveys and evaluating employee satisfaction scores to learn about how valuable each of their initiatives is, Medrano, says it is also important to have real dialogues with the talent at Google.

“We’re leaders and learners in this space,” she said. “Every day is a new day for us and every day is an opportunity to get it right. At Google, just as we encourage our engineers to iterate on enhancing our projects, we intend to continue and seek improvements in the DE&I space.”

Fundamentally, the team is working to make sure that all their business strategies are aligned with Google’s Racial Equity Commitments, and measuring them with the quantitative and qualitative data collected.

Qualities of a DE&I officer

Medrano believes that one of the most important qualities a DE&I officer should have is the ability to collaborate with and influence people from all walks of life.

“What is required in this work is to actually be able to have real, honest conversations on what changes are needed, whether it be in a process, strategy or just in how you engage a leader and a peer,” Medrano said. “What we do in the space is not a one size fits all, it’s really being able to meet individuals, teams, programs and products where they are.”

For companies that are looking to hire a new Chief Diversity Officer, and individuals who are hoping to move into the space, Medrano believes that achieving success in the space ultimately comes down to three things: leadership, transparency and taking small steps.

Obtaining complete buy-in and commitment from the highest levels at the company has been a key to progress and innovation in the DE&I space at Google. The company has been reporting on its workforce representation efforts since 2014, which are detailed in its Diversity Annual Report and include attrition data and intersectional data by gender and race.

In 2020, the company hired more Black and Latinx women in the U.S. than they have in any previous years and have been actively working on changing strategies to improve the retention of Black, Native American, and Latinx employees.

“I really believe it’s small steps that contribute to an inclusive culture and sense of belonging. Creating an inclusive culture is ensuring equity to the best of your ability. But there’s no magic wand or magic dust that we can sprinkle on people; it’s about knowing people as individuals,” Medrano said. “Leadership, transparency, and small steps may help corporations get to where they want to be in this space. If a new chief diversity officer or a company looking to hire one can keep that in mind, they should be off to a good start.”

Looking into the future

After the murder of George Floyd in 2020, many companies made commitments to focus on racial equality. Medrano says she has since noticed changing attitudes toward the work she does in the DE&I space.

“The conversation has shifted to talking about eliminating systemic racism, and being very direct around the work that is necessary to achieve this,” she said.

She hopes that companies are not simply making commitments after a devastating incident, but actually putting the infrastructure necessary in the space to ensure that the work they are doing in the DE&I space is sustained.

“We didn't get to where we are today overnight and it's not going to happen overnight.”