Portland digital agency Instrument is committing $3 million over the next three years to in a program designed to support nonprofits fighting systemic racism, encourage employee volunteer time and match employee donations.
It’s part of the agency’s effort to support Black and other underrepresented communities broadly and its work to diversify itself that came into focus in 2020.
This new program is called Build.Grow.Serve and has three components:
Build, has the agency committed to 4,000 hours of free design, strategy and development work for nonprofits that boost Black voices and fight systemic racism.
Serve, allows employees 16 hours of paid time every year to volunteer in the community.
Grow, means the agency will continue to match all employee donations to nonprofits. Last year, the agency donated to 50 organizations that employees highlighted.
Past partnerships with Instrument include OpenSignal, KairosPDX, Pitch Black, Benson High School, Soul District and Design Portland.
The first Build projects are expected to start this spring. Organizations that want to partner can apply online through April 30.
Instrument has nearly 300 employees and builds digital products and experiences for brands like Google, Nike, Levi’s and Airbnb.
For the last four years, the agency has been working on its own diversity, equity and inclusion. In 2020, it posted its own commitment to Black Lives on its website and outlined its own challenges and how it intends to create a more inclusive environment.
“As firmly as we stand behind these statements now, it took us too long to come forward with public support for our Black community. Over the past two years, we’ve taken steps to evolve our company’s historical culture of whiteness through inclusion initiatives driven by a multi-level, multi-disciplinary workgroup,” the public statement reads.
The company notes it has a lot of work to do. It has committed to posting its demographic data as a way to be held accountable.
"Weaving equity, diversity and inclusion into the fabric of the org — at every level — is the number one strategic priority for Instrument," said JD Hooge, co-founder and chief creative officer at Instrument in an email. "Fully integrating ED&I into our organization from the inside out will be a multi-year journey — and missteps are going to be part of the learning process. It will take sustained positive action to accomplish all that we hope to achieve."
The company’s most recent data shows that it is 70.8% white, 5.8% Black, 5.8% Latinx, 10% Asian, 1.2% Native Hawaiian/Pacific islander, and 6.5% multiracial.
Currently, 29% of the agency's workforce identifies as Black, indigenous or people of color. That number is up about 5% in the last year. The company has a goal for the workforce to reflect the U.S. Census data by 2024.
“All of this work is closely intertwined,” said Stephanie Lanning, vice president of business development for Instrument and one of the leaders behind Build.Serve.Grow. “The No. 1 priority is to weave diversity, equity and inclusion into the fabric of the organization at every level. This program is part of that larger effort.”
She noted that this program formalizes work the agency has done in the past. Creating the official program happened with deep employee input. The large financial commitment came from leadership and reflects the importance of the work.
“As we have refocused our efforts internally and (on) making sure we can be the best organization we can on diversity, equity and inclusion, we are making sure we are thinking externally," as well, she said.
Lanning said the work is not only a social imperative for Instrument but also will make the company and its work better. Clients are also taking notice and looking at how the agency is putting this work to action.
