Dow Jones hires chief diversity and inclusion officer

Dow Jones & Co. chief executive officer William Lewis sent out the following announcement on Wednesday:

Dear Colleague,

I am determined to ensure that measurable and meaningful improvements in diversity and inclusion become critical elements in the growth of our great company.

Such words need to be backed up with firm action. So I am delighted to announce the appointment of Smita Pillai as Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer for Dow Jones.

Smita joins us from Prudential Financial, where she served as Vice President, Diversity and Inclusion. She previously held a number of global diversity and marketing roles at Johnson & Johnson, most notably as Senior Director, Global Diversity and Inclusion, for the company’s Medical Device segment.

This new role is a vital one within the company, given we have placed diversity and inclusion at the heart of our mission. Smita will lead the creation and delivery of a progressive, global diversity strategy at Dow Jones, shaping innovative approaches to foster an inclusive and collaborative culture throughout the business.

We must ensure Dow Jones is a place where people from a range of backgrounds and circumstances feel they belong and can contribute fully, not least so we can stay relevant and responsive to our increasingly diverse customer base.

There is a lot more work to be done which stretches beyond gender equality. Smita will aim to make a significant impact in our efforts to recruit, develop, retain and advance a talented, diverse and inclusive workforce.

In 2017, we showed our commitment to our workforce by upgrading our parental leave policy to 20 weeks full pay, creating new leadership programs for emerging talent, pay equity reviews, and continued investment and support for existing internal and external partnerships. The challenge now is to ensure greater transparency, strategy and accountability at every level, which Smita will help us to deliver.

More detail on our current initiatives can be viewed here.

Starting on June 11, Smita will be based in New York reporting to Mark Musgrave.

Please join me in welcoming her to the company. You will be hearing directly from her very soon.

Best,